News - Winter 2014

Dear All,

I'd like to wish you a belated Happy New Year! And fill you in on upcoming events and important news.

Gower Riding Club Auction
Attitude Matters
Gloucestershire Horse Behaviour and Training Group
New Equine Performance Behaviour Services
Changes to Prices and Zone Visits
Cancellation Policy
The Year Ahead

Gower Riding Club Auction
GRC are raising funds to get their show jumping teams to the Championships at Hartpury. I've donated my new Equine Performance Behaviour service to their fund raising auction, a treasure trove of equestrian items and services. It's happening on the evening of the 28th February 2014 at Fairwood Golf Club, Blackhills Lane, Swansea.

Attitude Matters
This is an evening presentation, introducing how our horse's temperament, training and management affects their emotional responses and mood. I also introduce some ideas for our day to day practises that will have a positive influence on our horse's behaviour. This is for everyone who wants a more connected, focused equine partner, for fun or competition.
The event takes place at 7pm on Thursday 13th March 2014 at Canolfan Gorseinon, Gorseinon - just five minutes from J47 of the M4. Tickets are £7.50 Regular, and £5.50 Concessions. Places are limited so advance booking is essential! See http://www.jenninellist.co.uk/index.php/events for more details.

Gloucestershire Horse Behaviour and Training Group
I have some interest from Gloucestershire. If you are in this county or a neighbouring county, would you like to join a small group of like minded people once a month (or thereabouts) to share and progress your training skills? I'm proposing a two hour (approx) mini clinic/workshop format hosted by members of the group who take it in turns. The first forty minutes will be spent looking at a specific training issue the host is having with their horse(s), whether it's a problem or a new venture. I'll lead assessment of the situation, encouraging all participants to put forward their ideas as to why something is working/not working, and suggestions and discussion on future training strategy. The middle forty minutes is a hands on lesson with the host and their horse, derived from our discussion in part one and what the horse actually shows us on the day. The final forty minutes are given over to assessment of the training session, identifying effective training and why it was so, and planning future training aimed at working on the identified points for improvement.
Cost for this is £40 each based on a group of three people, I can reduce this if there are more than three but I suggest that to keep up a high quality workshop that the total number of participants be limited to six. There won't be any additional charge for mileage for this group.
If you are not in Gloucestershire or immediately nearby and want to participate in something similar then please get in touch.

New Equine Performance Behaviour Service
Did you know that horses have a psychological 'zone of optimal performance', just like human athletes? FEI Article 401: Object and General Principles of Dressage, describes dressage training as the … “development of the horse into a happy athlete...”. I think this is possibly the loveliest thing the FEI have ever put in print. Positive emotional states such as happiness tell us that the horse enjoys their performance. This lends to a positive mental attitude for competitive edge - because horses are motivated, focused and cooperative. They are 'in the zone'!
My new service entails assessing the horse's performance at home and at competitions, including reviewing any video footage. I then meet the horse and analyse their current management and training strategies. The aim is to understand the horse's basic temperament traits, their general mood states and emotional reactions. I then devise a new management and training plan with the owner and anyone else involved such as riders and trainers. The behaviour analysis and coaching service is not intended to replace a regular trainer or instructor. It is generally much more beneficial when I work alongside and with the horse and rider's usual team as a complementary service.
The service costs £70 for the initial analysis and behaviour plan, and follow on visits at the usual hourly rate (currently £30/hour). For more information see http://www.jenninellist.co.uk/index.php/performance.

Changes to Prices and Zone Visits
I've dreaded doing this for a long time, but my current pricing strategy has remained in the same for several years now,and like everyone else, in real terms my actual income has been gradually declining. Therefore I have discussed this with a number of my regular clients, thought long and hard about it, and have taken the decision to review my prices. The new price list will be in effect from the 6th of April 2014 with the new tax year.

The new prices are as follows:

Full behavioural consultation: £120.00
Initial training assessment: £70
Equine performance behaviour analysis: £70
All regular follow on visits: £35 per hour.

Mileage costs will be 45p per mile one-way from Junction 47 on the M4, and Zone Visits will be Tuesday: Cardiff and surrounding areas. Wednesday: Swansea and surrounding areas. Every third Friday: Brecon and surrounding areas. Alternate Saturdays: Cardiff and surrounding areas; Swansea and surrounding areas.

Cancellation Policy
I have never had a cancellation policy save for workshop bookings, however I am now introducing one due to the volume of postponements over the years.
In inclement weather, or for any other reason I am now offering the option of an indoor theory session instead of postponing or cancelling. An opportunity for you to examine behavioural science in relation to your horse(s) more thoroughly, giving you more knowledge and understanding to put into practise when the weather improves.
Cancellations that occur five working days before the scheduled appointment will be subject to a cancellation fee amounting to half the scheduled cost of your appointment e.g. behavioural consultation, £60*, follow on visit, £17.50*.
Cancellations that occur less than five working days before the scheduled appointment will be subject to a cancellation fee amounting to the full scheduled cost of your appointment e.g. behavioural consultation £120*, follow on visit £35*.
*After 6th April 2014

The year ahead
Now onto more positive things! I'm investigating the possibility of inviting Dr Helen Spence over from Northern Ireland to give a demo and clinic on incorporating the Alexander technique and positive reinforcement into riding. Alexander technique is a fantastic way to identify tension in your riding, and to painlessly unlock it while gaining a fabulous classical seat. I highly recommend it! More news on this will be available shortly.


Happy New Year and all the best,


Jenni

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Jenni Nellist MSc

+44 (0)7974 569407

www.jenninellist.co.uk

Feel, Think, Behave...

Positively touching

In learning theory speak a 'reinforcer' is a consequence of an individual's action that makes them want to do it again. It is in the individual's view as to how valuable that reinforcer is to them. Animals of all species including is humans will prefer different reinforcers depending on their experience at the time.

Take A Little Hope for example. Five weeks before the first draft of this blog was written she was flat on the floor, devoid of energy and Death Of The Horses was towering over her, scyth in hoof. She had been abandoned to die and would have done if it were not for my friend's acting to save her. I helped just a little bit. In the beginning Hope wanted to sleep mostly and eat a little, preferably while lying down.

Fast forward five weeks she's beginning to find her feet...

She is beginning to learn about human intentions and interventions for life in my friend's world. Basic touch acceptance and leading are where she's starting. Scratching is her preferred reinforcer. She loves to be stroked and rubbed and scratched. She has been deprived of other equine contact recently. For her first two weeks we didn't know if she had contagious diseases such as strangles, and she had some lice we didn't want shared round the other horses. Humans were her only visitors. Since then Hope has been let loose from her stable twice to three times a day to roam the yard and talk to the other horses over the gate while I and my friend get on with the yard chores. She's gone grooming mad, especialy with my two mares who are cobby like Hope and fairly steady beasts most of the time. Hope has steadily become more grooming mad with us humans too. She does like a good scritch, it's only natural. She's none too keen on taking food from our hands at this stage, that's a bit weird - and something she does learn to do later, joining in with the big horses. Right now scratches are the thing, and a great way forwards for her education.

Bronwen and Hope grooming: https://youtu.be/7enkVt8ac-E 

However, her love of scratches does lead us to a problem. Sight of a person arriving on the yard now is very positive to Hope and unleashes all her stored up desire to be in company and feel loved. What is not to like after the confines of her hospital bed?

So when Hope is eating she's happy and settled. When she's made her way over to the grass she is likewise. When she's talking to one of the other horses, ditto. She recognises when we are working, mucking out etc, and takes the hint that we are not availible and leaves us alone. But when we are just hanging out and she is not otherwise gainfully occupied, we are targets for her solicitations! A good sign she is feeling better, but also time for her to learn we can't just be pinned down to groom her forever.

Hope's modus operandi is to approach us with her ears back and to push into our space. It's more normal for horses to approach each other in a gentler fashion when seeking mutual grooming, and to only hesitate and turn ears back when close up to the grooming partner - just before getting stuck in to a session. Hope is still a little afraid of us, despite also having the knowledge that we groom. Not surprising really. She was weak and helpless when she was literally dragged up from the floor. Not the ideal introduction but needs must. Also, we have no idea of her previous humans...

Now is the time to show her that we'll come over to chat and give her scratches when she is settled and relaxed. We can call her name and make a definite start to an interaction with her. Then we can also begin to show her some of the things that will happen in future, such as halters and hoof care. Today I continued my friend's work, I turned my back to her and moved off a little way, waited for her to begin approaching me, said 'walk on' when she did to begin her association between this intended cue and walking with me - finishing this off with a good scratch.

Today A Little Hope is exceeding all expectations. I often stop to share a scratch, and often she stops by as I do yard chores to see what I'm doing, or tags along as I ride Penny and Bronwen in the paddock. She also brings great joy and comfort to my friend who rescued her. She's now a great big Hope :)

 

She's not afraid

Those were more or less the words used when a friend of mine explained that the vet did not think fear had any part in her young mare's abrupt aggressive behaviour. The vet's reasoning was that there was no increase in heart rate to accompany what were ostensibly defensive acts. Defensive because they were triggered by a situation that the young mare had previously linked to pain. Her resulting behaviour was intended to relieve her of the person provoking her distress - the vet.

My question is however, if the heart rate doesn't increase, is fear truly absent? I will explore some of the neurophysiology behind the behaviour.

Increased heart rate is a classic symptom of the fright, flight, fight response. A reflex response driven by the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system.

The subconscious takes note of what was happening right before the event, logging the most notable as warning signals for the future, and also remembers the actions that led to successful escape. It is in the future when the now learned warning signals prompt successful evasive actions, providing the horse with a sense of control they didn't have before. This sense of control gives confidence and calmer execution of behaviour, even evasive behaviour.

This happens because successful actions enable the horse to deliver herself to safety and a state of relief. From there she can continue her usual daily activities.

However the warning signals are still threatening, so fear has not completely left the horse. When avoidance actions are not instantly effective, and/or when the same threatening situation keeps presenting itself, frustration and anger join the emotional mix. Naturally these states drive more aggression more readily.

Going back to the mare in our example. She had been repeatedly exposed to the same sequence, injury/ill health, veterinary examination and procedure,  more/worse pain. Even when examined in passing, when not already in pain, she doesn't get defensive at the end of the examination, she takes action before then: When the vet appears to examine her.

Now that she has practised getting rid of the vet and successfully escaping and avoiding further painful intervention, she is more confident of success from the outset - so doesn't need to get her heart rate up. However, because she is a naturally easily frustrated horse, her early vet fighting episodes mixed anger into her reactions regarding examination. This means that her defensive strategy of choice includes aggression and she resorts to it sooner rather than later as she is confident in its chances of success.

So is she afraid? Yes, vets equal pain! Plus, she is also downright outraged that the vet continues to darken her door. But she also knows exactly what to do about it. So she doesn't put any more energy in than is strictly necessary.

Natural Behaviour

Simply speaking, horses are social, group living herbivores that evolved to live on open grassland. This means that they have developed mental abilities that enable them to thrive in social situations, make efficient use of their home range, and avoid succumbing to predators.
Therefore horses are capable of recognising large numbers of individuals, and remembering how those individuals have treated them so that they can respond accordingly.
They can recognise potential predators, and assess the risk of being eaten today from having learned about what predator behaviour constitutes a threat.
And they are incredibly good at learning about their local geography, what to graze, where and when, where water is, even in drought, where to find shelter in a variety of weather conditions, and most importantly, how to travel between these places.
What they are not necesarily capable of is rationalising as we humans do. For example, a horse is unlikely to realise that the carrots given to him ten minutes after the return from a ride were for being brave about a tractor and jumping a particularly challenging obstacle. As far as the horse is concerned, those events and anything associated with them were left back on the ride, and are not present with him whilst relaxing on the yard enjoying his carrots!
Appreciating this is also to appreciate the normal lifestyle and mental faculties of horses, meaning that much of what we ask horses to do, such as live in stables and suppress their flight instinct so we can ride them, are not particularly normal for them at all, even though we frequently expect these things of the horse and more!

When I consider the origins and maintenance of problem behaviour, and how to go about fixing a problem or gaining a more emotionally stable horse most capable of being trained, I have the horse’s natural existence at heart quite simply because a horse struggles to be anything else.
Horses function best when they are managed and trained in a way that is as close as possible to that for which nature designed them. Fortunately there are a variety of means of accomodating the horse's natural behaviour even on yards where the obvious things such as year round turn out and stable herds are limited.

Courage to try something new!

OK, so Mr Boardman was last seen on a bike, not a horse! But in common with other elite sports people he does have an excellent grasp of 'marginal gains' and going the extra mile to make sure he has one or two over other competitors to give him the edge – recall the funky aerodynamic helmet that all cyclists of the velodrome now use?

In case you didn't know, marginal gains are the the little positive changes that add up to give a competitive advantage. In equestrianism that's the combined effect of the right diet and exercise programme – for you and the horse! Best posture in the saddle, the right saddle, having the horse dentist, getting the physio involved, talking with the sports psychologist. But what about the horse's psychology?

Using rewards in training was one marginal gain that certainly worked for US riders Beezie Madden and Jane Savoie. They applied 'bridge' and 'target' training, communicating with their horses precisely what they did right. This not only ensured that they repeated desired behaviour but that they enjoyed it too - elevating their general mood and attitude to performance.

Could it work for you and your horse? No matter what kind of performance you actually want, from a quiet hack to a Grand Prix effort, come and find out more by attending the On Target demo with Shawna Karrasch at 7pm on Saturday 24th August 2013 at Pencoed College. Call Jenni Nellist on 07974 569407 or email jenni@jenninellist.co.uk for booking information. There are still tickets available on the door!

Jane loves On Target training!

Let me get this straight! A training system that covers everything from clipping to piaffe? How do I know that's not some kind of gimmick? I'm not into 'quick fixes'.

Neither am I. And like many horse people I know, I'm suspicious of gimmicks too, but I would like to be able to some things a lot better with my horses.

This is where learning about what motivates horses to learn and perform comes in. The On Target system is actually very simple, and it works alongside your current activities. Basically the horse is taught a 'bridge' signal that means a reward is coming. This means that you can be more exact in timing rewards that are not so easy to deliver in the moment such as giving some sugar at the exact right time in piaffe: You would have to release the aid, which most horses find to be an insignificant reward compared to something more inspiring such as the sugar lumps used at the Spanish Riding School. Then you would have to stop the horse in order to give the sugar, but by that time your horse probably won't connect the sugar with the piaffe, but for stopping instead, and he'll have to think back to what happened when he was asked to stop, a real test of concentration and imagination! With a bridge signal the guess work is removed from the horse. All you need to do is give it in the moment, then provide the promised reward as soon as is convenient afterwards.

What behaviour to reward is up to you, it all depends on what you would like your horse to do. Say you did want to clip ears more easily? You would identify key components of the task, like the horse holding their head within reach, accepting you holding the ear, accepting the clipper noise, vibrations and then cutting. Then you would do each of these in turn, communicating with your horse each time they get it right by giving the bridge signal when you see correct behaviour during one of those key components. Then you would give the reward.

Horses love this accurate feedback because it means it's hard for them to get things wrong, plus, like Jane, they love reward reinforcement and are willing to participate.

Want to find out more? Attend the On Target demo with Shawna Karrasch at 7pm on Saturday 24th August 2013 at Pencoed College. Call Jenni Nellist on 07974 569407 or email jenni@jenninellist.co.uk for booking information.

Does your horse find your rewards reinforcing?

But I already reward my horses! How is the On Target system going to be any better?

The best person to ask that question and more might actually be your horse!

What would their answer to the following questions be?

1. How much do you like the rewards I usually give you?
2. Do they make you want to work harder or any more enthusiastically for me to earn them?
3. Are you clear about what they are for?

You'll know if your horse is clear about what they are for. They will repeat the same behaviours that got rewarded more often hoping they'll receive the same rewards again.

You'll also know if they like them, because they will perform more enthusiastically for them, after all, what do you get out of bed and go the extra mile for?

If they don't like them, or don't understand what they were for you'll see no improvement, or even a deterioration in performance.

This is all because there is a difference between a reward, something good given to the horse, and a 'reinforcement', an immediate consequence of behaviour that has the effect of the horse doing that behaviour more often in future. A 'reward (positive) reinforcement' is when the reward precisely coincides with the desired behaviour, having the effect of the horse willingly offer more of that behaviour. To aid with timing, the reward reinforcement might be linked to a 'bridge' signal such as a word or clicker that is more practical to give during the right behaviour e.g. clearing a water jump!

So what does your horse think? Are your rewards reinforcing?

Find out more by attending the On Target demo with Shawna Karrasch at 7pm on Saturday 24th August 2013 at Pencoed College. Call Jenni Nellist on 07974 569407 or email jenni@jenninellist.co.uk for booking information.