SEPTEMBER 2019 THE RIDER /29 ^Between The Ears^


• No horse/rider partner- ship completed the course following a whip strike of excessive force The majority of riders


By Ellie Ross I recently attended


the International Equi- tation Science Conference where research was pre- sented on a variety of top- ics but the one I will focus on this month is the use of spurs and whips. It was interesting that


in the research it was de- termined that males were 2.88 times more likely to use spurs than females and females were far more likely to use a whip than males. It is important to note that the use of the whip is mainly being re- ferred to as using the whip to strike the horse. Research was con-


ducted at the University of Harpury (UK). Of the 3463 Riders who voluntar- ily surveyed, of which 96% were female, 60% claimed they regularly rode with a whip, 12% sometimes did and 28% never carried one. 2459 owned at least two whips. 75% of them stated they owned a schooling whip and 51% owned a lunge whip. This study did not state what disciplines of riding the participants were involved in other than it was not racing. I be- lieve this would have had different results between western and english riders. I found it quite dishearten- ing to see that only 30% believe whips caused pain. Respondents that stated they regularly rode with a whip had significantly dif- ferent opinions on whip use than those who stated they never use a whip. Of


the research


shared, it was stated that the use of whips in horse


racing, in many cases did not actually improve the speed of the racehorse and there was evidence to show that the use of it ac- tually resulted in the horse running slower. There is no association with im- proved performance yet traditional training meth- ods ignore the science and carry on as they always have.


Aside from horse rac-


ing, show jumping is an- other sport where the use of a whip is commonly used. The evaluation of whip use in show jumping was studied in British Show Jumping competi- tion. The data recorded was based on 285 competi- tors, jumping heights at 08m- 1.25m and included the measurement of force used based on whip dis- tance from the body and arm height of the rider. Here is the data from the research conducted by J. Williams, Harpury Univer- sity; • Of the 285 riders, (10.5%) 30 of them used the whip during competi- tions • Whip use was associated with increased faults across the competitions and included refusals and horses knocking fences down. • Excessive force where the rider’s arm was raised above his/her shoulder to strike the horse and strong force of use were observed in 44% of the strikes. • A significant correlation was found between force of strike and increased faults • Stronger whip strikes re- sulted in an increase in evasive behaviors


used the whip before the fence, followed by using it on take off, none were ob- served using it during the fence. About half of those using it, used it after the fence and about 1/3 used it on the flat between fences. Associating the whip with the fence is counter pro- ductive. If the horse asso- ciated being whipped with the jump, this impacts the horses performance in a negative manner. The use of the whip strike as an aversive has scientifically been proven to be counter productive. The use of the whip after the fence makes no sense as its too late. Approximately 37%


of the riders that used their whip, incurred 13+ faults or non completion of the course. The conclusion “The whip is neither good or bad but the using it makes


it so” Jane


Williams. The investigation into


equestrian spur use in the United Kingdom was stud- ied by researchers also at Harpury University (UK). They define spurs as “a piece of horse riding ap- parel worn by riders to re- fine leg aids prompting for locomotion, activity or di- rection of the horse”. In recent years, horse welfare concerns have increased over the use of spurs re- sulting in bloody wounds (skin abrasions) that has led to elimination from competitions. Of the 628 participants surveyed, 597 were female (95%) and 31 male (5%). It would ap- pear that women are more likely to participate in sur- veys than men. The ma- jority were between 18-29 years old (47%). • Riders within non-FEI disciplines were 1.53 times more likely to use spurs than recreational trail riders and 1.48 times more likely to use spurs than those competing in FEI disciplines. • Longer spur shanks sig- nificantly increased the risk of skin abrasions or hair loss • Rotating spurs were 1.5 times more likely to be as-


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Whips and Spurs. Better or Worse Performance? prove


sociated with injury com- pared to fixed shank de- signs. • • It should be noted that rider asymmetry was also a factor in what I would assume was inadvertent spur use. More research is required to determine the impact the use and the type of use has on the task the horse is being asked to perform. “Rider desire to im- performance


through the use of whips may not be understood by the horse. If the horse does not associate the whip as a trained signal to which it can offer a trained re- sponse,


then misuder-


standings within the horse/rider dyad may lead rider to misappropriate re- sponsibility of fault onto the horse.” The cognitive ability


of the horse is often under- estimated yet at the same time the horse is often treated at fault for failing to understand the convo-


luted and conflicting mes- sages given by the rider. Science has proved time and time again that a horse will willing repeat behav- iors for whatever is most reinforcing. Using aver- sives are used to enhance performance only adds stress and negative associ- ations with the task. We all need to be aware of the power of social licenses and the potential to lose it. Whipping tends to be a common concern and pub-


lic perception leads to the stripping of the social li- cense.


Consideration


should also be given to the inadvertent use of spurs due to rider imbalance often leading to undesir- able reactions by the horse that further lead to punish- ment, be in inadvertent or inadvertent, by the rider. Perhaps more atten-


tion needs to be focused on educating riders about the reasons why and how they use whips and spurs in


order to improve the wel- fare of performance horses. It would appear that the behavior of the riders needs modification in order to make these im- provements. Just because ‘it’s always been done a certain way’, doesn’t make it right. The science speaks for itself.


(Ref. J. Williams, Hart- pury University UK)


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