DECEMBER 2019 THE RIDER /27 ^Between The Ears^ To Treat or Not to Treat?


By Ellie Ross. It’s very common to


hear horse people advise against the use of hand feed- ing treats to horses and no doubt that it is because of the number of times that it has led to horses biting or becoming very rude and pushy. I don’t disagree that hand feeding treats leads to such behaviour but let’s look at why and then re-visit the idea of using food re- wards/treats to horses. The principles of be-


haviours are really quite simple. Any behaviour that gets rewarded, gets re- peated. Any behaviour that is being repeated, gets stronger. Now let’s look closer at the hand feeding of


treats. What is actually hap- pening here? I think its to- tally unfair to dismiss treating horses but I also know that it has led to a lot of problem behaviours esca- lating. So how does one fix this? Well, if you ask me that question, my answer will likely surprise you! I say use food rewards! Typ- ically when someone is treating horses they are ac- tually inadvertently rein- forcing behaviours they don’t want. Many horse owners enjoy their horse’s close contact and poking around while they are ask- ing for more. Herein lies the problem. While the human perceives treating as nothing more than showing


their love for their horse by giving them something yummy, the horse’s percep- tion is what is overlooked. In giving a horse a treat, you are rewarding their position and their behaviour for whatever the horse was doing at the time and the 0- 5 seconds prior. Think about this… So if you are rewarding the horse for in- vading your space, how does that behaviour get stronger? It means the horse comes closer, becomes more demanding and places you at risk of injury. If a horse has brought its mouth to your hand and you release the food, you are rewarding exactly that. How does that get stronger? The horse makes more contact with your hand and likely speeds up the interaction as well. You have to stop re-


warding such behaviour. Spend more thought on what it is that you are ex- pecting and rewarding. The use of food must have boundaries and parameters that if not met, there should be no treat being provided! For those of you that


are still reading, I applaud you! Your horse will be pleased too! We should be teaching our equine friends that to get the treat, they must ignore the treat. To get a reward, they must ignore the reward. They cannot be


demanding it. You must never ever give them the treat when they are being rude, demanding, invading your space, poking around your pockets and hand etc. Horses are far smarter


than what most people give them credit for. All you have to do is spend just a few minutes to educate your horse about your expecta- tions and your horse is likely to engage and com- ply. Horses generally want to do the right thing! I will stress that if your horse is a biter or gets aggressive, you should engage the help of a professional and only work behind a safe protective bar- rier.


Be prepared in ad-


vance before you com- mence this education with your horse, Prepare some bite size (no pun intended) treats. This could be carrots, apples, stud muffins, what- ever or a mix of all or some. Use a hard container vs your pocket or a treat pouch. This prevents your horse from getting a hold of the fabric and ripping it or inadver- tently getting a treat by theft. I use a plastic milk jug, the type used for bagged milk. I hang it off my belt and I can rest my arm over it preventing ac- cess. Get a halter and lead rope on your horse and do not work in the presence or


Equi Cup Results and Wrap Up Thank you to all the participants. FEI course


designer Volker Schmidt’s well-built courses com- bined with Ken Denouden’s top-notch jump mate- rial provided challenging courses for enjoyable competition. Both Grand Prix’s were won by the only clear round of the class. Michelle Vandal and Scarlett. Winners of the


Oct 5 Skyway Grand Prix and second-place hon- ours in the Oct 26th Skyway Grand Prix. Photo Credit: KayJay Equine Photos www.facebook.com/kayjayequinephotos


Oct. 5 RCRA Equi Cup Results:


Training Jumper CH: Iconic - Michelle Vandal RES: Hugo - Kim Fisher


JR/Adult Jumper CH: Zoe - Ethan Pitre RES: Don’t Bug Me - Lauren Bolton


Equi Cup Jumper 1 Elation - Mike Grinyer 2 Cochise - Dieter Werner 3 Centurio - Siobhain O’connor


Kathleen Hamber Mini Prix 1 Scarlett - Janet Jack 2 Vito W - Michelle Vandal 3 Orange Chocolate - Danielle Zerdin 4 Deputy 7 - Lisa Schutten 5 Zoe - Ethan Pitre


6 Mo-Money - Madelyn Livermore


Skyway Group Grand Prix 1 Scarlett - Michelle Vandal 2 Sly Aspros - Julia Parulski 3 Elation - Mike Grinyer 4 Centurio - Siobhain O’connor 5 Best Kept Secret - Chanelle Martin 6 Cardina - Michael Peg


Oct. 26 RCRA Equi Cup Results


Training Jumper CH: Historic - Michelle Vandal RES: Imperial - Jenna Fines


Jr/Adult Jumper CH: Fortuitous - Ali Gauvreau Res: Scarlett - Janet Jack


Equi Cup Jumper


1 Under Construction - Pam Macgregor 2 Best Kept Secret - Chanelle Martin 3 Domani - Dieter Werner


Kathleen Hamber Mini Prix 1 Fortuitous - Ali Gauvreau 2 Catamount - Zigi Zeng 3 Iconic - Zihan Zena 4 Scarlett - Janet Jack 5 Currahee - Charlotte Evans 6 Captain Morgan - Em Barrett


Skyway Group Grand Prix 1 Domani - Dieter Werner 2 Scarlett - Michelle Vandal 3 Best Kept Secret - Chanelle Martin 4 Under Construction - Pam Macgregor 5 Quick - Doug Henry 6 Hadara - Ashlynne Bugg


The purpose of the Equi Cup Shows is to pro-


vide a few options during the season to jump dif- ferent heights at quality venues at less cost. Thank you to our sponsors for helping us make this happen!


close proximity of other oth- ers. Be sure your horse an move his/her head freely. I start by feeding a treat on my terms. I do this only once and that is followed by a series of patient tiny incre- mental improvements. It is important to allow the horse to make mistakes. Don’t mi- cromanage or correct them. Let them learn that if they make a bad choice, there is no reward in it. Now you wait for the horse to stop trying to steal treats from the container. Be as still as you can, and don’t talk. That


only delays learning. The very moment your horse takes its head away from the container, say Yes and re- ward him/her. Don’t have high expectations to start. Even if its only an inch pulling back from the treat container, be sure to reward it! If you expect too much, you will fail. Incrementally wait for more withdrawal but reward the tiny efforts along the way. In no time, your horse will be turning his/her head away from the container and won’t even look at it! Be sure that you


Advertise on www.theridermarketplace.com


are bringing the treat to your horse and not allowing the horse to come to your hand. Wait and reward what you do want! Be consistent, be patient and only reward what is right. If the horse is getting grabby, you are re- warding the wrong behav- iours.


For those needing to


see this demonstrated, a full video of this process can be found online by searching Horsemanship Summit.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55