What is Positive Reinforcement or +R?
Positive reinforcement is just one form of operant conditioning. There are four “quadrants” of operant conditioning which is the way that learning occurs through rewards or punishments for behavior. Through operant conditioning, the learner (the horse) makes associations between the behavior and a positive or negative consequence. It’s important to remember that the + and – signs are defined by their mathematical meaning, not “good” or “bad”.
Positive Reinforcement (+R) happens when a reward is given to the horse after a desired behavior is exhibited. The horse learns that if it repeats the same behavior, more rewards will come. Food and scratches are the most commonly used rewards in horse training (Note: saying phrases like “good boy” or “good job” is not positive reinforcement).
Negative Reinforcement (-R) is the science-y way of saying “pressure and release” which is how all horses have been trained traditionally. A handler applies an aversive pressure of some kind (from annoying all the way to frightening or painful) until the desired response from the horse occurs and then the pressure is released. The horse learns from the relief of the pressure. (Note: the release IS NOT a reward).
Positive Punishment (+P) is the application/addition of something aversive as a punisher to stop or discourage a behavior from happening again. For example, hitting a horse for biting. The horse bites, you hit, horse is less likely to bite again IF the punishment was effective and the timing correct and the biting wasn’t caused by pain. Say your horse bites while tightening your cinch and he has gastric ulcers or kissing spine, the punishment may only repress the behavior temporarily because the pain does not go away.
Negative Punishment (-P) happens when there is a removal of something the horse wants as a form of punishment. For example, when you start training your horse with +R, your horse may “mug” you for food by putting his head close to you, trying to see if he can get the food himself. If you turn away or walk away, you’ll take the food out of reach. You’ve removed the thing your horse wanted as a punishment.
What is Clicker Training?
Clicker training is the term used to describe the use of a tool (a physical clicker) or the use of a marker/bridging sound during training. Typically this is seen in positive reinforcement training or reward based training, where we are rewarding behaviors with an appetitive stimulus (something the horse likes) to encourage the horse to show that behavior again. The click (or marker/bridging sound of choice - I use a "pop" sound with my mouth) marks the exact moment the horse does what it is we are looking for, and tells the horse that now their reward is coming. This way, it doesn’t have to be the moment that the food gets to the horse that marks the behavior we want. Typically by that time, the behavior has already ended. For example, if you are working with your horse while free lunging them and you want to reward them for doing a trot->canter transition well, you can “click” or make your marker sound the second they take that first canter stride. This way, the click marks the exact moment the horse did what you were looking for and you are able to take a moment to walk up to them and give them the food reward.
Click = That was it! Now food/scratches/something you like is coming.
The clicker allows us to be more precise with our communication. It decreases confusion, increases the rate of learning and success, and allows for very accurate training.
Typically the term “clicker training” is reserved for positive reinforcement based training methods, but I have seen it being used during what we call “combined” or “mixed” training approaches where both positive and negative reinforcement is being used, so be aware that in some cases, the click means the release of pressure + the addition of a reward.
An example of the clicker being used in a combined reinforcement program:
Click, now relief is coming from the pressure and a food reward or scratches will follow.
Do I Have To Use A Clicker?
Nope! You don’t have to use a physical clicker button, but you do have to use a vocal marker, otherwise known as a bridge signal. The bridge signal creates a clear communication ability between teacher and learner, marking the exact moment the behavior is expressed and tells the horse he has earned the positive reinforcer. It removes the guessing game they often have to go through to figure out what earned the food, or scratches, etc.
The clicker is just a tool that creates a consistent distinct sound with the touch of a button. It allows for the user to make the same bridge signal each and every time, reducing confusion and fluctuations that might naturally occur with something less mechanical. You could use any sound though, whether that’s a word or a vocal sound you’ve made up (I personally use the “clopping”/”popping” sound since I never have enough hands to hold a clicker lol). If you do use a word, it just needs to sound exactly the same each and every time, clear and unique from the rest of your cues or phrases. You cannot use the popular “cluck” noise that you might use when asking for forward movement while round penning, lunging, or under saddle. You also don’t want to use a phrase like “good boy/girl” unless you can confidently eliminate it from your vocabulary outside of training sessions.
How Could +R Benefit My Horse and I?
There is no good way to briefly explain the endless changes that come with shifting training to a positive reinforcement focused based approach, your relationship with horses and towards horse training will change dramatically – for the better! Problems that seemed so irritating, frustrating and impossible become easily understood and simpler to work with. Training makes sense and requires less frustration, stress, and confusion on both the part of the human and the horse.
Your mentality when troubleshooting an issue with your horse will shift from, “I wish my horse would respect me or stop trying to show dominance” to, “Why is my horse trying to communicate that he is uncomfortable with what’s going on and how can I help him feel more at ease?” This kind of approach will phenomenally improve your relationship with your horse as you strive to work through obstacles together.
Does +R Work With Every Horse?
Absolutely! It doesn’t matter if you’re working with an elephant, lizard, orca, fish, grey horse, short horse, old horse, skinny horse… Positive reinforcement works with not only all horses, but all species.
The crazy thing is, positive reinforcement exists in every day life everywhere around us. If a horse is nudging a human and the human whips out a tasty carrot to give to the horse, the horse was just positively reinforced for nudging the human. If a dog barks at the back door and eventually someone lets them inside, they were positively reinforced for barking at the back door. If a kid begs their parent until the parent gives in and buys them the toy they wanted, they have been positively reinforced for begging.
These are all relatively annoying and undesirable behaviors to adult humans though, so alternatively, we could use positive reinforcement in each of those scenarios to achieve the exact opposite from the behavior that we are looking. Like this:
Give the horse the carrot when they are NOT nudging you. Only let the dog inside when it’s NOT barking. Buy the kid a toy when they are NOT constantly asking for it. As the owner, trainer, rider, handler, etc. all we have to do is think of the goal behavior, break it down into smaller steps, wait until the horse exhibits a step in the right direction (either literal or metaphorical haha) then we can reward the desirable behavior and train almost any behavior the way we want it with positive reinforcement.
Can I Use +R While Riding?
You can definitely use it while riding! As long as you can balance well enough to lean forward and hand your horse the food reward while they turn their head around, you can give the reward from the saddle. If your horse is super into neck scratches, you can easily do this from the saddle as well. Everything you teach from the ground is transferrable to the saddle, just like it is in traditional training.
Check out Adele Shaw’s article Can You Ride With +R? to read more about how to start riding with positive reinforcement.
Where Should I Start With +R?
It’s super easy to get started, but I recommend doing some research beforehand to avoid mistakes when you go to apply it with your horse. I too have made mistakes and had to learn the hard way what it takes to undo those mistakes.
In the beginning, the information can be overwhelming and you’re going to wonder if you have to stop everything you’ve been doing with your horse previously and completely start over in order to train this way. The answer is no, you don’t have to give up your daily handling and interactions or riding. I would start by considering what certain situations or behaviors you want to change and apply +R to one thing at a time instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water. Gradually, you can replace the things that you would have used pressure and release with in the past by using your new +R approach and you’ll be back to doing groundwork and riding your horse in no time!
With this in mind, some horses may require a complete “re-start”. These are the horses that are very shut down (in a state of learned helplessness), traumatized, fearful, reactive, explosive, evasive, and/or dangerous. These horses will need a completely fresh start with a handler who uses exclusively positive reinforcement because they cannot handle the physical or mental pressures used in traditional training.
With most horses though, you can begin gradually changing bits and pieces of your relationship with your horse. Start with some little things, and feel free to get in touch with me if you have more questions!
What Kind Of Treats Should I Use?
What kind of food reward you use depends on your individual horse. Typically, I start by using hay pellets. I’ll use pellets made from the same kind of hay that they get fed. For example, my horses get mostly Bermuda, with a little bit of Alfalfa, so the hay pellets I use with most of them are a Bermuda/Alfalfa mix. Most horses are motivated enough to still feel rewarded by the hay pellets, but some may be too motivated. If you horse places a high value on hay pellets, you will need to use something less enticing, like handful of hay, chopped hay, or even celery. Many horses will be too motivated by something more novel than hay pellets, like commercial treats or apples slices, carrots, watermelon rinds, etc. because they are so high in sugar and have a stronger flavor. By “too motivated” I mean it is a struggle to get your horse to keep from “mugging” you constantly for more treats. There are ways to work on manners around food (primarily using negative punishment by walking away), but you can make it easier on both of you by using a lower value treat.
If you are worried about your horse choking on food pellets, keep in mind choke is actually a behavioral issue, but remember to give your horse the option for a water break by leaving the area, especially in the summer. Read more about choke here.
When Can I Stop Using Food?
In short… never! But don’t let that deter you. What changes is the frequency that you give the food. As the horse solidifies more and more cues/behaviors using +R, the more they can do in succession without needing a constant reward. Eventually, you will be able to do so many behaviors in succession before needing to use a food reward that you could go through an entire dressage test without anyone even knowing your train with +R. Think about it this way: when you train with traditional/natural horsemanship methods that are based on pressure and release, you never stop using pressure and release to maintain the behavior. You may reduce the amount of pressure used, you may increase the criteria necessary for the horse to complete before the pressure is released, but pressure and release are always used to achieve that behavior. It’s no different with positive reinforcement training.
Is It Ever Too Early Or Too Late To Start Using +R?
Never! If your horse is in good health, and you won’t be interfering with the dam/foal relationship, you can begin working with positive reinforcement as early or as late as you want. Old dogs DO learn new tricks, and foals learn very quickly, too! If you do work with your horse as a foal, take the dam’s communication signals seriously (read more here) and see if your foal likes scratches enough to use that as your reward instead of food – most foals *love* scratches. And as far as training history goes, it’s never too late to re-start or try something new. Even with a “well broke” horse, a horse with a long traumatic history, or a horse with a successful career, it’s never too late to learn something new or change the relationship dynamic between you and your horse.
Comments