THE 6 WAYS HORSES LEARN

You’ll be more successful in teaching your horse new skills or maneuvers if your lessons, timing and tasks are aligned with his natural modes of acquiring information.

Horses are not just smart; they are learning machines. They scout for cues everywhere and soak up information. Once acquired, new knowledge sticks to a horse’s brain like superglue. If there’s a problem with equine learning, it’s that horses learn too quickly---and forget too poorly---to accommodate human errors.

In equine environments, horses remember where fresh water and grass are located, what times of year such resources are available, where the best shelter is found and how to get to it. They learn where every horse in their group ranks in the social hierarchy and know complex kin relationships and behavioral rules within an entire herd. They recognize the distinct smell of each animal in their environment, not just different species but also different individuals within a species. They recall which situations to avoid, and they don’t forget events that caused them fear.

In human environments, horses learn the sounds and sights of various car engines and horse trailers. They demonstrate their facility at either ramp loading or step-up entry. They recognize our faces, voices and clothes. They learn to associate verbal commands with specific behaviors, they know their own tack, they remember the meaning of 10,000 almost imperceptible body aids. Greet a horse you haven’t seen in 10 years, and he will remember you. For many of these feats, no instruction is needed: Just stand back and watch the flypaper of a horse’s mind capture everything that gets near it.

But when it comes to mutual performance within a horse-and-human team, animals need help. Each one is saying silently, “Please, teach me what I need to know, show me what you want.” By nature, they use their heightened sensitivity to body language in seeking the tiniest signals. They assume each one has meaning if only they can crack the code. Given a handler who uses

the same cues consistently to achieve a given response, horses parse out human expectations the way bears find honey.

The trouble is that we humans are not as precise with our cues, or as clear in our expectations, as horses need us to be. We send mixed messages and reward bad behavior inadvertently, not realizing that our mounts just made a permanent connection between, oh say, rearing and resting.

We often fumble when choosing cues or in delivering them. We may not remember exactly which behavior a cue instigates. We generalize far more than our horses do---to us, the almost correct cue is close enough. But horses don’t have human levels of categorical perception. They learn each cue and response as a separate instance, with exacting detail. To horses, little differences have big meanings.

Many people think they’ve got to change course if a horse doesn’t respond to a signal the first time.

But more cues, different cues, only make the problem worse. Instead, just ask again in the same way you have asked before. The cleanest and most consistent cues work best.

If the horse is paying attention, knows the signal, and can perform the requested behavior, he will. If not, you need to take a step back and teach the horse more clearly what you expect. If he doesn’t catch on after repeated tries, something’s wrong. And usually it’s the lesson, the timing, the teacher or the task.

If there’s a problem with equine learning, it’s that horses learn too quickly —and forget too poorly—to accommodate human errors.