Center for the interaction of Animals and Society School of Veterinary Medicine,   University of Pennsylvania Dr. James A. Serpell, Director
	Seventh Interdisciplinary Conference on Human Relations with Animals and the Natural W orld NEW DIRECTIONS IN ANIMALS TRAINING, HANDLING & RESTRAINT

Using Equine Behavior to Expedite and Simplify Initial Training in Horses

(Abstract)

Brian D. Nielsen and Adroaldo J. Zanella

Department of Animal Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824-1225

The use of a round pen has gained much popularity in recent years as many outstanding horsemen have implemented it as part of their training programs. Individuals such as Ray Hunt, Tom Dorrence, John Lyons, Monty Roberts and Richard Shrake have demonstrated the advantages of using a round pen in order to gain acceptance from horses, as well as to control the animal without using excessive artificial means. However, due to recent media coverage, much mystique surrounds the procedure used. The round pen design has some features that enhance the interaction between trainer and horses. Horses released into the round pen are exposed to a novel environment and to the stress of social isolation. In our previous work (Rivera et al., 1999), we demonstrated that there was no difference in cortisol levels in control animals (just released into the round pen) and animals that were actually trained. It is likely that the social isolation and the initial interaction with the trainer activates the stress axis and the release of glucocorticoid hormones may facilitate learning (McEwen et al., 1995). In addition, the design of the round pen offers limited ways for the horse to control its environment. We hypothesize that the horse's relationship with its trainer becomes the only event that the animal has some degree of control and the responses are predictable. The existing evidences indicate that during the first day of training the horse may show behavioral responses suggestive of fear. The initial responses of the horses to the novel environment are characterized by intense investigation (32 recorded events in training day one and a 5-fold decrease during the subsequent week 2, 3 and 4). Mean defecation scores (also an indicator of fear) showed a market decrease with the development of training (4.8 events at day 1 and 0.5 events at week 4 of training, Rivera et al., 1999). The initial phase of the training procedure is aimed to establish a causal relationship between the behavior of the horse (e.g. move the head towards the source of pressure) and the cessation of the discomfort (e.g. the handler releases the lead that causes the discomfort). We demonstrated previously (Rivera et al., 1999) that during the first training session, horses may require more than 60 repetitions of this relationship to obtain a predictable response. At the seventh day of training, these responses were obtained with 1/10 of the initial repetitions. The second expected outcome during groundwork training is to decrease the flight response of the horse and to establish a close association between the trainer and the animal. In this case, the causal relationship may be established between the behavior of the horse (e.g. directing its attention to the trainer; E1) and the body "cues" produced by the trainer (e.g. stop "chasing the horse, look away from the horse; E2). In our experimental work (Rivera et al., 1999), the trainer spent on average 5.9 minutes actively forcing the horse to move away using arm movements with or without a rope (62 events/initial training session). Before the placement of the saddle, the trainer uses an exhaustive habituation protocol aimed to decrease the responsiveness of the peripheral (pressure ?) receptors. During the habituation protocols, "grooming" or "stroking" of the head and neck, and a release of pressure on the halter and lead line, are used to reward the expected responses. Mounting and the initial riding are performed following a strict and quasi ritualistic habituation protocol only interrupted by "grooming" rewards. As a result, this system provides an alternative to a more traditional training and can expedite the initial training process of young horses.

Brian Nielsen performed his graduate work at Texas A&M University in the area of equine nutrition and exercise physiology. He received his Master's of Science in December of 1992. His Master's research involving feeding sodium zeolite A to young racehorses to increase training distance before injury won the nutrition paper competition at the 13th Equine Nutrition and Physiology Symposium in Gainesville, FL, as well as earning him recognition by TAMU Association of Former Students for outstanding Master's research. Additionally, he won the nutrition paper competition at the 14th Equine Nutrition and Physiology Symposium in Ontario, CA with his Ph.D. work dealing with mineral balance in young racehorses entering training. Throughout his academic career, he has maintained involvement in the racing industry by breaking and galloping Racing Quarter Horses and Thoroughbreds for a number of trainers. Brian completed his Ph.D. in May of 1996 and began work at Michigan State University where he accepted a position as assistant professor in the Department of Animal Science where he works in the area of equine exercise physiology.

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