I have witnessed a lot of confusion and debate regarding the use of treats both in building a relationship with a horse and in training or teaching a horse. Many people have heard of or used Clicker Training as a method of training a horse, and makes it especially easy to teach “Trick Training”.
People are very pleased when their horse comes over to them, sniffing and nuzzling and acting very friendly. These things are very nice, but when someone is looking to deepen and develop a true friendship with a horse, we need to examine the horses’ motivation, the humans’ motivation, and the results of using treats.
I will try to express what I know about this by relating my observations with my three very different horses.
Let’s start with Bryn: he is young, turning 4 on June 16th. When I give him treats, his attention is consumed with getting MORE! His attention is certainly on me, but not on learning, not on the lesson at hand, only on putting more yummy things in his mouth. He becomes mouthy when he does not get what he is looking for, and since he is already very orally fixated, I do not necessarily want to encourage this. My conclusions with him are that while treats are a nice surprise every now and again, they have no place in our communication and lessons, at least not until he matures enough to develop discipline in lessons.
Vita is a slightly different story, and has actually changed my position on treats just a bit. For a while during the winter, I started giving her treats every time I went to see her, to help put her in a better mood, and to be a little friendlier toward me. After a very short time, she started expecting, and then demanding them. She hovered around me, blocking my path, and even pushing a bit. She began to get very aggressive, pinning her ears, and trying to bite. I stopped all treating and made the assumption that she should not get treats, except as a rare surprise. Lately, I started giving her one or two treats here and there, and then walking away from her. I would not keep a routine; just treat randomly and sometimes not at all. We had the greatest lesson the other day, and I incorporated treats. I discovered a different part of Vita. While she was still looking for treats, she discovered that I did not always relinquish them. She followed me around, asking politely, but never demanding. I put the cordeo on her, and together we learned about walk-halt transitions with the cordeo, without me being ahead of her and vice versa. Every now and then, I would give a treat and immediately move onto something else for her to think about. The unity and understanding between us was something we had not yet experienced. I have to add, that I do NOT attribute this entirely to the treats! She had just been adjusted by the chiropractor and I think was feeling exceptionally comfortable and lively.
And now onto Daisha. She is such a different story because she has such vastly different life experiences. Being so timid, she has no reason to trust humans to be near her, to touch her. I have used treats with her as sort of a white flag, or olive branch…a peace offering, to demonstrate to her that I mean only good. For the first few weeks she was with me, I did not use treats. I tried gaining her trust by simply being there and respecting her space. This surely is a great way to help a horse to regain trust. But I felt that this did little to demonstrate my intentions, and that they are good! So with my peace offering, I was able to get closer to her, and to offer a bit of comfort while introducing a bit of discomfort (my hand on her neck or shoulder). In a short while, the discomfort of my touch was transformed to comfort as we found delightful itchy places. Treats now give her the confidence to come to me and ask for something, a snack, a scratch, a kiss on the nose. If I notice her getting a bit more timid, especially after some of “pushing the boundaries”, like hoof trimming, I present my peace offering, and she visibly relaxes and becomes soft again. There will surely be times, as her confidence strengthens and our relationship deepens, that I will not use treats as often, and that Daisha, as with Bryn and Vita, they will become what they truly are: a treat. Not a staple or a crutch.
Here are things to keep in mind when debating the use of treats. First, is why you feel the need to use them? If you find yourself using them to bring your horses’ attention to you, to get him to “pay attention”, then chances are, he is acting that way not for you, but for the food. That demonstrates a lack of depth in the friendship. Don’t despair!! All this means is that you may want to take a step back and rediscover each other. If your horse does not seem to want to be around you, try examining your intentions and how your actions appear to your horse. I will expand on interacting with horses and gaining their attention in another post, later.
Treats can create a false sense of closeness. The horse may only be friendly because he wants treats, not because he wants to participate in our activities.
To truly see and feel if a horse wants to be with us, we should not need to coerce them or bribe them. A horse may put aside discomfort, in order to get their snack. If this is the case, we are not actually giving the horse freedom of choice. A horse will show their use of choice by either choosing to be with us because we stimulate and intrigue them, or they will choose to do their own thing, regardless of what we want.
The best example of misusing treats is using them to entice a horse to stretch. This can cause a horse to overstretch and possibly hurt himself in order to get his snack. If a horse learns to stretch by simple human/equine communication, he can become strong and flexible without fear of damage, and by increasing communication.
Think carefully on what treats mean to both you and your horse. Think about and observe his behavior both with treats and without treats. Be creative in thinking up activities to stimulate your horse and create interest in being with you. It is important to have fun in devising new games and activities. And most of all, remember this! The horse is Always right!
