What’s best for teaching an old pony new tricks: The carrot or the whip?

New equine behavior research is pointing us to the carrot. According to results from a recent study in France, awarding horses for correct moves during training is more effective and has longer lasting results than coercing them with negative influences. It also strengthens the horse-human relationship generally.

The study, led by equine behaviorist Carol Sankey, MSc, a PhD candidate in ethology (the study of animal behavior) at the University of Rennes, involved 21 riding club ponies, aged 10 to 16. Sankey taught the ponies to back up on a vocal command ("Back") without the use of reins or lead lines. The ponies were free-standing in an arena with Sankey, who stood in front of them. If the ponies did not step backwards on the first try, she would tap her foot. One group of ponies received positive reinforcement (grain pellets) when they took a step backwards. The other group received negative reinforcement (a whip shaken in front of their heads) until they did not take a step backwards. Each pony was trained for one to three minutes each day for five days.

At the end of the five days, all the ponies had learned the command, but it took much longer for the negative reinforcement group to respond to the command. Every pony in the positive reinforcement group stepped backward by the second try, but that was only true for half the ponies in the negative reinforcement group