b'EDUCATING EQUESTRIANSAre You and Your Horse a Match?Sometimes you and a horse suit one another. Sometimes you dont.The right fit isnt just about an enjoy-able ride, however. A good match can also lead to improved safety and performance, said Roberta Ariboni Brandi, PhD, of the College of Animal Science and Food En-gineering at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. She and her colleagues recently studied the relationship between horses reactivity levels and rider match.Ariboni Brandi and her team ran temperament testing on 37 police horses, COURTESY DR. HALEY RANDLEsome piloted by familiar riders, some by unfamiliar ones. They evaluated their re-activity in five situations: bridge crossing (in hand and under saddle), exposure to suddenly appearing objects, and confron-tation with active or passive humans.Schedule a day off within the first four days of training young foals to reduce potential stress-related They scored each horses reactivitybehaviors.level on a one-to-five scale, ranging from calm to very aggressive. the horses in the bridge-crossing chal- in Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, The scientists also observed the rela- lenge when ridden by an unfamiliar rider.Australia.tionships between the horses and theirIn fact, horses and riders can match onBiting in young foals is a behavioral riders during the ridden bridge-crossingthe first ride. sign of stress, she explained. These foals test. Specifically, said Ariboni Brandi,Prior knowledge of the rider by thewere only training less than half an hour they noted signs of harmonious com- horse does not affect their reactivity whena day but, by the fourth day in a row, munication between rider and horse,a challenging object is presented, shemany were biting the handlers, some fre-consistent rider signals, and the invasive- said. quently. Meanwhile, foals of the same age ness of those signalsrepresentative of aIndeed, the teams found that the morethat got a one-day break after the second horse/rider match. reactive horses were more likely to betraining day were much less likely to bite, We noticed a distinct associationmismatched with their ridersalthougheven on the fourth day of actual training.between horse-rider mismatch andunderstanding the cause-effect in that re- Randle presented the work of her uni-increased reactivity in the horse tolationship requires further study, she said. versity colleague, Jaymie Loy, BSc. The unknown objects, said Ariboni Brandi.Ariboni Brandi noted that when horseteam worked with foal trainers in New However, we saw no correlations be- and rider communicate well and the riderZealand who practice evidence-based tween reactivity and the horses familiar- uses the aids appropriately, frighteningfoundation training using negative rein-ity with the rider. situations could become less dangerous. forcement (the timely release of pressure They also looked for any indications ofKnowing the effect of the horsesto reward a correct behavioral response).the rider not being able to react appro- reactivity on the match or mismatch isThe group trained 20 Thoroughbred priately (consistent with scientific prin- very important to ensure the safety of thefoals to move forward and stop in re-ciples of learning theory) to the horseshorse-rider couple in new and challeng- sponse to halter pressure. All the young behavior, including poor timing and useing situations, she said. horses worked for a total of six or seven of cues, not picking up on the horsesdays, for up to 25 minutes each day, cues, or a poorly trained response byYoung Foals in Halter Training Needdepending on their progress during each the horseessentially, the horse notFrequent Days Off session. However, half the foals had one-responding as expected to a given cue,You can begin teaching young foals im- day breaks between two days of training she said. Meanwhile, the team checkedportant tasks like leading early in life. But(Days 3 and 6), whereas the other half for signs of discomfort in the horses,Australian and New Zealand researchershad a single two-day break after the first such as laid-back ears, head-s haking, or arecommend giving them a day off aboutfour days in a row of training.shortened stride. These indicators wouldevery two or three days. The researchers found that regard-represent a mismatch, Ariboni BrandiWe were really surprised to see suchless of the schedule, all foals learned at explained. a significant difference in the amount ofabout the same rate and had the same And, despite common claims that hors- bitingyoung foals did according tolevel of recall of what theyd learned, es and riders develop mutual trust overhow often they got days off, said HayleyRandle said. Where the researchers saw time, Ariboni Brandi and her colleaguesRandle, PhD, of Charles Sturt Universitysa difference, though, was in the youngest didnt see this phenomenon reflected inSchool of Animal and Veterinary Science,foals behavior. Specifically, foals younger 36February 2020The Horse|TheHorse.comISES_WrapUp.indd 36 1/3/20 10:18 AM'