Post by Admin on Feb 8, 2016 8:27:51 GMT -7
What are the 5 Cognitive Dimensions?
1. Empathy
2. Communication
3. Cunning
4. Memory
5. Reasoning
What is empathy?
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
What is communication?
Communication is separated into two parts: social and independent. Your horse may display mixed traits of both Social and Independence, or they could identify closer to one than the other.
Social horses:
-More likely to suffer from separation anxiety (example, more likely to call out or wait by the fence if you take another horse out, more likely to balk when being taken out).
-Learn better in an environment they spend a lot of time in, such as the pasture.
-Are eager to please.
-More likely to come to you when called, follow you, and even nicker at you.
-Less likely to try things on his own, may need some encouraging (example: if you toss a jolly ball in there, he may walk a few steps and then look back at you.)
Independent horses:
-Less likely to suffer from separation anxiety.
-Learn better in an environment where he can focus, with less distractions.
-Are eager to please, if they find something in it for them. Usually easier to train using treats, rather than solely using scratch and pet rewards.
-Will come to you when called, follow you, and might nicker once he forms a friendship with you.
-More likely to try things on his own, doesn't need a lot of encouraging (example: if you toss a jolly ball in there, he will go and play with it himself)
What is cunning?
Cunning is having or showing skill in achieving one's ends by deceit or evasion. Of course, that's the definition from the dictionary. And horses don't try and deceive people. However, some horses you will see display cunning-like behavior, such as:
-Pawing at grain time
-Nuzzling your pockets for treats
-Performing tricks when not asked, in order to get a reward
-Messing with the lock on a gate when he sees you
-Running along the fence if he sees the hay truck/tractor
Horses CAN display cunning-like behavior, in order to get something good in return. Destiny, for example, is very cunning. She will paw at grain time and perform tricks when not asked. In her mind, she's trying to coax me to give her things, by doing certain behaviors. Prince on the other hand, isn't very cunning. He doesn't paw at grain time nor does he perform tricks when not asked for treats, unlike Destiny.
What is memory?
Memory is the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information. Horses all have different memory. Some have better memory than others. In traditional training, a horse's intelligence is measured by how much he can remember, and how quickly he can memorize different things. Horses who have weaker memory than others aren't less intelligent than horses who have stronger memories. The horses who have weaker memories are simply stronger in other areas.
What is reasoning?
Reasoning is the action of thinking about something in a logical, sensible way. Now you may be thinking, "horses cannot reason!" They sure can! Horses with strong reasoning can discover the answer to puzzles for themselves.
Example...
A horse with weak reasoning would nudge the carton, and wouldn't get any carrots out. A horse with stronger reasoning would pull the carrots out, one by one.
GAMES & EXPERIMENTS! (And questions to ask yourself!)
Below are some games and experiments to test your horses strengths and weaknesses.
Empathy:
-Mimicry: your horse easily picked up mimicry, and quickly mastered backing up beside you when you back up, sticking a leg out when you do it, following you, stopping with you, and turning with you.
-Reading body language: your horse easily reads body language. It doesn't take a lot to cue him, cues are very soft, and almost invisible to the eye.
Communication:
Determine whether your horse is more social or more independent. You can do these by observing their behavior over time, or by playing games.
-Take your horse out of the pasture, only using a cordeo (IF HE'S CORDEO TRAINED!). Does he listen to you, or does he keep looking back at the pasture anxiously and balking?
-The first day, train your horse in the pasture. Is he distracted or focused? The second day, train your horse in the arena. Is he distracted or focused?
-Train your horse using treats. Does he work better for the treats? The second day, train your horse using scratches and minimal treats. Does he slow down his effort, or quit working altogether once you stop giving treats?
-How long did it take for your horse to come to you when called? Some horses come to anyone, right away or within a week or two, others can take a year or more!
-Toss his favorite toy over the fence and wait. Does he go over and play with it on his own, ignoring you, or does he wait for you to join him before going off to play it? Or, does he go over and nudge it, and then return his eyes back at you?
It's important to take notes of your horses behavior, then pair them up with my chart under the section called, "What is communication?"
Cunning:
This one is purely observance. Does your horse display behavior that seems like he's trying to convince you to bring something to him? Like pawing at grain time, running along the fence when he sees the hay truck, performing tricks when not asked in an attempt to receive a treat (Destiny will begin doing the Spanish walk if she wants a treat!), nuzzling your pockets for treats, etc.? If he displays behaviors in an attempt to either get a scratch or some food, he's displaying cunning behavior! This is if he's doing it all the time, not only if he's hungry (and he should't be!), or if you haven't been giving him attention for a while!
Memory:
You can play a few games, and observe.
-Take a cone and put a treat under it. Bring the horse away and take him back 30 seconds later, see if he remembers where the treat is!
-Play the distinguishing games in the Play Work section. How quickly does he learn the differences between different colors, objects, and photographs?
-How quickly did he learn his name and vocal cues?
-Take a break from a trick for a few months. How easily does he remember it the next time you see him? Does he respond right away, or does it take some repetitions?
Reasoning:
-Make homemade toys. How easily does he figure them out?
-Cue your horse to pick up the jolly ball. Does he try and grip it with his teeth (unsuccessfully, most jolly balls aren't deflated enough for a horse to pick it up unless it's by the handle), or nudge it over to reach for the handle?
-Has your horse figured out how to open containers? I tested this with Destiny, by showing her the grain was in her container. Then I latched the thing shut. Destiny began trying to nudge the lid up with her nose. When that didn't work, she gripped it and tried to pull upward. Then she noticed the two latches on the lid. She put her teeth under it, and pulled upward. One latch came undone, success! She repeated the action with the other latch, and then she lifted up the lid and received the grain. Prince on the other hand, has weaker reasoning. When he was put to the test, he never tried to figure out other ways to open the lid, he just repeated the same action. He just repeated trying to lift it with his nose, and then gave up and ate the hay beside the container instead of trying for the grain some more. But of course, I did end up giving him the grain anyway
-Does your horse know his strengths? Example: you know how some cages have doors and others just have a rope (picture below)? Put your horse in a cage with a rope latch. Of course, don't keep him in here, it's cruel to cage horses (unless it's only at night, it's too cold or too hot outside, or they're on cage rest). Just use this as a test. Does your horse walk into the rope, breaking himself out, or does he not realize how weak it actually is and stand in there and wait?
Have fun playing the games! You can make up your own experiments and observations as well
1. Empathy
2. Communication
3. Cunning
4. Memory
5. Reasoning
What is empathy?
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
What is communication?
Communication is separated into two parts: social and independent. Your horse may display mixed traits of both Social and Independence, or they could identify closer to one than the other.
Social horses:
-More likely to suffer from separation anxiety (example, more likely to call out or wait by the fence if you take another horse out, more likely to balk when being taken out).
-Learn better in an environment they spend a lot of time in, such as the pasture.
-Are eager to please.
-More likely to come to you when called, follow you, and even nicker at you.
-Less likely to try things on his own, may need some encouraging (example: if you toss a jolly ball in there, he may walk a few steps and then look back at you.)
Independent horses:
-Less likely to suffer from separation anxiety.
-Learn better in an environment where he can focus, with less distractions.
-Are eager to please, if they find something in it for them. Usually easier to train using treats, rather than solely using scratch and pet rewards.
-Will come to you when called, follow you, and might nicker once he forms a friendship with you.
-More likely to try things on his own, doesn't need a lot of encouraging (example: if you toss a jolly ball in there, he will go and play with it himself)
What is cunning?
Cunning is having or showing skill in achieving one's ends by deceit or evasion. Of course, that's the definition from the dictionary. And horses don't try and deceive people. However, some horses you will see display cunning-like behavior, such as:
-Pawing at grain time
-Nuzzling your pockets for treats
-Performing tricks when not asked, in order to get a reward
-Messing with the lock on a gate when he sees you
-Running along the fence if he sees the hay truck/tractor
Horses CAN display cunning-like behavior, in order to get something good in return. Destiny, for example, is very cunning. She will paw at grain time and perform tricks when not asked. In her mind, she's trying to coax me to give her things, by doing certain behaviors. Prince on the other hand, isn't very cunning. He doesn't paw at grain time nor does he perform tricks when not asked for treats, unlike Destiny.
What is memory?
Memory is the faculty by which the mind stores and remembers information. Horses all have different memory. Some have better memory than others. In traditional training, a horse's intelligence is measured by how much he can remember, and how quickly he can memorize different things. Horses who have weaker memory than others aren't less intelligent than horses who have stronger memories. The horses who have weaker memories are simply stronger in other areas.
What is reasoning?
Reasoning is the action of thinking about something in a logical, sensible way. Now you may be thinking, "horses cannot reason!" They sure can! Horses with strong reasoning can discover the answer to puzzles for themselves.
Example...
A horse with weak reasoning would nudge the carton, and wouldn't get any carrots out. A horse with stronger reasoning would pull the carrots out, one by one.
GAMES & EXPERIMENTS! (And questions to ask yourself!)
Below are some games and experiments to test your horses strengths and weaknesses.
Empathy:
-Mimicry: your horse easily picked up mimicry, and quickly mastered backing up beside you when you back up, sticking a leg out when you do it, following you, stopping with you, and turning with you.
-Reading body language: your horse easily reads body language. It doesn't take a lot to cue him, cues are very soft, and almost invisible to the eye.
Communication:
Determine whether your horse is more social or more independent. You can do these by observing their behavior over time, or by playing games.
-Take your horse out of the pasture, only using a cordeo (IF HE'S CORDEO TRAINED!). Does he listen to you, or does he keep looking back at the pasture anxiously and balking?
-The first day, train your horse in the pasture. Is he distracted or focused? The second day, train your horse in the arena. Is he distracted or focused?
-Train your horse using treats. Does he work better for the treats? The second day, train your horse using scratches and minimal treats. Does he slow down his effort, or quit working altogether once you stop giving treats?
-How long did it take for your horse to come to you when called? Some horses come to anyone, right away or within a week or two, others can take a year or more!
-Toss his favorite toy over the fence and wait. Does he go over and play with it on his own, ignoring you, or does he wait for you to join him before going off to play it? Or, does he go over and nudge it, and then return his eyes back at you?
It's important to take notes of your horses behavior, then pair them up with my chart under the section called, "What is communication?"
Cunning:
This one is purely observance. Does your horse display behavior that seems like he's trying to convince you to bring something to him? Like pawing at grain time, running along the fence when he sees the hay truck, performing tricks when not asked in an attempt to receive a treat (Destiny will begin doing the Spanish walk if she wants a treat!), nuzzling your pockets for treats, etc.? If he displays behaviors in an attempt to either get a scratch or some food, he's displaying cunning behavior! This is if he's doing it all the time, not only if he's hungry (and he should't be!), or if you haven't been giving him attention for a while!
Memory:
You can play a few games, and observe.
-Take a cone and put a treat under it. Bring the horse away and take him back 30 seconds later, see if he remembers where the treat is!
-Play the distinguishing games in the Play Work section. How quickly does he learn the differences between different colors, objects, and photographs?
-How quickly did he learn his name and vocal cues?
-Take a break from a trick for a few months. How easily does he remember it the next time you see him? Does he respond right away, or does it take some repetitions?
Reasoning:
-Make homemade toys. How easily does he figure them out?
-Cue your horse to pick up the jolly ball. Does he try and grip it with his teeth (unsuccessfully, most jolly balls aren't deflated enough for a horse to pick it up unless it's by the handle), or nudge it over to reach for the handle?
-Has your horse figured out how to open containers? I tested this with Destiny, by showing her the grain was in her container. Then I latched the thing shut. Destiny began trying to nudge the lid up with her nose. When that didn't work, she gripped it and tried to pull upward. Then she noticed the two latches on the lid. She put her teeth under it, and pulled upward. One latch came undone, success! She repeated the action with the other latch, and then she lifted up the lid and received the grain. Prince on the other hand, has weaker reasoning. When he was put to the test, he never tried to figure out other ways to open the lid, he just repeated the same action. He just repeated trying to lift it with his nose, and then gave up and ate the hay beside the container instead of trying for the grain some more. But of course, I did end up giving him the grain anyway
-Does your horse know his strengths? Example: you know how some cages have doors and others just have a rope (picture below)? Put your horse in a cage with a rope latch. Of course, don't keep him in here, it's cruel to cage horses (unless it's only at night, it's too cold or too hot outside, or they're on cage rest). Just use this as a test. Does your horse walk into the rope, breaking himself out, or does he not realize how weak it actually is and stand in there and wait?
Have fun playing the games! You can make up your own experiments and observations as well