Post by Admin on Jul 8, 2016 18:37:06 GMT -7
Confirmation Bias: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories.
I haven't always found force-methods with horses to be cruel. It was the first way I learned. During my first lesson, my instructor would always be saying, "be rough with him! Show him who's boss!" And I'd listen, and follow through with what she said. It took me to open my mind up a bit to realize what I was doing was cruel, and I shouldn't force horses to do things they don't want to do.
I watched The Path of The Horse. I watched videos by Alexander Nevzorov, and I read as much as I could about liberty. And then I decided to teach Destiny tricks. The first trick I taught her was hug. I would stand at her shoulder, back up against her, and hold a treat by her so she'd wrap her neck around me. Once she had that down, I paired it with a cue, grabbing her mane from the other side. Then I added a new cue. Wrapping my arms around her neck. I realized after teaching her her first trick, that I wanted to trick train horses. It was not only fun for Destiny, but it was also fun for me, too.
I of course, got a lot of negativity.
"Isn't your horse ONLY doing it for treats?"
"What happens if she gets pushy for treats?"
Of course, those are just harmless questions, even though it's still looking at trick training in a negative way. Questions like that imply the other person just thinks of trick training as a way for a horse to get dominant, pushy, and greedy.
No one ever asks these questions:
"Isn't your horse ONLY doing what you ask to get release from pressure?"
"What happens if your horse gets pushy for release from pressure?"
You never see the above questions being asked. People just don't think about pressure and release as a way for a horse to get pushy or greedy, so they never ask those questions!
I got even worse comments as well.
"Your horse will kill you one day!"
"Well, good luck trick training THAT horse. She'll sooner kill you before you can teach her another trick."
"Destiny isn't the kind of horse I'd feed treats to... Ever."
"When I fed MY horse treats, he got pushy and kicked me. Be careful you don't get kicked!"
The comments above about Destiny killing me or getting aggressive, never get asked about pressure and release training. If you tell people you train with pressure and release, NO ONE tells you to be careful. No one tells you you'll get killed. Or kicked, or bit, or anything anyone wants to say. No one says any of that, because people aren't afraid of negative reinforcement (pressure and release). Positive reinforcement (trick training, training with treats, liberty, etc.) gets a bad reputation. People are hesitant to train with treats or primarily rewards (instead of relief, like in negative reinforcement) because they think if they don't use force, their horse will turn on them.
Because of this negative view on R+ (positive reinforcement), people tend to stick more closely with R- (negative reinforcement). This is because they have been doing it for a while, it's familiar to them, and R+ has a bad reputation. This preference for something familiar (R-), and negative outlook on something unfamiliar (R+) is what causes people to have confirmation bias. When you present them with any information that shows that R+ is a good, or even better way that they're already training, they get defensive. They think, "how could something that makes horses pushy and greedy help ME? I've been using R- with my horse for years, it's what he and I both are familiar with."
But of course you will always have an open-minded person consider the possibility of R+, or maybe even try it!
Before someone tries it, you need to send them resources. R+ taught wrong, or exercises taught in the wrong order, CAN make a horse pushy. And if the treats are too high value, it CAN make the horse greedy, and refuse to work without treats. The key is to work out all the possible issues you could encounter FIRST. Like, teach your horse to stay away from your space. Hold a treat, and wait until he turns his head away. When he does, feed the treat IN FRONT of him. Don't feed it by your hip, or your horse will go there every time and start mobbing you. And if you feed it to your horse as his head is coming toward you, even if it isn't yet at your hip, he'll still associate turning toward you with receiving a treat. This is IMPORTANT. A lot of people skip this lesson to get to the more fun tricks to teach. But this is the foundation for everything. It teaches your horse to focus on you and not the treat, and it also teaches the horse the treat has to be earned, through certain behaviors. This will aid in him being patient while waiting to receive a treat after a trick, and will also teach him to problem solve and figure out answers on his own.
Another mistake people make is feeding high value treats. Here is a picture that shows common horse treats on a scale, of Low value to High value.
Here are some signs of over-arousal in your horse:
-Biting or nearly biting the handler
-Erection in male horses
-Blocking the handler from leaving
-Tail swishing, pawing, vocalization, or anything related to anxiety
How to keep over-arousal from happening? Avoid feeding high value treats unless you want over-arousal! But remember, every horse considers something to be higher value or lower value. Destiny hates peppermint, but Prince will do anything for one. It all depends on the horse. See what treats are neutral or low value. Feeding high value treats is okay if you want to reward a behavior you particularly found great, like a real breakthrough. Like if you're teaching your horse the Spanish walk. Then one day, he stretches his leg out for the first time. This is a GREAT situation to feed a high value treat in! But if you feed them all the time, your horse will build up anxiety and over-arousal.
So if you practice feeding treats AWAY from your body and only feeding treats when his head is away from you, the horse won't be pushy. If you feed low or neutral value treats, your horse won't be greedy! Problem solved.
I have actually debunked these myths (treats make a horse pushy and greedy myth) and people still choose to do R-! Why? Confirmation Bias. They believe their method is better, because it's what they've always done. Pressure and release is part of their belief system, and they don't want to give it up. After all, you just need a halter, lead rope, and the ability to know how much pressure to apply, where to apply it, when to apply it, and when to release. Once someone knows what to look for, ANYONE can use R-. It's easy. R+ on the other hand, is more difficult. It takes longer for a horse to learn something, since there are no threats. However, it does take the same kind of observance to know when to give the treat, how much to give, and when to ask for another trick. You also have to communicate with your horse without a halter. This is a very difficult thing to learn to do. That is why so many people stick with their own beliefs.
1) It's familiar
2) R+ has a bad reputation
3) R- is easier and gets quicker results
4) Most people have been doing R- for a very long time, why stop now?
It's never too late to change! Watch as many videos as you can, read about trick training, liberty, click training, positive reinforcement... Research liberty trainers, visit clinics. Be as open minded as you can
R+ IS viewed very negatively, but that's because there are a lot of myths about it.
I haven't always found force-methods with horses to be cruel. It was the first way I learned. During my first lesson, my instructor would always be saying, "be rough with him! Show him who's boss!" And I'd listen, and follow through with what she said. It took me to open my mind up a bit to realize what I was doing was cruel, and I shouldn't force horses to do things they don't want to do.
I watched The Path of The Horse. I watched videos by Alexander Nevzorov, and I read as much as I could about liberty. And then I decided to teach Destiny tricks. The first trick I taught her was hug. I would stand at her shoulder, back up against her, and hold a treat by her so she'd wrap her neck around me. Once she had that down, I paired it with a cue, grabbing her mane from the other side. Then I added a new cue. Wrapping my arms around her neck. I realized after teaching her her first trick, that I wanted to trick train horses. It was not only fun for Destiny, but it was also fun for me, too.
I of course, got a lot of negativity.
"Isn't your horse ONLY doing it for treats?"
"What happens if she gets pushy for treats?"
Of course, those are just harmless questions, even though it's still looking at trick training in a negative way. Questions like that imply the other person just thinks of trick training as a way for a horse to get dominant, pushy, and greedy.
No one ever asks these questions:
"Isn't your horse ONLY doing what you ask to get release from pressure?"
"What happens if your horse gets pushy for release from pressure?"
You never see the above questions being asked. People just don't think about pressure and release as a way for a horse to get pushy or greedy, so they never ask those questions!
I got even worse comments as well.
"Your horse will kill you one day!"
"Well, good luck trick training THAT horse. She'll sooner kill you before you can teach her another trick."
"Destiny isn't the kind of horse I'd feed treats to... Ever."
"When I fed MY horse treats, he got pushy and kicked me. Be careful you don't get kicked!"
The comments above about Destiny killing me or getting aggressive, never get asked about pressure and release training. If you tell people you train with pressure and release, NO ONE tells you to be careful. No one tells you you'll get killed. Or kicked, or bit, or anything anyone wants to say. No one says any of that, because people aren't afraid of negative reinforcement (pressure and release). Positive reinforcement (trick training, training with treats, liberty, etc.) gets a bad reputation. People are hesitant to train with treats or primarily rewards (instead of relief, like in negative reinforcement) because they think if they don't use force, their horse will turn on them.
Because of this negative view on R+ (positive reinforcement), people tend to stick more closely with R- (negative reinforcement). This is because they have been doing it for a while, it's familiar to them, and R+ has a bad reputation. This preference for something familiar (R-), and negative outlook on something unfamiliar (R+) is what causes people to have confirmation bias. When you present them with any information that shows that R+ is a good, or even better way that they're already training, they get defensive. They think, "how could something that makes horses pushy and greedy help ME? I've been using R- with my horse for years, it's what he and I both are familiar with."
But of course you will always have an open-minded person consider the possibility of R+, or maybe even try it!
Before someone tries it, you need to send them resources. R+ taught wrong, or exercises taught in the wrong order, CAN make a horse pushy. And if the treats are too high value, it CAN make the horse greedy, and refuse to work without treats. The key is to work out all the possible issues you could encounter FIRST. Like, teach your horse to stay away from your space. Hold a treat, and wait until he turns his head away. When he does, feed the treat IN FRONT of him. Don't feed it by your hip, or your horse will go there every time and start mobbing you. And if you feed it to your horse as his head is coming toward you, even if it isn't yet at your hip, he'll still associate turning toward you with receiving a treat. This is IMPORTANT. A lot of people skip this lesson to get to the more fun tricks to teach. But this is the foundation for everything. It teaches your horse to focus on you and not the treat, and it also teaches the horse the treat has to be earned, through certain behaviors. This will aid in him being patient while waiting to receive a treat after a trick, and will also teach him to problem solve and figure out answers on his own.
Another mistake people make is feeding high value treats. Here is a picture that shows common horse treats on a scale, of Low value to High value.
Here are some signs of over-arousal in your horse:
-Biting or nearly biting the handler
-Erection in male horses
-Blocking the handler from leaving
-Tail swishing, pawing, vocalization, or anything related to anxiety
How to keep over-arousal from happening? Avoid feeding high value treats unless you want over-arousal! But remember, every horse considers something to be higher value or lower value. Destiny hates peppermint, but Prince will do anything for one. It all depends on the horse. See what treats are neutral or low value. Feeding high value treats is okay if you want to reward a behavior you particularly found great, like a real breakthrough. Like if you're teaching your horse the Spanish walk. Then one day, he stretches his leg out for the first time. This is a GREAT situation to feed a high value treat in! But if you feed them all the time, your horse will build up anxiety and over-arousal.
So if you practice feeding treats AWAY from your body and only feeding treats when his head is away from you, the horse won't be pushy. If you feed low or neutral value treats, your horse won't be greedy! Problem solved.
I have actually debunked these myths (treats make a horse pushy and greedy myth) and people still choose to do R-! Why? Confirmation Bias. They believe their method is better, because it's what they've always done. Pressure and release is part of their belief system, and they don't want to give it up. After all, you just need a halter, lead rope, and the ability to know how much pressure to apply, where to apply it, when to apply it, and when to release. Once someone knows what to look for, ANYONE can use R-. It's easy. R+ on the other hand, is more difficult. It takes longer for a horse to learn something, since there are no threats. However, it does take the same kind of observance to know when to give the treat, how much to give, and when to ask for another trick. You also have to communicate with your horse without a halter. This is a very difficult thing to learn to do. That is why so many people stick with their own beliefs.
1) It's familiar
2) R+ has a bad reputation
3) R- is easier and gets quicker results
4) Most people have been doing R- for a very long time, why stop now?
It's never too late to change! Watch as many videos as you can, read about trick training, liberty, click training, positive reinforcement... Research liberty trainers, visit clinics. Be as open minded as you can
R+ IS viewed very negatively, but that's because there are a lot of myths about it.