How Horse Personality Impacts Learning

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA
Sep 21, 2017

When your horse responds to your cues, is it because he knows a reward is coming afterward (like a treat or a release of pressure)? Or is it because he recognizes the cue and knows that when he gets that cue, he’s just supposed to respond with a certain action?

This might sound like cognition nit-picking, but it’s actually a very important question when it comes to the way your horse learns. The first case is what scientists call “goal-directed” learning—it means horses will adjust their actions according to whether that reward keeps coming regularly. The second case is called “habit-directed” learning. Horses that tend toward habit-directed learning are more likely to just keep doing what they’ve been taught to do, regardless of whether that reward keeps coming...

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/39711/how-horse-personality-impacts-learning?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=welfare-industry&utm_campaign=09-28-2017