EMPOWERING YOUR EQUINE

Taking an unconventional approach to training your horse

Alta van Niekerk is the owner and founder of Empowering Equine Training & Behaviour. She focuses on fixing undesirable behaviours in horses through the use of a holistic approach to health and training. We sat down with her to learn a bit more about how she approaches helping horses and their humans.

What is your background, and why did you decide to shift to training with positive reinforcement?

I always say my love for horses is genetic; I never knew a time when I was not around horses in some way during my childhood. I grew up in a family of amazing horsemen and women. My mom showed horses, while my grandfather showed and bred horses on our family farm in the Free State. My grandfather was and still is a very wise horseman whom I greatly respect, and our mutual love for horses forms part of our very strong connection. Besides horses, I loved all animals. I constantly tried to tame our sheep by using their food to coax them closer so that I could pet them, and I taught our horses to come up to the stall door (because I was too small to see over it) by gently knocking, and then feeding them a carrot when they came to look for me. Looking back, I had already begun using positive reinforcement without even realising it!

I showed and rode equitation throughout my teenage years, and while I enjoyed it, there came a time I fell out of love with showing and horses. In hindsight, I believe I suffered from burnout due to the amount of showing I did, coupled with the loss of my mother to cancer. She was the best horse mom in the whole world and my biggest supporter. On top of that, she was an amazing rider. I made the decision to sell all of my show horses, and I swore off horses for life.

But, as the story goes, I couldn't stay away from horses. I dived back in with a new focus; I wanted to find out how horses' ‘work’; I wanted to understand their behaviour; I wanted to be able to solve complex behavioural problems; I wanted to really understand horses. The first step in my new journey was shadowing a natural horsemanship trainer, and the experience really opened my eyes. It showed me that there was another way to work with horses, where I didn't need to use the punishment and force-based training I had depended on during my showing career.

Even so, this new information didn't satiate my desire to understand the 'whys' behind horse behaviour. I wanted to learn more than just how to make my horses do XYZ, and understand the motivation behind why they were offering a specific behaviour. It was here that I was introduced to positive reinforcement and clicker training. The terms used in these schools of training made sense to me because they were a part of my degree which is rooted in science. Paired with my understanding of horse behaviour, I was hooked.

My traditional background still bugged me with intrusive thoughts such as "this isn't real horse training." Still, with nothing to lose, I jumped into positive reinforcement exercises with my childhood pony Blondie. She had retired from riding years before, so my new goal was to establish a solid relationship with her, something I could not achieve with the exercises I was historically taught.

The results were instant, and I immediately fell in love with the process. I dived into books, listened to podcasts, and got in touch with trainers all around the world. I found a positive reinforcement community on social media that enriched my knowledge of horses, horse training, equine ethology and welfare.

My first challenge came in the form of a horse who wouldn't load, regardless of what the owner tried. The horse's fear was so overpowering that four men had to pick him up and carry him into the trailer when he needed to go somewhere. When I offered my help to the owner, I remember her saying something along the lines of "well, nothing else is working." I worked with this horse for three days, and by the end of day three, he trotted right into the trailer. No kicking, rearing, or bolting; it was clear that there was no need for force, fear, or pain. The effectiveness of these simple techniques cemented what I love most about positive reinforcement training. Although I would take a different approach to loading a horse nowadays, I won't forget how safe, capable and confident I felt around that horse and how empowering it was to solve a problem without any force.

What is positive reinforcement?

Positive reinforcement (R+) training is quite new to the horse world, but it is nothing new in other training circles. Positive reinforcement initially began in the 1940s but gained huge traction in recent years. The first positive reinforcement trainers were students of the great psychologist BF Skinner. Through positive reinforcement, marine mammals are trained to do high-energy stunts, tigers are trained to give voluntary blood draws without sedation, elephants are trained to have their feet inspected, and crocodiles are trained to have their teeth cleaned. Let's not forget that the simple act of training our dogs to sit generally involves a treat and praise. See? You're already using R+.

In easy terms, positive reinforcement is the addition of a desirable stimulus - such as a treat- to increase the chance that a desired behaviour will occur again. A marker signal is often used in the form of a mechanical clicker, with some trainers using verbal cues to communicate to the horse what specific behaviour led to him receiving the reinforcer, which is usually food. By clicking and feeding to reward certain behaviours, the behaviours are more likely to be repeated. We work with the instinctual and biological desire for food and horses' desires to gain food reinforcement.

What positive reinforcement school do you fall into?

I label myself as a R+ LIMA-based trainer; LIMA is an acronym for "Least Intrusive, Minimally Aversive", as suggested by Dr Susan G. Friedman. A LIMA trainer is someone who uses the least intrusive and most minimally aversive methods to drive success in achieving a training goal or behaviour change without compromising the welfare of the horse.

This means I look at elements such as whether horses' 5 Freedoms are met. These are freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; freedom from fear and distress; and freedom to behave normally.

I look at subtle communication signals that horses use, such as calming signals and displacement behaviours. These are the ways our horses communicate to us that they are uncomfortable with something either being done to them or with something in their environment. Horse communication is quiet but loud if you know what to look for. I look at how we can make changes in horses' lives that will affect their behaviours. Again, this is based on the understanding of horses' physical health, biological, social, and nutritional needs, how they learn, and their base equine behaviours.

If you consider what I've mentioned, you'll see that many of the 'problem' behaviours we see in our horses come from fear, anxiety, and pain or discomfort. When confronted with these undesirable behaviours, my goal is always to address the root cause, not just the symptoms. I look at the whole horse encompassing their lifestyle, physical health, and mental wellbeing.

Do you address health and nutritional-based problems yourself, or do you work closely with other professionals?

I've educated myself on how to identify when there is a training problem or a health and pain-related problem with a horse. When someone reaches out to me for assistance, I like to get a background on the horse in question, such as when the last time they were checked for ulcers was, for example. I often work closely with other professionals and will refer my clients to them when there is a particular health- related concern. I always say that we can't train away pain. But with that said, behavioural responses are often triggered by a horse's past experience with pain, so this is where training and behaviour modification come into play. Once we rule out pain and discomfort, we can start training our goal behaviour.

What 'problem' behaviours can be helped with R+?

I firmly believe that any and all behaviour can be addressed using skilful positive reinforcement and LIMA principles. All behaviour serves a function to the horse, whether we enjoy the behaviour or not, much to our misery. The key is to find the function of the unwanted behaviour: is it to gain something the horse wants? Or is it to avoid something the horse does not like or finds very stressful, painful or fear-inducing; we work the same way.

Who has been your greatest inspiration during your positive reinforcement journey?

My entire learning journey has been a case of 'it took a village.' I have found an incredibly supportive community on social media, especially Instagram, and I am very active on my own Instagram page. I've connected with people all around the world, from England to Sweden, to Canada, and the United States. My mentor is Adele Shaw, CHBC, who owns and runs The Willing Equine in Austin, Texas. She has taken my knowledge and skill to the ultimate level, and if I had to name one person who has been my greatest inspiration from the start, it would be Adele. My husband has always been my biggest supporter and has always encouraged me to chase my dreams, so I would like to give him due credit as well.

Who do you think can benefit from using R+ training?

I think anyone and everyone can benefit from incorporating positive reinforcement training into their daily interactions with their horse, whether they're just happy hackers or competitive riders. Scientifically, positive reinforcement training has been shown to improve the memory of horses, accelerate the learning of complex behaviours, and help horses overcome fears. The horse develops a willingness to participate in training and builds a strong positive connection with us. There are no downsides to incorporating positive reinforcement in your training.

Can you give us an overview on a training session for beginners?

When I start working with a horse who has never trained with food reinforcement before, I often start off with a barrier between the horse and me; this is called protected contact. This simply gives more clarity to the horse that reaching over and 'mugging' me is not the behaviour that will get him the food. For the horse to get the food, I'd like them to stand in a neutral position, with all four feet on the ground and their head in the middle of their chest. This doesn't sound like an exciting behaviour, but this is the foundation for all behaviours I'll train.

From the stand-stay behaviour all the way to ridden work, this foundation sets you up for successful, positive reinforcement horse training. I'll start to click for this standstay behaviour (usually with a handheld clicker) and give the horse a forage-based hay pellet. I don't encourage using sugary horse treats or cookies, as these high-value treats can make training a bit more difficult. It may not seem like much, but a lot is happening in these short sessions (3-5 minutes). The horse is building the connection between the sound of the clicker and the arrival of food, and they make the connection that by standing with four feet on the ground and their heads in the middle of their chests, the click happens, and food arrives.

When we're training with positive reinforcement, we want our horses to stand quietly in this default position before we cue for the next behaviour. Adele Shaw explains it so well when she says: "Think about this default behaviour like a kid sitting in class with their hand raised, patiently waiting for their turn to be called on. They are eager to participate and actively offering the opportunity for the teacher to engage with them, but they are also confident the teacher will notice them in due time if they wait their turn patiently."

There is so much more to positive reinforcement, and I encourage you to get in touch with a positive reinforcement trainer if you are looking to start training. I share resources such as posts and videos, book recommendations, podcast recommendations and more on my Instagram @empoweringequine and Facebook Empowering Equine. I have a podcast called The Empowering Equine Podcast, where we talk a lot about getting started with positive reinforcement training, so I encourage you to join us.

I prioritise the horse-human relationship in my training, and I would like my clients to experience the positive and willing partnerships that are formed when training this way. My wish for my clients, both human and horse, is to feel empowered, which is why I called my business Empowering Equine Training & Behaviour.

My heart wants to help people with their horses in a kind and effective way.

If you have any questions on R+/ LIMA please contact me via WhatsApp on 079 095 0561 or email on empoweringequine@gmail.com. I'm now also available for online training and in-person consultations.