Whispering Horse - Clicker Training Equines

03/06/2026

Horses can smile!! ❤🥰

They certainly can and I love making memes that highlight their different facial expressions, see the meme below and I have made many similar memes.

A study found that specific facial expressions showed a positive emotional valence. Yep! ❤️

"“Improving horse welfare can’t be limited to just avoiding negative emotions,” she said. “We need to strive toward a maximum of positive emotions.”"

Yes!! as per the Five Domains, we want more than just an absence of negative states, we want pleasure, enjoyment and happiness!!

Read the study and summary in the comments.

03/06/2026

I've been tidying up my computer files and it reminded me how many courses I’ve signed up for and never really completed, or found them disappointing, weird or not useful.

I’ve got lots of e-books and pdfs that I’ve downloaded to learn more about equine movement, biomechanics, how to achieve balance, or straightness or even just a nice walk!

What I found was that I was already doing a lot of what was being taught, but with R+ training. I’ve also been able to compare not only behaviours, but the overall demeanour of the professional’s and other student’s equines with my own horses.

Whenever the motivation is via some kind of aversive stimulation, either using gear, ropes, halters, the person’s proximity, or whips, no matter how much they spend on a chapter about getting friendly with the whip - in the end, I could see they DO cause tension. They cause physical, emotional and psychological tension in the horse and it shouts at me when I see it! I don’t care if they click and treat after, that bell cannot be unrung.

What was the most frustrating was that a lot of the focus was on movements that I have already trained and on getting nice willing gentle responses from the horses, which I already have as well. You can see my frustration about purchasing content that is teaching what I already know how to do, while marketing it as something new or unique.

What I found was that if you are committed to positive reinforcement (R+) training and you start at the beginning, learn to do it correctly, get some really good basic behaviours under your belt, then you start to develop a clicker savvy equine.

Then you can also learn how to shape behaviours using different techniques such as targets, free shaping, mirroring/mimicking, capturing, luring, etc.

You then have the tools to shape various movements in your horse in different directions. For example, you can teach them to go forward, turn, circle, pirouette and also move backwards straight or turning and then also sideways, such as side pass or with various bends.

From there you can teach lateral movements, turn on the hindquarter, turn on the forequarter, etc.

You can walk in out of spirals in different directions and from each side of your horse, being ambidextrous, you can do weaves around cones and you can do it all with a happy, calm and willing equine, not one avoiding the whip, cane, wand or bamboo.

You can train different body targets where your horse moves towards or away from a target to get the movement and you can also combine targets to get both forward movement, bend, flexion, lateral movement with adduction and abduction. (I did learn a few terms!)

Hopefully my graphic makes sense, this is what I’m trying to describe.

If you’ve learnt the basics of R+ training, you can start to combine your skills to get these movements. I’m not saying it’s easy.

But having a R+ trainer with a good eye for how the movement should look for the horse to get the most benefit is important too.

I don’t want to be told, just use a whip to get that movement, which is what I was told. I want to do it with kindness too, otherwise what is the point. I’m here to tell you it IS possible.

03/06/2026

03/06/2026

The most common question in the horse world has to got to be:

"How do I stop it?"

"How do I fix it?"

"Can I get a firmer/ stronger/ more effective one?"

Not many horse people want to know "why" and work on the cause.

It's something I always do as Positive Reinforcement trainer.

If I see a problem, I try to work out what the function of the behaviour is for the animal and what's reinforcing it.

I also look at health, diet, lifestyle and the environment that might be the cause and also the solution.

All behaviour is communication and is often expressing an unmet need: to feel safe, not experience pain, be with conspecifics, have enough to eat, room to move and behave like a horse, etc.

The more that people look for band-aids and quick fixes, the more they will continue to experience problems with their horses.

Horses aren’t out to get us, or being a jerk, or naughty, they’re communicating the only way they know how, with their behaviour.

I never just try to "fix" problematic behaviour, I work out the cause.

02/06/2026

Pressure in the form of a good massage or the weight bearing that builds strong bones, is not the same as the pressure in "pressure and release” horse training, aka Negative Reinforcement (R-) training.

The "pressure" in negative reinforcement horse training is called an aversive stimulus. It’s something unpleasant that is applied and then removed dependent on a certain behaviour being performed by the horse, in order to influence future behaviour.

What also happens is that someone else controls when that pressure is applied and removed. This is called socially mediated negative reinforcement, where someone else controls the application and removal of the aversive stimulus.

If we have a massage, we can ask for less pressure, if our weights at the gym are too heavy, we can reduce the weight. Horses don’t get that type of control.

No one can avoid pressure altogether, either physical pressing or an aversive stimulus such as in Negative Reinforcement. It’s all around us, in our environment and we respond to it in various ways. We get hot, we get cold, we get tired, we get hungry, our backpack straps are pressing too hard into our shoulder, which are all aversive states that we experience and we can control their removal.

This is called automatic negative reinforcement, where we can instantly control the removal of the aversive stimulus or state. Unlike horses, someone else isn't controlling whether we take our jumper off or put it on, or when we rest or when we eat or whether we can remove our backpacks. But that does happen to horses all the time.

It's not accurate to say that you do your horse a disservice and worse, you can cause them harm, by not teaching them about pressure and Negative Reinforcement.

Negative Reinforcement describes behavioural responses to the environment. How organisms including horses, interact with their environment. It’s an observation because it’s already happened, it’s happening all the time and organisms who want to survive, know how to avoid pressure, unpleasant and painful things; aversive stimuli. They learn it or they die, we don’t need to teach it to them over and over and over. Because that’s what pressure and release horse training is, it’s millions of little micro aggressions, millions of little moments of pressure, of aversive stimuli that is used to shape behaviour.

What horse trainers are really talking about is learning the cues and the predictors and then learning the response. But unfortunately everyone trains very differently, even under the umbrella of "pressure and release". Therefore a horse could never possibly be prepared for all the different ways people use pressure to either cue behaviour or shape behaviour.

In a pressure release training program, every cue is either a re-experiencing of the aversive stimulus or alternatively, is the threat of the aversive stimulus via a cue.

Yes there can be nuance to it, there can be subtle cues once the behaviour is learnt, there can be the opportunity to avoid the aversive before it is applied. If the trainer is good.

But it’s still using discomfort to teach and that's unnecessary.

Telling people you are doing your horse harm by not teaching them how to respond to pressure is a fallacy perpetuated by pressure based trainers. Of course we all know how to respond to discomfort, but you have to accept that pressure IS discomfort in the first place.

I’m not saying it’s bad or evil, but I’d like people to understand it more fully and how to do it better and more effectively, whilst avoiding the fairy tales. If R- trainers want to weigh in on R+ training and dismiss it, then I’d expect them to be fluent in all the ways we learn, including the one *they’re* using and promoting above others.

02/06/2026

A lot of people talk about the "quadrants" or the "4 quadrants" or the “learning quadrants” of Operant Conditioning. But that’s incorrect.

Did you know that describing them as quadrants, doesn't accurately describe what they are or what they do. They're not really quadrants, because the word quadrant just means one of four things or one quarter, or is referring to the diagram sometimes used when people draw Operant Conditioning up very simply. There's an x and y axis that intersects at 90 degrees, with positive and negative values on each side.

There ARE 4 contingent processes, but poor old Extinction gets left out!

It's more accurate to call it a contingency table that illustrates there are 4 things. These four things are each known as three term contingencies or you may have heard of an ABC contingency. The ABC is Antecedent, Behaviour and Consequence, the smallest unit of behaviour.

A contingency is an IF — THEN scenario. I read that recently and I think that’s a really great way to describe them.

The ABC contingencies, specifically the Positive Reinforcement one, are natural laws of behaviour. They are not something that someone thought up. B. F. Skinner didn't create these. He observed it in his animals in his laboratory, but he also observed it in the world all around him as well.

I see it all around me too. I love it when I'm training, because it's part of the common language I share with my animals when I'm training them.

I don't have to teach them this stuff, they already know it!

The times I find it most valuable is with the really scared and shut down equines. This is because often they have had little or no control over outcomes when interacting with people or even control over their environment. That can be very confusing, or frustrating or create feelings of hopelessness. There is often no clear ABC contingency in their interactions with people.

It's a game changer when I show them that I understand what an ABC contingency is and I'm going to communicate with them in this manner. When I give them back control over consequences, show them that their behaviour means a lot to me, that I'm watching and responding to how they behave, then everything changes.

But you have to be observant and patient as well. If their interactions with people have been confusing and they were not listened to or their needs met, they can either start to shout (with their behaviour) or they can whisper, when they are finally listened to. The shouts are easy to see and alarming, but the whispers are much harder to see if you're not observant.

New to the three term contingency? Read more in the link in the comments.

02/06/2026

An interesting recent study of equestrians in the UK and their understanding of learning theory and responses to problem behaviour in their horses.

Out of 672 respondents, 45% rated themselves as “quite good” and 25% as good in their understanding of learning theory (operant conditioning specifically), while the study identified they actually had a poor understanding.

This is known as the Dunning-Kruger Effect. It’s a type of cognitive bias whereby people with low levels of knowledge and ability tend to overestimate their knowledge and abilities.

There were also questions about how equine behaviour is perceived and what their response might be, whether using unhelpful anthropomorphic and derogatory labels and punishment, or more empathetic understanding and therefore approaches to the problem.

This is an important subject, as poor understanding of learning theory and its application, can potentially impact equine welfare and also human safety.

From the study:

“The results of this study have demonstrated a relationship between how an individual’s understanding of learning theory relates to how they perceive and respond to problematic behaviours in horses. This study demonstrates associations between poorer understanding of learning theory and: 1) greater likelihood of use of derogatory terms to describe a horse performing a problem behaviour; 2) greater likelihood of considering scientifically implausible motivators, that blame the horse, as plausible drivers of the problem behaviour; 3) greater likelihood of using an intervention based on punishment when dealing with a problem behaviour.”

Link to the study in the comments.

02/06/2026

I honestly don't know how the average horse person navigates social media and all the mixed messages that are put out there.

I could not even attempt to list all the wandering, vague, passive aggressive, gaslighting and flat out misinformation that makes you question everything, while giving you nothing solid or concrete to help you learn or move forwards.

There's lots of words put out there that create more doubt than clarity about what to do with your horse.

Everything from waving a whip around and calling it liberty, to expecting emotional self regulation from a non verbal animal, when most humans cannot achieve that in their lifetime.

I don't know how you do it.

I also wonder if it is contributing to the confusion and lack of skill and knowledge in the horse world, rather than contributing in a positive way at all.

Me? I like to read clear direct language using correct terminology. I like to see clear video demonstrations with accompanying explanations of what happened prior and during.

I don't like to see hypocrisy or subterfuge or assumptions that I can't see through their bias and fairy tales or be blocked when I point it out. Do better, I say.

How do you cope with the barrage of contradictory and often gaslighting information out there?

Random photo of Mercedes and myself.

01/06/2026

31/05/2026

We don't need to teach our horses how to feel or self-regulate their emotions and we can’t reinforce an emotion like "relaxation". But we can train in a way that is conducive to creating calm and a relaxed state.

They’re intelligent complex emotional social beings. We don't need to teach horses their own emotions, they know how to feel and experience their own emotions, and if they don't, we need to give them space to do so.

Trying to train emotions is not wise and is risking being as controlling as if we were still using aversives. Let them have their own emotions and let them be excited, enthusiastic, vocal and as happy as they want to be if the training is good - let them experience it all! That to me is the ultimate choice and control - to be allowed to feel what they feel in the moment, without censure or correction, even via R+ training. Alternatively, let them be grumpy or nippy or impatient or frustrated - they’re telling you something!

When we switch over from our old traditional ways towards kinder and more empathetic training approaches, is it truly that surprising that our horses are happy and excited? It's kind of like asking someone not to get happy or excited or enthusiastic when they are released from jail - is that even fair?!

That's not to say that I don't want people to stay safe. Admittedly there can be a lot of fallout and emotional angst around horses awakening from learned helplessness. I have a post that talks about this specifically. But when we make a conscious decision to remove as many aversives as possible and handle and train our horses in kinder ways - they are going to feel and react!

Through good R+ training, we can change emotion and emotional associations, but to train a specific emotion that we decide? Hmm?

When I started out with Positive Reinforcement training, what stood out to me the most was my horse Mercedes’ boundless enthusiasm. She literally squeals in excitement and anticipation and guess what ... I love it!! That is what carries her across the grass I want her to ignore, this is what causes all the pleasurable vocalisations and this is what flies her around her reverse round pen!!

Why would we want to attempt to untrain or squash that?? It's what truly brings us both joy!

There used to be a whole sub-culture in clicker training horses, that is very much focused on training "calm".

I'll admit, I was a devotee for a while in the early days - it sounded good and convincing!!

But I came to realise that it wasn't the truth and it was feeding me false information and false science.

So long as I focused on trying to train an emotion, it drew me away from ways I could be a better trainer that created the conditions to get those happy emotions! What I needed to be focusing on was my rate of reinforcement, criteria and timing, plus the environment.

There are many who are withholding food because they are waiting for the emotion that they can supposedly reinforce. We cannot reinforce emotions, but we can train in a way that creates good emotions that are associated with the R+ training.

There are trainers who vehemently defend training "calm" because it's safe for the newbie trainer or teaching a head down behaviour because that is “calming”. But I disagree. It's not teaching them and it's also diverting the focus from what they should be perfecting, and that's the basics, and preferably in protected contact.

The way to create a horse that is safe to be around and without micro-managing or frustrating them, is to become a better trainer, not put the onus on your horse.

The first behaviour to teach them is a "stand still and do nothing around food" behaviour. Train it well in all situations, re-visit it regularly and most importantly, no need to put it on stimulus control, gosh did I just say that? Let the environment and context cue the behaviour, they're smart, they will know!

Learn how to put behaviours you train on cue, and proof them so you have Stimulus Control and your horse is not randomly offering behaviours all over the place. Unless it's a nice safe "stand still and do nothing" type behaviour.

If your horse doesn’t default to standing still and doing nothing, or perhaps stationing, until cued otherwise, but randomly offers behaviour all over the place, go back to training these basic behaviours, putting them on cue and learn the basic R+ principles.

Learn about the 3 tenets of good R+ training; Reinforcement, Criteria and Timing, plus how reinforcement history works, feeding for position and stimulus control.