04/03/2021
“He’s just naughty and needs to learn to stand still”
In nearly 22 years of being a vet and working with horses, I have lost count of the number of times I have heard this. I have recently been working with a couple of cases where handling issues including whilst being tacked up were a big concern. In both cases it had been suggested by someone that clicker training might be the answer.
In both cases I found significant back pain.
“The display of many behaviours during tacking‐up or mounting is likely to reflect lameness or tack‐associated discomfort. Owners must be better educated to recognise these behaviours.”
From Dyson and colleagues 2021
When faced with undesired behaviours the most important thing is to RECOGNISE the underlying motivation for the behaviour.
It’s great that positive reinforcement (reward) training is receiving more attention in the equine world BUT addressing the underlying cause of a behaviour is way more important to both the welfare of the animal as well as helping to actually address the undesired behaviour.
In 2020 Dyson and colleagues published work highlighting the high frequency of abnormal behaviours when horses were tacked up.
“There was an equal frequency of abnormal behaviours during bridling and saddling in 52% of horses; 34% of horses showed more abnormal behaviours during saddling than bridling; 15% of horses showed more abnormal behaviours during bridling than saddling. Repeatedly chomping on the bit occurred most frequently during bridling (67%).
Ears back (57–65%) and an intense stare (54–62%) were similar in all phases.
Fidgeting was more common during saddle placement (32%) and girthing (21%), than bridling (9%).
Tail swishing was more frequent during saddle placement (20%) and girthing (34%), than bridling (10%).
Turning the head to the girth was only seen during saddle placement and girthing (11 and 40%, respectively), in addition to attempting to bite (5 and 15%, respectively) and rubbing the nose (8 and 21%, respectively).”
Conclusion
Abnormal behaviour during tacking‐up and mounting was common.
Now Sue Dyson’s teams new study (just published) has highlighted how many of the horses/ ponies showing these abnormal behaviours during tacking up were associated with current pain / lameness.
“Riding School horses comprised only 12% of the sample population, but had higher rates of abnormal behaviours during both tacking‐up and mounting compared with General Purpose horses. The rate of abnormal behaviour during tacking‐up for horses with moderate or severe lameness was 1.4 times higher than for nonlame horses. Horses with lameness in‐hand or ridden had 1.5 times higher rates of abnormal behaviour during mounting than nonlame horses. Tight tree points and epaxial muscle pain were associated with higher behaviour scores during tacking‐up. Higher static saddle‐fit scores were associated with higher behaviour scores during mounting.”
Owners AND professionals need more education on equine (and canine and feline and rabbit ... well, all animals they handle clearly) body language and behaviour.
And we have to acknowledge that pain and disease are FREQUENTLY present in undesired behaviours meaning that training alone is not enough to help the animal, even if that training may benefit the humans.
Animals can learn to suppress behaviours through training - both through punishment based and reward based training.
In a recent study Professor Daniel Mills highlighted how as many as 80% of the dog behaviour cases seen by vet behaviourists have pain as a contributing factor.
We simply must not keep turning a blind eye to what motivates behaviour. We must stop thinking that training is our first approach.
We must first investigate/ understand motivation.
Dyson, S., Bondi, A., Routh, J. and Pollard, D., 2021. An investigation into the relationship between equine behaviour when tacked‐up and mounted and epaxial muscle hypertonicity or pain, girth region hypersensitivity, saddle‐fit, rider position and balance, and lameness. Equine Veterinary Education.
Dyson, S., Bondi, A., Routh, J., Pollard, D., Preston, T., McConnell, C. and Kydd, J.H., 2020. An investigation of behaviour during tacking‐up and mounting in ridden sports and leisure horses. Equine Veterinary Education.
Mills, D.S., Demontigny-Bédard, I., Gruen, M., Klinck, M.P., McPeake, K.J., Barcelos, A.M., Hewison, L., Van Haevermaet, H., Denenberg, S., Hauser, H. and Koch, C., 2020. Pain and problem behavior in cats and dogs. Animals, 10(2), p.318.
