by Charles Wilhelm

Conditioned response is the fundamental tool of the horse trainer. A psychology term, conditioned response is the association of a natural behavior (say, a halt) with an artificial cue (pressure on the lead rope).

A natural behavior is something that the horse does naturally in response to a cue. For example, a dog rustles through a hedge nearby, startling our horse. The horse shies and moves away. The rustling noise is the cue, the shying is the horse’s natural response to that cue—no one had to teach the horse to respond in this way. It's just the nature of a horse.

What happens when we halter a horse that isn't halter-broken and put pressure on the lead rope? We will likely get a head toss or an attempt to break away from the pressure. That’s the horse’s natural response to halter pressure. However, what we want is the horse to stop moving its feet when it feels pressure from the lead rope. We must train the horse to associate the cue we issue (lead rope pressure) with performing a certain natural behavior (stopping its feet).

And how does the horse begin to associate our cue with its behavior? Reward. Reward is the key to this system. When the horse executes the behavior we want, we must tell the horse it made the correct association of cue and behavior by rewarding it.

How do we reward the horse? We discontinue the cue. We leave the horse alone. From a horse’s point of view, the best thing you can do for it is leave it alone. Releasing the pressure of a cue is a very powerful reward for the horse. This is how we say “YES, that was right!” to our horses. After a number of repetitions, the horse begins to associate the cue with the behavior that got us to leave it alone. When we issue the cue again the horse will execute the behavior that got us to stop cueing.

To teach a horse the meaning of a cue, we start with a cue and behavior it can easily associate. We use the natural behaviors of moving forward and stopping. Let’s say we want to teach a horse from the ground to go forward at the sound of a kiss. We kiss while urging the horse to go forward with the wave of a hand or hat, the toss of a lariat towards the horse's rear, or the tap of a whip on its butt. A kiss by itself will not usually motivate a horse to move, but the other actions usually will. When the horse responds with even just one step at first, we reward by stopping the cue. After a number of repetitions of the cue, including the kiss, always followed by the reward when it moves forward, the horse begins to associate our physical movement (the cue) with moving forward. As we continue the lesson, eventually the horse will associate just the kiss with moving forward. When the horse can do this 100% of the time, without thinking, the horse has developed a conditioned response to the kiss.

Success of the cue/reward system (also referred to as pressure/release) depends on accurate timing and consistency of the trainer in delivering the reward, especially when teaching new cues. The behavior we reward is the behavior we'll get. We must deliver the reward as soon as the horse makes an attempt at the behavior we are looking for. If we let up on the pressure before the horse has moved, we told the horse that whatever it was doing when we stopped the cue was what we wanted. It will repeat the wrong behavior when we cue it again. Conversely, if the horse moves and we didn't stop the cue--it can’t make an association between the cue and the behavior we want. The horse doesn't know it has done what we wanted. We’ve missed an opportunity to reward the desired behavior.

To develop a conditioned response to a cue, we need to combine the cue, a natural behavior of the horse, and a reward delivered with accurate timing and consistency. We have achieved a conditioned response when our horse gives us the desired behavior in response to our cue 100% of the time.

California clinician and trainer Charles Wilhelm of CW Training in Castro Valley has been training horses for 20 years. He is certified by John Lyons and is one of Lyons’ select trainers. Charles has also studied classical dressage.

To find out more about Charles Wilhelm, read the HQ Journal article A Day in the Life of... For more information about Charles Wilhelm, training or clinic schedules, please visit the C.W.Training Center website www.cwtraining.com You may e-mail Charles Wilhelm at cwtraining@home.com