e q u i n e
Straight from the Horse’s Mouth Dorothy Heffernan explains how to transition from riding with a bit to riding bitless, highlighting the differences in a horse’s emotional response to aversive vs. nonaversive equipment and training methods and why this is important
W
ith a growing interest in ‘least intrusive, minimally aversive’ (LIMA) training methods and the ‘least intrusive effective behavior intervention’ (LIEBI) model, many equestrians of today are increasingly starting to consider the option of riding their horses without using a bit. Bits have traditionally been used to train and control horses, but few people question why this might be, or how they actually work. But there isn’t really a single answer to this “why,” because different cultures have their own ap proaches towards horse training. One single fact is common to all, however. A bit is a way of creating inescapable pressure in a horse’s mouth. It is effec tive because horses dislike it enough to want it to stop. The pressure created by a bit is aversive, and like all aversives, the horse is motivated to find ways to escape or avoid it. In this case, the pres sure. Even without additional pressure © Can Stock Photo / mtoome from the rider through the reins, the bit Horses can respond very reliably to cues to walk, trot, canter and jump without the handler needing to touch them sits in the horse’s oral cavity and is likely or use aversive gear as difficult to habituate to as orthodon tic braces in humans. Most riders cite “safety” as their reason for continuing to use a bit. fectly safe if the horse has been trained to respond to it using positive However, since a common response when a horse doesn’t respond to reinforcement methods. bit cues to slow down and stop is to seek a more aversive bit, looking for In order to prepare a young horse to be ridden, he needs to under a different approach is worthwhile. stand and respond reliably to cues for “stand and don’t walk off,” Adding aversives to any situation changes an animal’s emotional re “walk,” “turn to the left or the right in response to a cue,” “stop walk sponse. Just as we see in other species, trigger stacking is the cause of ing,” and “walk backwards.” All of these can be trained on the ground many “control failures.” A horse who’s concerned about being alone, using a clicker training approach to shape (or capture and shape) the being surrounded by other anxious horses, about what their trainer is behaviors required. doing, or about sudden noises and sudden movements is not going to Training the behaviors and then adding cues once a behavior is es be reassured when the rider applies bit pressure. In fact, the pressure tablished is quite straightforward. Some trainers use targets to get adds to the stressors already present, and it has to be very aversive in movement and a “reverse round pen,” with the trainer on the inside of deed to overshadow other stimuli the horse would naturally find con a barrier and the horse outside. This is a great way to teach horses cerning. about different gaits. Once the horse is responding reliably, a process of successive approximations can be used to teach him that having a Bitless Alternatives human sit on his back is not only not a worrying prospect, but is a new Bitless alternatives come in many shapes and forms, and some of them opportunity to earn reinforcement. Once mounted, the already learned can still apply very uncomfortable pressure on the horse’s head. How cues can be generalized so that they work equally well with a rider. ever, because riders have often come to believe that they need strength Now we have a horse who will approach a mounting block, stand to to stop a horse, the very mild bitless options may be overlooked. But be mounted, move off in walk, and stop on cue. Most importantly, how this doesn’t need to be the case, if you start to look at why horses re ever, at no point has he experienced freeze or flight. A horse trained like spond to trained cues. A simple, wellfitted, sidepull bridle can be per this will have no urge to run to escape something aversive (often a key
48
BARKS from the Guild/March 2021
