Investigative Behavior: Horses Teach Themselves

Opie is curious

Melody brought her Dartmoor pony Opie to play on my agility equipment. Opie's curiosity prompts him to come watch as Melody and I chock the see saw so it becomes a bridge. We do not want it to tilt and scare Opie as he learns to walk on it. When horses anticipate pressure to approach suspicious things, their natural curiosity can shut down, and we see anxiety instead. Opie shows normal curiosity.

Social Learning: Learning by Example

Horses learn from the example of those they trust. Melody demonstrates that the bridge is fun to walk across, while letting Opie walk beside her on a loose lead.

Giving Choices

Having seen his trusted Protector Leader walk across the bridge, Opie offers to put a foot on it himself. Loose lead gives him the choice to back off if he wants to. Choices reduce anxiety because horses can tell us when they are ready for that next step, and when they need to pause or back off.

Getting braver

Horses are braver when they do NOT feel pressured to do something. Opie decides to put 2 feet on the bridge, then gets distracted watching my horses in the paddock adjacent to the arena.

Hanging out on the bridge

Still on a loose lead, Opie has calmly followed Melody onto the bridge and pauses with her. Every successful adventure like this builds his confidence, making him more reliable to handle, and more reliable in his job as a driving pony. Each photo in this article shows Opie relaxed and curious. This helps him:
1. Process what he is learning so he can generalize this information to future situations.
2. Build trust in Melody who has encouraged his curiosity (a powerful positive emotion).
3. Build his self-confidence because he has successfully accomplished something new. For detailed instructions and photo demonstrations of Investigative Behavior under saddle, see my book What Horses Really Want