Horses, Trains, and Horses Training Themselves

Sappire remembered the tarp 8 years later

We boarded my husband’s first mare for a while at a farm adjacent to railroad tracks. I was riding Sapphire the first time she saw the excursion train chug by with whistle blowing fanfare. Her arched neck and dancing feet clearly said, “Lynn, we need to boogie out of here!” I assured her that wasn’t necessary, and turned her to watch the train. The second time we saw the train while riding, she barely flicked an ear to show she noticed it. What did I do to convince her that the train was harmless? Nothing. Sapphire took care of that herself. She watched the train from her pasture, and she noticed her pasture mates’ lack of reaction. After a while the train was boring. This is habituation, gradually getting used to something so it is no longer seen as a threat. It happens all the time with no help from us. Habituation has the advantage of allowing a horse to control his own anxiety level by moving further from the source of concern, approaching or engaging as he is ready, with no human pressure or distraction. This encourages curiosity and learning. Learning changes the horse’s emotional state, is generalized to similar situations, and never forgotten. Sapphire was no longer anxious about the train because she had learned it was not a threat. It became just part of the landscape. People often make a project of desensitizing when habituation would be more effective. My horses became habituated to tarps when I spread one out in my barn aisle one summer day for a painting project. They watched me walk on it. They had the choice to walk on it or not every morning when they came in and every evening at turnout. After a few days, they walked on it like it wasn’t there. Sapphire’s next exposure to a tarp was 8 years later when we needed photos for my book. We spread the tarp out in the arena, and I rode her across it. She did not hesitate to walk or trot across it. She had learned it was harmless, remembered what she learned, and generalized it to a new place.

Reference: Habituation vs Learned Helplessness in Horses by Sue McDonnell, PhD