If you are considering using R+ to re-teach some cues, or to teach lighter cues, there are some factors you need to consider before starting.

Knowing how your horse has been trained in the past is very relevant. Knowing if he carries any baggage. Knowing his triggers and what he struggles with.

Traditional training IS Negative reinforcement (R-)
Negative as we take something away, reinforcement as it makes the behaviour stronger.
So – if the behaviour becomes stronger after something is taken away, it stands to reason that the horse DIDN’T LIKE that which was taken away.

Traditional training is often labelled ‘pressure and release’ The pressure (say heels in the horses side) causes the horse to move away, to try to escape the discomfort. When he moves the pressure stops which makes the horse feel better, so the behaviour of moving is reinforced by the pressure being taken off.

Your trained cue eventually can be the lightest cue in the world – but if it was taught with R- then it may (and probably does) carry the underlying threat of escalation

Classical conditioning at work here – which can over-ride the operant conditioning

How it works -
*Heels = go: if your horse has been trained, if not, then
*Heels = discomfort;
Some horses will try to move away from discomfort. Sequence then is horse moves, discomfort stops. So moving to heel pressure takes the discomfort away
*Heels = discomfort; Option 2.
Some horses will just remain stationary and wait it out – they don’t know here what they are supposed to do. In this instance next step is often ‘apply whip’
Whip is short and sharp and painful, initially unexpected, and generally elicits movement to get away from sudden pain. Horse moves whip stops
Sequence here becomes Heels / no response = whip application
Horse learns if he doesn’t respond to heels then the threat of the whip (and/ or its application) comes next, so his choice is not choice, it is force – MOVE OR BE WHIPPED

He can learn this so well that your cues can be tiny and not necessarily painful anymore – but the UNDERLYING THREAT of escalation is still there, from when his learning took place

Using R+ to try to train lighter cues, ie adding click/treat after his response, doesn’t take away his learned memory of the threat of escalation/ whip use.

Re-training movement with R+ by using shaping and capturing, with or without the addition of mats, targets and cones, then adding the ‘tactile’ cues after the behaviour is solid, will avoid the probability of complications from retained memory of aversive stimuli.

In addition to lighter cues, you will now have a horse that responds because he chooses to participate, because you will have a partnership instead of a dictatorship, and you will now have a happier horse

Written By Vicki Conroy of the PPGA Equine Sub-Committee