This is a good example of the power of positive reinforcement training to alter a horse’s attitude to being touched. This ‘paint pony’ (paint coat type being bicolour or piebald – brown and white) did not like to be touched. We are not told why but it might be because she was touched by someone in the past who was abusive towards her. I don’t know and it is not relevant to this discussion.
We know the exact method of positive reinforcement training that this lady used to change her pony’s attitude. She touched her and immediately gave her a nice food treat afterwards; classic training technique. You can see that in the video at 23 seconds to around 30 seconds. The trainer carries a pouch around her waist containing food treats. Another classic.
Here is an infographic-style image made from screenshots.
The pony then links being touched with nice things happening which feeds back into her psyche to make her believe that being touched by a human is okay, even pleasant.
Patience is the key.. thank you for your patience to bond with the gorgeous horse
Commenter on TikTok. Yes, patience is very important as it can take time. Add gentleness and sensitivity to patience for success.
Positive reinforcement is widely discussed today thankfully and is the opposite to using punishment to try and alter animal behavior which does not work. Or if it works it makes the animal unhappy and weakens or breaks the bond between animal and human.
Positive reinforcement training occurs all the time informally between pets and humans and it works both ways. Pets train us as we train them through our routines and daily rhythms. arguably cats and dogs train their humans more than vice versa.
This pony loves her teeth to be cleaned. The whole process. A complete turnaround.
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