Is your horse (or the horse you ride, lease, borrow, love) curious? A new study shows that horses who are interested in new things and want to explore them actually learn better!
“Exploratory behaviour was unreinforced in the novel object tests and likely reflects the animal’s intrinsic motivation (i.e. curiosity), suggesting that this trait is favourable for learning performance.”
Coming up with ways to foster your horse’s curiosity could improve his whole outlook on life, including his interest in training.
“[these results] raise questions in relation to fostering of curiosity in animals and the impact that such manipulation may have on cognitive abilities.”
How can you foster your horse’s curiosity? I like to allow my horse to investigate things. When she looks worried about something, we stop and wait. Research shows that after about 13 seconds of observing something ‘scary’, horses become more willing to explore it. So we wait a bit, then I ask her to go a little closer. Soon she’s getting closer herself, sniffing or moving the object herself.
How do you enable your horse to be curious?
Christensen, J; Ahrendt, L; Malmkvist, J; and Nicol, C. (2021) Exploratory behaviour towards novel objects is associated with enhanced learning in young horses. Scientific Reports, 11:1428. Open access! Read the full article here: https://rdcu.be/cejm0
Clairety Horsemanship 