Yearlings Who Received Food Rewards Learned New Skills 40% Faster
I came across this article and wanted to share it with you. The article talks about research that was presented at the 34th annual Equine Research day which was held in Paris, France on February 28th, 2008. The research showed that yearlings who received food rewards for appropriate behaviors to vocal commands learned new skills up to 40% faster than a control group of yearlings that received no rewards. Read the article “Study Correlates Food Rewards with Positive Responses during Training.”
This is something that I’ve known for a few years now and that is why Clicker Training is a part of my training program. If you would like to incorporate Clicker Training into your training program let me help. Contact me today to set up your lessons.
It’s not surprising to hear there’s another study that finds horses respond well to food :-). Yep – horses sure do like to eat (I can relate). Interestingly, (I’m a big fan of primary research) I’ve found most young horses respond equally well (sometimes better) to attention. Finding that favorite rub spot can be more motivating and enticing than a treat. It makes tons of sense that horses learn quicker when rewards are offered. Do you know of any studies, Kim, where they’ve compared different rewards (instead of something vs. nothing)? That would be fun to see :-)!