Study: Post-Training Stress Detrimental to Equine Learning

To help horses retain what they learns during training, aim to keep them as stress-free as possible.
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Many riders suspect that horses training in stressful situations don’t always retain what they’ve learned. But researchers have recently found that the same is true when the stress comes after the training session. Recent studies by French behavior scientists have revealed that when it comes to helping your horse retain what he learns during training, you should aim to keep him as stress-free as possible—before, during, and after schooling.

“In practice, what we’re seeing is that we need to be paying very close attention to what horses experience just after a training session,” said Léa Lansade, PhD, researcher in the behavior science department of the National Institute for Agricultural Research in Tours, France. “Our study shows that after a workout, horses are better off immediately returning to their regular environment with their stablemates or pasturemates.”

In the study, Lansade and her fellow researchers divided 49 Welsh ponies into three different stress groups: stressed before training, stressed after training, and not stressed at all. The stress was induced by loud noises and sudden movements, such as dogs barking, bells ringing, tarps waving, and water spraying. During the training session the ponies learned a basic task: to touch one of two traffic cones (the one pointed out by the handler) to get food. One week later, the team tested the ponies on how well they remembered what they had learned in training.

They determined the ponies that experienced stress after the learning session had a significantly harder time repeating the learned task than the other two groups, Lansade said. Additionally, animals that had been stressed before the learning process had more difficulty than those not stressed at all. And ponies with a basic temperament classification of ‘fearfulness’ (according to Lansade’s temperament tests) were affected most of all by that post-learning stress, she added

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Passionate about horses and science from the time she was riding her first Shetland Pony in Texas, Christa Lesté-Lasserre writes about scientific research that contributes to a better understanding of all equids. After undergrad studies in science, journalism, and literature, she received a master’s degree in creative writing. Now based in France, she aims to present the most fascinating aspect of equine science: the story it creates. Follow Lesté-Lasserre on Twitter @christalestelas.

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