By the time I finished my length research proposal and received Little Bit's regretful rejection of the project I was tired of data collection, burnt out from reading endless studies and disappointed that all my hard work was "for nothing". I toyed with the idea of abandoning the project completely and was struck by the difficulty of this decision for me. This was the first time in my life that I was considering giving up on something I was passionate about because factors out of my control were making it seem too difficult.
My research mentor, Dr. Robin Foster, encouraged me to continue on with the study. Robin had dedicated so much time and energy to helping me develop this research so I felt a sense of obligation to continue my work-but I was lacking much of the forward energy that had been inspiring me the last year. But I put on a determined face and together we worked to revise my study. The horses at Little Bit are presented with uniquely stressful situations during the therapy sessions, but there are many common, everyday situations that also create stress for non-therapy horses. Robin and I chose to continue studying the effects of positive reinforcement and clicker training on stress behaviors with companion horses, but in the different contexts of trailer loading and mounting with an able bodied rider. We designed a study that would test whether clicker trained behaviors (standing, walking forwards and walking backward with their nose held to a target; see above photo) would transfer into these stressful situations and, if so, if the frequency of stress behaviors would decrease.
Two weeks into the application of my study and I my mindset had been completely turned around. I was having a blast! I discovered that I absolutely love to train animals. Each horse I worked with presented new challenges and forced me to reevaluate my own techniques and beliefs about training. First of all, I learned that every animal is different. The technique I used to slow down Hazel only made Sunny (pictured above!) spin around in circles. Buddy needed rapid fire reward and constant engagement to learn best, while Xerxes needed time to think between each cue. These differences in training needs has made me much more aware of the need to consider each animal and their learning needs individually. I also came to recognize that horses (and people too) need to be in the right mindset to learn and that sometimes horses, just like people, have days where they just don't want to work. Sometimes this meant putting the horse away early and forgoing training for the day (which is a lot harder for me than it sounds...my type A personality doesn't like getting off schedule) and other times it meant that I needed to adjust my own behaviors to make training into a game.
I'm still collecting data, so you'll have to stay tuned to hear about the final results!
My research mentor, Dr. Robin Foster, encouraged me to continue on with the study. Robin had dedicated so much time and energy to helping me develop this research so I felt a sense of obligation to continue my work-but I was lacking much of the forward energy that had been inspiring me the last year. But I put on a determined face and together we worked to revise my study. The horses at Little Bit are presented with uniquely stressful situations during the therapy sessions, but there are many common, everyday situations that also create stress for non-therapy horses. Robin and I chose to continue studying the effects of positive reinforcement and clicker training on stress behaviors with companion horses, but in the different contexts of trailer loading and mounting with an able bodied rider. We designed a study that would test whether clicker trained behaviors (standing, walking forwards and walking backward with their nose held to a target; see above photo) would transfer into these stressful situations and, if so, if the frequency of stress behaviors would decrease.
Two weeks into the application of my study and I my mindset had been completely turned around. I was having a blast! I discovered that I absolutely love to train animals. Each horse I worked with presented new challenges and forced me to reevaluate my own techniques and beliefs about training. First of all, I learned that every animal is different. The technique I used to slow down Hazel only made Sunny (pictured above!) spin around in circles. Buddy needed rapid fire reward and constant engagement to learn best, while Xerxes needed time to think between each cue. These differences in training needs has made me much more aware of the need to consider each animal and their learning needs individually. I also came to recognize that horses (and people too) need to be in the right mindset to learn and that sometimes horses, just like people, have days where they just don't want to work. Sometimes this meant putting the horse away early and forgoing training for the day (which is a lot harder for me than it sounds...my type A personality doesn't like getting off schedule) and other times it meant that I needed to adjust my own behaviors to make training into a game.
I'm still collecting data, so you'll have to stay tuned to hear about the final results!