Oral Presentation The International Society for Anthrozoology (ISAZ): 27th Annual Conference 2018

Horses prefer food over human contact for task reward: Considerations for human-horse bonding. (#76)

Emily Kieson 1 , Crystal Felix 1 , Summer Webb 1 , Charles I Abramson 1
  1. Psychology, Laboratory of Comparative Psychology and Behavioral Biology, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States

Humans use food rewards as positive reinforcement for training horses, but there is little evidence to show that human contact (scratching or patting) has reward value or if domestic horses perceive human touch as social bonding.  Most equine training is based on negative reinforcement (Bierke, Meinen, Wilkens, Leponiemi, & Hiney, 2013; Cooper, 2007; Murphy & Arkins, 2007), but food is a known positive reinforcer (Craig, Varnon, Pollock, & Abramson, 2015; Ninomiya, Mitsumasu, Aoyama, & Kusunose, 2007).   Many Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT)  involve human-equine interactions to help clients build interpersonal skills and empathy (Kieson & Abramson, 2016) which relies on behaviors akin to positive reinforcement.  This study looked at how horses view human interaction as a form of positive reward by examining the reward value of scratching and patting compared to known rewards (treats) based on horses’ ability to use symbols to show preferences (Mejdell, Buvik, Jørgensen, & Bøe, 2016) .  It also explores horse-human social bonding opportunities based on the unique backgrounds of each equine subject and variations in behaviors towards known and unknown humans.  Eleven (N=11) horses (6 geldings, 5 mares with age range 4 -20) with known histories were tested on six different days with two different researchers (one familiar and one unfamiliar) and two symbol sequences to account for testing variables.   Each horse was trained to touch a target (X) for a treat reward (given in a bucket).  The symbols were then changed to reflect either scratching (O) or patting (square).  Each horse was then subjected to a varied sequence of targets.  Number of times the target was touched, behaviors, and inter-trial intervals were recorded as well as individual backgrounds on each horse regarding previous behaviors towards humans.  All horses (N=11) expressed preference for treats over human contact with no variation between those who typically voluntarily seek out human interaction versus those who typically avoid human contact.  This study suggests that, for performance-driven behavior, horses prefer food rewards over human interaction.  Considering the variations in backgrounds, however, this brings up further opportunities to explore how horses view humans in the companionship or social setting.

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