To Treat, or Not To Treat

That is the question… on the minds of many equestrians. Some argue that giving treats will ruin the horse, but others argue that treating is the best way to go. Personally, I go with the latter. Yes, even with the stallions. Yes, even with horses that tend to be “mouthy.” Why? Because it can help horses learn so much more quickly as well as create a bonding experience (horses love to eat, humans love to feed things…). Yet it often comes as a surprise to people that most of the horses here will take treats gently, even if they’ve had a history of being mouthy before, and they’ll make cute faces instead of mug for treats (only the babies are exceptions because they don’t get treats until their teeth are more formed). How? -you might ask. Believe it or not, the answer is simple. It’s not reserving treats just for training sessions or for specific behaviors (I give plenty “just because they’re cute”). It’s not keeping mouthy horses from having treats ever, and neither is it limiting the number of treats (except for metabolic/IR horses, but that’s another story). So how have the horses come to be so polite about treats?

Simple: I created a boundary and enforced it. That’s it.

That sounds obvious when you think about it, but it’s something I’ve seen so many riders struggle with. “I only give him x number of treats.” “I only treat when we’re in the arena.” “I don’t use certain treats that make him excited.” But what about your behavior when you give the treat? Do you let him mug you for treats before you give them? Do you let him come into your bubble when you give them? Do you give them when he’s excited sometimes and then other times reprimand? All of these are a sign of a lack of boundaries.

A little thing I learned from the Spanish Riding School riders was how to give treats when working in-hand. When working horses in-hand, they always give the treat when the horse’s head is pointing straight ahead, and never when the head curves around. This is partially a safety precaution; stallions tend to be mouthier, and when they decide to be mouthy, it can be disastrous. So, treats are only given with the horse respecting the rider’s space. There’s also an element of maintaining straightness and other dressage-y philosophy, but that’s the basics. If the stallion reaches into the rider’s space, he is gently but firmly corrected to keep his head straight while the rider gets the sugar cube from their special jacket pocket. If the stallion tries to mug for it even with his head straight, he is corrected and only given the treat when his head is still(ish). Our stallion, Conversano Ivey, developed the habit of arching his neck and wiggling his head ever so slightly to ask for a treat, but otherwise, he stays in his bubble and gently takes the treat. If you get a chance to see the SRS riders in a more relaxed environment, you’ll see that they’re not stingy about treats at all; they give a ridiculous number of sugar cubes on a daily basis (I’ve seen one grab a massive handful from a box and shove it into his pocket and repeat during the next training session, and this is standard for the riders at the SRS).

This specialized approach from in-hand can be applied to everywhere else. It’s not necessarily important in the stable that their head is straight when getting a treat, but it is important to keep a respect of space. This is the biggest issue I see with horse owners giving treats. Sure, it’s cute that the horse may hug his neck around you for the treat, but it’s not cute when treating during something stressful. Treats can be used to help a horse calm down during a potentially stressful event, but often they’ll bite at the treat with their front teeth when they’re stressed as a release. If you practice treating in a controlled manner, they’ll keep their frustration or stress focused on the treat, not on your body as you’re getting the treat.

When you enforce space while treating, it’s not that you withdraw the treat altogether if the horse barges into your space. You withdraw it temporarily while you correct the horse, then when the horse is staying in his own space, you give the treat. Therefore, you reinforce that behavior (and whatever other behavior you were rewarding before if this is during a training session). If the horse stays in his own space but still tries to take your hand off when you offer the treat, you withdraw the treat and reprimand the horse, maybe with a “ah-ah,” or a quick tug on the lead line, whatever gets the message across quickly but effectively. Keep trying until the horse offers to take the treat more gently; they’re smart and will figure it out (I often add an “easy” or “gentle” when training them to take a treat more gently; the tone of voice helps as well, and then you’ve added a new voice command).

The key with this as well is to know your boundary and never let it change. Don’t enforce it sometimes and not others. That is confusing to the horse, and they’ll get frustrated by it. It’s like having a friend who sometimes lets you hug them as a greeting and other times, for no apparent reason, gets mad about it. You don’t know where you stand, and it’s confusing and frustrating. Same goes for the horse. They don’t understand why you enforce the boundary only sometimes and throw it away other times. Enforcing just when the trainer is around also makes the horse associate the trainer with something negative, which isn’t exactly fair to anyone (and makes the trainer’s job harder; we’re not there to be the “bad cop,” we’re there to help you and your horse work better together and deepen your relationship). Enforcing your boundary 50% of the time or less is ineffective. Now, it’s not to say you may not veer every now and then (I know I do, and I call myself out on it), but you don’t want to veer more than 5-10% of the time. Random exceptions are acceptable, just like with the example of the friend. If the friend says, “I actually don’t like hugs all that much,” then you come to accept it, and the occasional time your friend says, “I had a bad day and need a hug,” it’s a reasonable exception to the rule.

I find that it’s easier to enforce a boundary that you can write down. For me, creating a boundary like “the horse’s head must be straight when taking a treat” is excellent. I do it in the pasture, in the grooming stall, and in training (now subconsciously). My only significant exceptions are for specialized stretches and when treating from the saddle (which the SRS riders also do, and they often will do one treat on each side before dismounting).  Notice as well in the friend example, they communicate their boundary calmly and clearly. They don’t punch you, yell at you, or get passive aggressive about the hug. So, when communicating our boundaries with the horse, we don’t need to go to smacking, yelling, or leaving when the horse invades our space. None of that is clear and just makes the horse defensive. Taking the lead to move the head or even closing your hand until it is where the horse’s head should be when taking a treat is usually enough. If you calmly place the horse’s head out of your space (or centered straight ahead), it’s clear to the horse that you want his head out of your space. It may take a while for your horse to catch on that this is the new boundary, but that’s where you just have to be patient and keep at it every time. Before you know it, it’ll stick for both you and your horse.

So, before you give up on treating your horse, give creating a boundary for treating a try. No matter how “bad” your horse is about treats, you may be surprised at how quickly and easily they learn to be polite about treats. There are so many benefits to using treats for training that it’s worth teaching your horse to take them nicely, and it can help you create a better bond with your horse.

-Emily Wright