ISES Conference, Sydney 2009

The Ethics of Equitation

New Zealand Horse & Pony, September 2009 The ISES (International Society for Equitation Science) is making top competitors and the FEI sit up and take notice. A three-day conference was held at the University of Sydney in July, enticing two hundred delegates from 15 countries, from scientists, coaches and riders through to former-FEI officials. The Society aims to encourage objective research and advanced practice so as to improve horse training and welfare in their interactions with humans.

This year’s ‘Ethical Equitation’ theme addressed competition, welfare, training and behaviour through to measurable human-horse factors. It is great to see science starting to be valued and used by riders; elite riders and trainers actively contributed to the conference, and obviously view science as important to helping them achieve their aims, while at the same time addressing their horses’ welfare.  The perceived chasm between theory and practise is narrowing, improved by findings becoming more publicly available and a growing number of equine degrees and diplomas available for study, with recognition the value is not just for those at top level, but also for non-elite riders across all disciplines and levels.

The practical session at the Centennial Parklands Equestrian Complex was a special highlight among the scientific presentations, and demonstrated some of Australia’s impressive wealth of horsemen and women.

Australia’s horse trainers exposed

Two demonstration stars outshone the rest.  Steve Jefferys provided a terrific example of how negative reinforcement works. Steve has trained horses for films and television, and at the 15th Asian Games in Doha, a horse he trained featured in a heart-stopping climb to light the cauldron in a spectacular opening ceremony. The true feat of horse mastery left conference participants gasping as they viewed a video covering the start of training through to the finished performance in which the horse was ridden up an impossibly steep ramp to light the cauldron while moving effects spun and lit up over it. The horse was lowered into a sound-proof room for the fireworks.

Steve maintains that to be effective in training, aids and corrections must be presented to the horse as black and white.  His horse and dog clearly demonstrated the end-result achievable.  Jefferys’ delivery was refreshingly as straight and to the point with the audience and his piercing eyes mesmerised them as he earnestly reinforced his point of view.  Jefferys showed his sense of humour however, when he strapped on a steering wheel in place of a bridle, and used it for ‘steering’, complete with commentary and dead-pan face!

Georgia Bruce (two times Paralympic Games bronze medal winner, and 8 times Australian dressage representative) was the show’s second ‘star’. Bruce demonstrated what she has achieved using positive reinforcement – clicker-training, although she typically rides using a combination of negative reinforcement (simply meaning the subtraction or removal of pressure) and positive reinforcement (clicks and food rewards). The relaxation, softness, attentiveness and immediate responses achieved were impressive. There was a small kink in the scientific technicality behind her presentation – in that to be true ‘secondary positive reinforcement’ the food reward can cease to be given for every correct response, and instead can be given on a variable reinforcement scale. How this works is that the clicker’s ‘click’ remains rewarding (reinforcing) to the horse through the prior (classically conditioned) association with food, even when the food is not given. This technicality in no way detracted from a stunning feat of handling and riding including canter, piaffe and cued rear – all at liberty. ‘Rumba the wonder horse’, as he is affectionately known, painted a picture, and showed the softest ridden work exhibited over the practical day.

Ex-rodeo pro-circuit rider turned dressage champion, non-travelling Australian 2008 Olympic team reserve, Brett Parbery, rode Victory Salute while well-known scientist and coach Andrew McLean presented the fundamental concepts of learning theory in horse training.

Parbery is a winner of many Grand Prix competitions, with performances that include setting a new Australian Freestyle Dressage record of 74.1%, and winning the Sydney CDI 3* (Australian record 70.34%). The enormous 18 hand gelding Victory Salute (by an imported French Anglo-Arab stallion, Victorieaux) was fitted with scientific devices, a rein tension meter and accelerometer (measuring stride length of individual legs), devices which can later be analysed. Victory Salute did not appear at his best, showing stiff gaits, tension and tail-flicking, although he performed some impressive, light-looking, and dead-on square canter-halts amongst other work. Parbery mentioned that the horse was stiff following a competition the previous weekend. Warwick McLean, Andrew’s son – an excellent horseman in his own right, who teaches regularly in New Zealand, rode his lovely imported stallion Allesandro (by Oldenburg Sandro Hit).  There was commendation for Warwick by conference participants as he calmly and consistently reshaped the horse’s behaviour – Allesandro was unsettled by the environment, when he could hear, but not see other horses clattering past on concrete. Warwick recognises that the horse’s concern had emerged during a dressage test when it was inappropriate to make a correction and immediately extinguish it.

Colleen Brook, a show jumper who has represented Australia at World Championship and World Cup Finals level, demonstrated a blend of ‘natural horsemanship’ and ‘traditional’ training.  Brook’s alert grey didn’t appear settled and failed to stand still in halt, but he looked much happier and showed reduced conflict behaviour when the bridle was replaced by a rope halter.

When asked whether she would ride at the Olympics in a rope halter (if it were legal) Colleen replied ‘No, because the bridle is more definite and immediate and would give an edge required for that level of competition’.

The practical day set out to ‘encourage objective debate about the practical application of learning theory to the care and welfare of the horse and debate the merits or otherwise of equipment and methods, while at the same time recognising the demands of contemporary competition’. The objective was well achieved, though it may have been a case of ‘preaching to the converted’; conference attendees tend to have an up-to-date knowledge of welfare and training issues.  There is always room for riders of all levels to access the information to make informed choices to their riding and training.

Plenary speaker discusses competition welfare concerns

Professor Leo Jeffcott, having worked as an FEI event veterinarian (including 6 Olympic Games, 4 World Equestrian Games and 4 World Cups) was well-placed to speak on the importance of research to welfare and athletic performance. Professor Jeffcott presented a sad expose of welfare-breaches that have occurred during top-level competition – from Stockholm to The Hague and Rome – horses dying from heat stress, Aspirin use as an illegal anti-inflammatory/painkiller, anti-psychotic use on a horse and the 5 charges of illegal Capsaicin (drug) at last year’s Beijing Olympics, as well as Rollkür use (over-bending of the horse’s neck, bringing the horse’s head towards it’s chest) in dressage training.

Extreme measures some show jumpers have used to inflict pain to teach horses to avoid hitting the fences include: chemical pain-induction, rapping (knocking the legs, including in some cases with nailed poles) and using mechanical bandaging techniques. Professor Jeffcott says forensic tests including thermography to identify areas of heat, has brought welfare benefits to competition horses, but that these methods can only be used at a competition.  He said that some cases were the result of ‘inappropriate medication rather than deliberate doping’.

The main issues historically facing eventing have been: heat stress, acclimatisation problems and falls, deaths of and injuries to horses and riders.  The introduction of misting fans and changes to cross-country/endurance day have produced welfare improvements for competitors in equestrian events. Rollkür (also known as low-deep and round, LDR or hyper-flexion) has been the most publicised taint on dressage; it was noted ‘that the horse cannot self-maintain the position for a prolonged time with-out welfare implications’. One of the conference presenters noted that the pain and discomfort of Rollkür makes it unacceptable under the Danish animal protection law.

A recent paper by ISES scientists undertaken for the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality to provide an update on hyperflexion research (since the 2006 FEI workshop), shows that the few interim studies are not conclusive in one direction, however. A delegate said that “having the FEI in charge of competition welfare rules was like having a fox guard the henhouse”, there was then a short discussion on the possible value of independent veterinary regulation at competitions.

The conference’s organisers said that the eyes of the world are firmly focussed on the welfare implications of horse sports and that ‘animal welfare groups have a strong influence on public perceptions – the speed and scope of media delivery means that images fly around the world in seconds after an incident. Therefore we need to be proactive in discussing and promoting ethical and sustainable training and management systems before someone else dictates our practices to us’. It is vital therefore, that riders at all levels consider the welfare implications of their actions in the training, competition and care of their horses.

An indication of the watching of the ‘eyes of the world’ was described brilliantly by Danish former World List Top 100 Show Jumper, Susan Kjaergard whose bubbly presentation, supported by video footage showing her top level rides, described the furore the training change created.  Kjaergard now firmly supports uses and teaches the principles of learning theory. In order to break herself of the habits of her former riding style and retrain herself, Kjaergard took a complete break from competition for a year. When she returned riding a young horse at a small local show, the lack of tight noseband, loose reins and use of positive reinforcement caused so much fuss that rumours flew on the internet; she quickly became national news and ended up on Epona TV justifying why she made the change and extolling the welfare benefits.

Conflict behaviours

Research on ‘round yard’ training tested the assumptions and observations of Monty Roberts which form his popular ‘Join-up’ method.  The experiments performed found that untrained ponies’ flight responses resulted from the handler’s approach speed rather than either his tense or relaxed body posture or eye contact with the horse, as Roberts maintains. The ponies showed increased alarm when the trainer looked away from them, which also opposes Monty’s hypothesis.

Positive reinforcement was well-supported by several studies finding it to benefit some horses with severe trailer loading reactions, and also producing calm results when introducing ‘scary’ tasks, such as crossing a tarpaulin, that remained when re-tested 12 months later.

Conflict behaviours in horses ridden in local dressage competition came under scrutiny from Australians, Williams and Warren-Smith. They noted that labelling behaviours as: ‘abnormal’, ‘misbehaviour’ or ‘problem’ seems to imply ‘that the horse is somehow to blame’, whereas the behaviours are normal and adaptive expressions of the flight response, having evolved in horses to ensure their survival in unpredictable environments.

The most common conflict behaviour at the competition was tail-swishing, followed by ears back, being above the bit, tense, teeth visible, pulling on reins, back hollowing and short, stiff strides.  Horses competing at Preliminary level showed the most shortening and stiffening, while Prix St Georges and Grand Prix horses put their ears back and swished their tails most frequently. Researchers suggest that riders should see behaviours as a means of communication, seeking to address them before they increase in severity, for example to bucking, bolting and rearing.

Chris Rogers, from Massey University, (instrumental in organising the popular Manfield FEI dressage forums, a driving force behind the Massey Equestrian Centre and member of the Global Equine Research Alliance), briefly outlined findings from Hanna Veldman (Netherlands) and Chris’ work to quantify advanced dressage horse workload. The use of a simple training diary to quantify and assess the training programme can facilitate improvements to performance and welfare. Chris mentioned that a UK study found regular work on sand (as many top dressage horses do) has been correlated with increased incidents of suspensory ligament damage.

Preliminary research on leading leg preference showed strong left-leg dominance in many individuals.  This the researchers believe is worthy of further investigation in case lead dominance is found to pre-dispose musculoskeletal disease and has training implications for ridden horses. A pressing issue all equine researchers face is the expense and difficulty of undertaking the work and, like most science, lack of funding.

Horse and rider stress during a one day event found that whereas the horse achieved higher stress levels during dressage, riders typically experienced increased stress during the cross country phase (crashing about over fixed obstacles, is it any wonder?!)

Studbooks looking to add temperament-testing to their breeding and selection programmes will ultimately benefit from the work of a Netherlands research group working at developing a suitable measure for easy and accurate assessment of sport horse temperaments.

Sergeant Rebecca Thomas from the Western Australian police mounted section gave an insight into how the adoption of learning theory has improved their horse and rider outcomes, despite initial resistance from some staff who came from ‘traditional equestrian training’ backgrounds.  She noted it moves the onus of training off the horse and onto the trainer; police-officers were no longer returning to base saying ‘the horse doesn’t trust me’, but instead recognised their horse simply required further habituation to loud noises, such as fireworks. Police horses and riders work in challenging situations, but this did not stop a police officer with just 8 months’ riding experience competently undertaking mounted work, sometimes riding at speed and manoeuvring his horse precisely and safely in public.

Conference delegates were told to prepare for a challenging position on horse riding by RSPCA chief scientist Australian RSPCA chief scientist, Bidda Jones gave a thought-provoking plenary speech entitled Ethical equitation – what’s in it for the horse?

Jones floated the idea that our relationship with horses is parasitic and in our favour, not symbiotic and as mutually beneficial as we would like to think.  She noted that typically we attribute humanistic bias to horses in how they are kept and trained, and that they are used ‘by people for ‘fun’’. Delegates appeared support her views, despite the introductory warning that they might not like what she had to say. Jones said that The Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare are a valuable framework for considering our effects on horses.

The five freedoms are: freedom from thirst and hunger; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury, and disease; freedom from fear and distress and freedom to express natural behaviours. She quoted philosopher and social reformist, Jeremy Bentham (1789) who said ‘the question is not, can they reason, nor can they talk, but can they suffer.’

All attendees had the interests of the welfare of the horse at heart, which led to a comment by one speaker that the lack of unleashed egos, as can sometimes happen at conferences, was refreshingly unusual. This did not mean debate was shied away from however, especially at the two ‘break-out’ sessions on the final day, where the two topics for discussion were: ‘how to bridge the gap between the laboratory and the arena’ and ‘identifying and resolving horse welfare issues in training a performance’, which caused some heated exchange.

Next year’s conference will be held in Sweden, with a theme of ‘Horse welfare and human safety: importance of learning, training and education’. If you would like to join the International Society for Equitation Science or keep abreast of their research, you can find out more on their website: www.equitationscience.com.

Note on the author: Karen Britton (BSc), is member of International Society for Equitation Scientists, operates Equine Behaviour Solutions, giving lessons, educating youngsters, re-educating horses and helping their humans.