Program Overview

ASC248 Horse Behaviour and Training

This subject allows students to examine horse behaviour and training methods in detail. Students will be able to thoroughly appraise the importance of stimulus control for horse welfare and human safety and experience the use of established training strategies and theories in order to achieve a specified goal. The role of humans associated with horse management and training will also be considered, with particular reference to forms of stockmanship including the Indigenous Australian Stockmen. On successfully completing this subject, students will become proficient in identifying a wide range of behavioural signs that may indicate inadequacies and/or anomalies in the horse's behavioural repertoire and be able to produce a well-reasoned plan for addressing these and consequently ensuring that the horse's welfare needs are met.

Availability

• Session 2 (60)
• On Campus: Wagga Wagga Campus
• Online: Wagga Wagga Campus

Subject Information

Grading System

HD/FL

Duration

One session

School

School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences

Enrolment Restrictions

This subject is restricted to students enrolled in Bachelor of Equine Science and Bachelor of Equine Science (Business Management). Bachelor of Animal Science and Bachelor of Animal Science (Honours) may also enrol with permission of the Subject Coordinator and their Course Director.

Prerequisites

ASC148

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this subject, students should:

• be able to appraise the limitations of equine learning abilities and establish underpinning training principles
• be able to assess the importance, and demonstrate implementation of stimulus control within equitation training
• be able to analyse and determine effectiveness of real-life training methods in a range of horse uses and equestrian disciplines
• be able to analyse causes of difficulties in training and provide behavioural strategies for their resolution
• be able to deconstruct the horse-trainer-rider relationship in order to facilitate effective horse training
• be able to differentiate and appraise the relationships between contributing factors such as tradition, culture and within Australia, Indigenous Australian impact with respect to horse welfare and quality of life
• be able to identify and employ appropriate communication modes depending on the context (of the conversation), the nature of the recipient audience and the topic under discussion

Syllabus

This subject will cover the following topics:

• Fundamentals of behaviour, learning and memory
• Training principles, stimulus, response, reinforcement and stimulus control
• Training methods to include indicators of stress, conflict and fear and conditioned emotional responses
• Problem solving using conditioning, habituation, extinction, stimulus generalisation, bridging, chaining/stringing, superstitious learning, shaping, counter-conditioning, desensitisation, overshadowing and stimulus blending
• Horse-trainer-rider relationship and effective horse training using ridden horse ethograms
• Equitation pedagogy and understanding the learning space through triadic spheres, training styles, periodisation, arousal and affective states
• Stockmanship and cultural impacts including Indigenous Australian cultural competency, tradition and resistance to change and equine quality of life

Residential School

This subject contains a 3-day Compulsory Residential School. The Residential School will allow online students to study practical content and develop and practice specific horse training and behaviour management skills using many of the methods/theories studied. Students will also develop a ridden horse ethogram based on a live rider, so they can study intra- and inter-observer variability in the real world.

Special Resources

Online students will be required to attend a Residential School which may incur travel and accommodation costs. Closed-in stout leather shoes or boots must be worn when working with horses. Clean overalls with long sleeves are compulsory for this subject. When working with horses, it is a requirement that all students wear an Australian Standards approved hard hat AS 3838. You may also use helmets considered acceptable by Equestrian Australia, these include NZ 3838, ARB HS 2012, ASTM F1163, PAS 015, and VG01.040.