Equine Behaviour
Understand and recognise what constitutes normal behaviour in your horse and learn to respond appropriately to abnormal behaviour. The study of equine behaviour provides a foundation for more sensitive and informed care and training of horses. Lessons cover genetics, perception and behaviour, communication and social behaviour, sexual and reproductive behaviour, learning and training and behavioural problems.
Understand and recognise what constitutes normal behaviour in your horse and learn to respond appropriately to abnormal behaviour. The study of equine behaviour provides a foundation for more sensitive and informed care and training of horses. Lessons cover genetics, perception and behaviour, communication and social behaviour, sexual and reproductive behaviour, learning and training and behavioural problems.
There are 7 lessons in this course:
- Introduction: Influences and motivation
- Why study equine behaviour?
- What motivates behaviour?
- Reactive behaviour
- Active behaviour
- Cognitive behaviour
- Species behavioural differences
- Learned behaviour
- Classical conditioning
- Stimulus conditioning
- Trace conditioning
- Delayed conditioning
- Operant conditioning
- Terminology
- Genetics and Behaviour
- Understanding the basics
- Heritability
- Epigenesis
- Innate behaviour
- Selective pressures
- Social behaviour
- Rank
- Conflict
- Equine Perception and Behaviour
- Imprinting
- Negative imprinting
- Sensory reception
- Mechanoreceptors
- Thermoreceptors
- Chemoreceptors
- Photoreceptors
- Stimulus filtering
- Communication and Social Behaviour
- Social Constraints
- Herd Membership
- Auditory signals
- Chemical signals
- Communication
- Co-ordination
- Cohesion
- Sexual and Reproductive Behaviour
- Sexual encounter
- Isolating mechanisms
- Birthing behaviour
- Foal imprinting
- Maternal behaviour
- Abnormal behaviour
- Learning and Training
- Conditioning and learning
- Shaping
- Extinction
- Habituation
- Instrumental Learning
- Thorndike’s Law of Effect (1913)
- Operant and Respondent Behaviour
- Pseudo-conditioning
- Intero-ceptive Conditioning
- Temporal Conditioning
- Biological Aspects of Learning
- Associative Learning
- Obedience
- Reinforcement
- Punishment
- Systematic desensitisation
- Counter conditioning
- Behavioural Problems
- Types of Abnormal Behaviour in Horses
- Diagnosing Behavioural Problems
- Indicators of Pain
- Indicators of Mild Fear
- Indicators of Extreme Fear
- Stress
- Stereotypes
- Stable Vices
- Prevention
- Ridden Vices
- Handling Vices
- Problems during loading
Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.
For more information on this course, please request your free course information pack.