Treats/rewards out of the hand?

[Horseshoesies]

What is everyone's opinion on treats out of the hand? I tend to avoid it with my mare as she tends to get a little boisterous when fed out of the hand. When it is avoided she is lovely and is never sniffing pockets or anything, so I can tell if someone has been giving her treats while im not there! Anyway she can be nappy at times when she is out.. so the other day i took some treats in my pockets and gave her a couple to reward her on the way out when we got quite far from home, she did not nap half as much as she was distracted by these rewards, what do you think about treats/rewards??
I found this article on it which seemed quite good! http://www.horsethink.com/Articles/treatreward.htm

 

[TheMule]

I feed them polos from on board but never from the ground

 

[budley95]

I feed sugar cubes to get mine in in the summer - he's a so and so otherwise and just runs in circels around me. He isn't nippy or anything thoug. I think some horses can and some can't. He didn't have anything by hand until he was 8 with me though, first 3 years everything was fed from a bucket. Maybe we're both getting complacent in our advancing years - he's 15 this year

 

[sarahann1]

Mine get nothing from the hand unless I am worried they aren't well and wafted to check they will eat something.

My little lad gets very rude when given from the hand, I can tell when someone has been giving him treads over his door straight away.

 

[NativePonyLover]

Yes, all the time (well, not all the time - but regularly). He used to be very bolshy, but is very well mannered now (on the whole) & feeding treats doesn't seem to have adversely affected this x

 

[Dry Rot]

Definitely a reward giver rather than a treater, but a casual observer probably wouldn't notice the difference.

If I notice an older horse is a bit off hand when I go to scratch or catch it, next time I'll offer a reward and give that at the same time I scratch/take hold of head collar/etc. Pretty much the same with youngsters who can initially be a bit shy. So they look forward to my approach.

Most soon realise that they only get the reward when I take hold of the head collar and it is quite funny when they try to push their heads in my direction to be caught! I actually taught one (who came here head shy) to put his head into the head collar.

After a while, the reward is given fewer and fewer times (intermittent reinforcement), until it can be dropped altogether.

If anyone gets bargy or nippy, they get a gentle poke with a finger. That is not allowed. The road to ruin is giving treats on demand. Then they start looking for ways to initiate the hand out. Then comes nipping, pulling at clothes, finally biting, then kicking.

Properly used, rewards can be a very powerful tool. Back in the days when they had horses in circuses (do they still?) I noticed the handler regularly dishing out what looked like slices of carrots. I've never forgotten that.

I always throw treats for stallions onto the ground and they get nothing from the hand except a pat or a rub.

Only read a bit of the article but it seemed to be sound sense.

 

[YorksG]

We always have done, they quickly learn that we are in charge of giving them out, NOT them. We then use them to teach 'manners', which has over the years included leading in well, standing at the mounting block, standing while out hacking, not being bothered by vehicles (including bikes) the list is almost endless. We are often complimented on our horses manners(usually people saying how lucky we are, but that is a whole other thread )

 

[Goldenstar]

I am reward giver too .
I keep treats in a noisy bag in my pocket and use it to defuse situations I was taught to do this many years ago its a very useful tool in the box .
They get one for loading if they have a bad moment I just rustle the bag and get their attention on me .
I have in my pocket while riding youngsters as well .

 

[miss_c]

Mine get a treat when they are caught and when they get back to the lorry at a comp, but never at any other time. At one point G was getting nippy because people were giving her treats so I made it clear no treats at ANY time and put note on the stable door (with YO's permission) which stopped it. Now I'm on a private yard with just my two so do not have that problem.

The only exception to this is when my Mum visits - she gives Genie shedloads of mints and G adores her for this reason. However she is very polite and will sniff pockets but not hassle her for treats.

 

[Lolita]

I give treats out of my hand and mine stay well mannered thankfully!

 

[Auslander]

I feed them polos from on board but never from the ground

I started doing that, because Alf used to be naughty to get on. He isn't a problem to get on any more, but getting him to move off can be a challenge, as he won't go until he's had his reward!

 

[TarrSteps]

Definitely a reward giver rather than a treater, but a casual observer probably wouldn't notice the difference.

If I notice an older horse is a bit off hand when I go to scratch or catch it, next time I'll offer a reward and give that at the same time I scratch/take hold of head collar/etc. Pretty much the same with youngsters who can initially be a bit shy. So they look forward to my approach.

Most soon realise that they only get the reward when I take hold of the head collar and it is quite funny when they try to push their heads in my direction to be caught! I actually taught one (who came here head shy) to put his head into the head collar.

After a while, the reward is given fewer and fewer times (intermittent reinforcement), until it can be dropped altogether.

If anyone gets bargy or nippy, they get a gentle poke with a finger. That is not allowed. The road to ruin is giving treats on demand. Then they start looking for ways to initiate the hand out. Then comes nipping, pulling at clothes, finally biting, then kicking.

Properly used, rewards can be a very powerful tool. Back in the days when they had horses in circuses (do they still?) I noticed the handler regularly dishing out what looked like slices of carrots. I've never forgotten that.

I always throw treats for stallions onto the ground and they get nothing from the hand except a pat or a rub.

Only read a bit of the article but it seemed to be sound sense.

That.

I use treats for specific training and I think training a horse to take them nicely is a useful life skill. But I do not like people other than the owner or trainer to give treats and would never give one to anyone else's horse without permission.

The one that's out standing in the field gets treats because his inexperienced owner likes giving them to him but he can be a pest so I taught him to turn his head away to 'ask' for one. I have to top up the training now and then but it keeps everyone happy.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Yep into rewarding not treating although I will admit to slipping from time to time

 

[fburton]

http://www.horsethink.com/Articles/treatreward.htm

Pretty sensible article, I'd say.

Following the useful distinction between treats and rewards, I only treat occasionally, but it is usually for a purpose - such as breaking the ice on an initial meeting with a horse, getting attention or defusing situations (the last two frequently being related). When I do, it's usually from my hand and so as not to reward unwanted behaviour like mouthiness.

However, most often when I give treats it is as a definite reward for some immediately preceding behaviour. Again by hand. I have no problem with hand feeding if it's done in a way that fosters "good manners" or "respectful" behaviour. I don't believe it necessarily leads to problems, although it can do in some hands (no pun intended).

I used to give treats (polo mints or bits of carrot or apple) to one pony stallion by mouth. I trained him not to be pushy about this, to expect the treat only on cue, and to use only his lips. He never once bit me in the 25 years I knew him. That said, it's not something I would encourage anyone to do because the risk of injury is always there.

 

[PolarSkye]

When I first bought Kal and before I had established any ground rules in his new home I had to be very careful about feeding him anything by hand - four years on he has perfect manners wrt treats and is polite enough for me to let my YO's four-year-old niece feed him treats. I do, however, still limit how often he gets treats by hand - just to make sure his manners stay "proper" .

P

 

[tallyho!]

Def into rewards. It works on dogs so why not horses.

 

[ihatework]

It's one of my naughty habits!! I treat all of my horses.
None of them are bargy or will nip, but they do know I usually have 'sweeties' around.
Ho hum, no one is perfect

 

[lara b]

Yep use them from the hand for reward, e g doing stretches or loading onto lorry. He is a bit of a pocket noser but at 18 he's allowed a few graces and knows no teeth!

 

[Shantara]

Ned does and I try not to with Cookie unless he's been SUPER good.

Ned is really good and doesn't get bitey, but Cookie can be fast with his teeth and I'd really rather not. When I treat/reward him, I throw it on the ground and he seems to like that.

 

[Theocat]

Yep into rewarding not treating although I will admit to slipping from time to time

Exactly that

 

[EffyCorsten]

I only treat the 8yr old from hand as he's a sweet well mannered gent. I don't treat or reward the youngsters from hand as they just get nippy.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

What is everyone's opinion on treats out of the hand? I tend to avoid it with my mare as she tends to get a little boisterous when fed out of the hand. When it is avoided she is lovely and is never sniffing pockets or anything, so I can tell if someone has been giving her treats while im not there! Anyway she can be nappy at times when she is out.. so the other day i took some treats in my pockets and gave her a couple to reward her on the way out when we got quite far from home, she did not nap half as much as she was distracted by these rewards, what do you think about treats/rewards??
I found this article on it which seemed quite good! http://www.horsethink.com/Articles/treatreward.htm

I do feed out the hand and if to grabby i clench my fist and gently tap his nose and say "gently don't snatch"

 

[Sussexbythesea]

I stuff mine with treats. He isn't bolshy or nippy just cute when he begs with his eyes, ears, kissy faces and bowing. He does frisk me but only gently.

I don't treat other peoples horses without permission and wouldn't do so with a young horse that was learning boundaries or one that was a nipper.

 

[CobsGalore]

I give treats from the hand, but if he ever got bolshy or nippy then I would ensure that he knew his manners! He actually used to be quite bargy when I gave him his feed bowl, but I taught him to take two steps backwards when I approached him with feed, which he now does without me asking. He knows he doesn't get his dinner unless he offers me space and respect. I expect the same manners when feeding treats from the hand too.

 

[stormox]

if its good enough for the Spanish Riding School in Vienna
its good enough for me......

 

[TrasaM]

Yes, me too it's a really useful training aid / reward. I always bring something for RS horse too and treat him after my lesson. My friends horse is so used to seeing carrier bags that contain treats that he's more likely to try and grab any plastic bag he's sees out hacking than spook. Unfortunately he also shows just a bit too much interest in pedestrians carrying carrier bags

 

[Pigeon]

Depends on the horse. I feed Pip treats and carrots all the time and he is still very well mannered with it, and takes everything super gently, baby will get a bit snatchy if he has a polo so he gets none apart from occasionally one from on board.

 

[TarrSteps]

Def into rewards. It works on dogs so why not horses.

It doesn't work quite the same way because horses aren't hunters so don't have the same inbuilt 'effort -> reward' program, but they can be taught an approximation of the idea and treats can certainly be used to distract, tempt, mark behaviours, make pleasant associations etc. It's just another weird thing the humans think up.

 

[Landcruiser]

I reward for loading. Other than that, only treats given are for "carrot stretches" although carrots can be anything small and yummy.

 

[NinjaPony]

I have a routine where I treat last thing before I leave the yard. My boys expect their treats, but only start asking for them when its the "time", avoiding nipping and so on. I also treat after a good ride sometimes, before leaving the school, and when out showing with my welsh boy as a way of keeping his attention on me and rewarding him for a good show/behaviour.