Elsevier

Journal of Veterinary Behavior

Volume 29, January–February 2019, Pages 88-94
Journal of Veterinary Behavior

Equine Research
Cutting to the chase: How round-pen, lunging, and high-speed liberty work may compromise horse welfare

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2018.05.003Get rights and content

Abstract

Round-pen, lunging, and liberty training has grown in popularity in recent years in a number of equestrian contexts, due in part to the popularity of contemporary training methods and colt-starting competitions. When well applied, the round-pen can become a classroom, but when poorly applied and without an understanding of learning theory, training in the round-pen or on a lunge-line can pose significant risks to both horse welfare and handler safety. The most serious problems arise when exceeding optimal and safe thresholds of arousal in the horse, which can be detrimental to both human safety and horse welfare in at least 2 ways. First, through the appearance of conflict (e.g., behaviors indicating that the horse is not managing stress-inducing circumstances well) and defensive behaviors that are often associated with a flight response. Second, there is a risk of increased resistance to extinction of flight behavior and the subsequent spontaneous recovery of high levels of arousal and dangerous behaviors. Thus, if the arousal levels are very high, learning and performance are repressed. When arousal levels are insufficient to engage the horse (i.e., acquire and maintain its attention), learning and performance may also be inhibited. Thus, there is an optimal threshold level of arousal where learning can be optimized, and such thresholds are likely unique for individual horses. The precise range of these arousal thresholds is yet to be identified. It therefore follows that in the absence of this information, trainers should adopt a precautionary conservative principle and avoid high arousal levels. Doing so, coupled with optimal application of knowledge of learning theory, can make the round-pen or lunge-line as a safe and useful addition to the horse's training. To minimize the risks associated with training in the round-pen and working horses on a lunge-line, training goals, lesson plans, and training methodologies must apply scientific knowledge on equine ethology, cognition, and learning. Given recent increases in scientific interest in round-pen training, now is an appropriate time to discuss good practice in the context of lunging, round-pens, and other training techniques that may involve the chasing of horses. This review examines current usage, potential risks to horse welfare, and how to ensure training using these methods fosters positive learning outcome and promotes horse welfare.

Introduction

The use of circular pens in horse training is thought to date back at least as far as Roman times (Waran et al., 2002). Compared with rectangular enclosures, circular pens have the advantage of no corners. This reduces the possibility of horses stalling (becoming immobile) in a corner, thus impeding the flight response and increasing anxiety and arousal levels. Flooding is a training technique where animals are forcibly subjected to an aversive stimuli, such as a frightening object or noise, without the possibility of escape. This technique is extremely stressful for horses and is not recommended (Pearson, 2015). With both lunging and round-pen work, escape learning—where the horse is released from the pressure exerted by the trainer's physical presence by removing itself from the situation—is thwarted. The animal moving around the perimeter learns that it is unable to increase distance between itself and the person in the center of pen urging the animal forward. This allows the trainer to use subtler postural cues without the need of moving physically close to the horse, which may inadvertently increase pressure to the point of chasing. Round-pens enable the trainer to remain predominantly in the center of the enclosure and to use variations in their posture to both elicit and negatively and positively reinforce acceleration, deceleration, and changes of direction through the addition or removal of primary and secondary reinforcers (e.g., ceasing to urge the horse forward, as well as verbal secondary reinforcers) (McLean & Christensen, 2017).

Given the ease with which trainers can chase the horse, even inadvertently, in the round-pen and on the lunge-line, to justify the potential risks of injury and compromise of horse welfare associated with chasing, the intended aim of the activities needs to be clearly defined and assessed against the principles of learning theory (McGreevy and McLean, 2007) and ethical equitation (Jones & McGreevy, 2010). One of the major welfare risks associated with chasing in the round-pen, on the lunge, or during high-speed liberty training may reflect the absence of consensus on how to identify optimal arousal thresholds. Yerkes-Dodson's Law (Dodson, 1915) describes a model of optimal arousal thresholds for learning and performance in animals. Optimal arousal levels are likely to show considerable variation between horses. For example, there may be breed and sex differences as well as experiential effects in individual horse arousal thresholds.

In the 1990s, round-pen practitioners believed that round-pen training techniques were based on equine intraspecific interactions with the implication that the trainers' actions are interpreted by the horse similarly to those that arise in social interactions among free-ranging horses (Anderson, 2010, Balyley and Maxwell, 1996, Maxwell and Sharples, 1998, Parelli, 1993, Roberts, 2001). This belief continues to be promoted by some trainers (Kydd et al., 2017), and many horse people have extended this notion to imply that these interactions are based on “respect” (ISES, 2017). More recently, and popularized by “New Age” trainers and colt-starting competitions, such as The Way of the Horse (Australia) (Events, 2016) and The Road to the Horse (USA) (Bland, 2007), the round-pen has been considered an essential element of foundation training of horses. Colt-starting competitions began in Texas in 2003 with an event called the “In A Whisper Challenge.” These competitions have developed into a form of entertainment at many large equine events and involve training unhandled horses from a first contact to riding an obstacle course or freestyle pattern, in a limited time frame (often 3 to 5 hours) and in front of large audiences. All the early training in these events takes place within a round-pen, one for each contestant, situated within the main arena of the event. However, in such competitive atmospheres, significant concerns for horse welfare are raised by the possibility of horses being aroused to the point of distress by accelerating cues from the handler (Loftus et al., 2016). Many advocates of the round-pen also recognize that the round-pen can be misused, and its use is problematic in the hands of novices (Kydd et al., 2017, Roberts, 2001). High levels of horse arousal in the round-pen can greatly increase the risk to horse welfare. Several factors such as the use of accelerating pressures and cues, the trainer's level of experience, the timeliness of application of negative reinforcement, the use of positive reinforcement, the horse's level of education and prior experience, and the physical construction of the pen itself all contribute to best practice round-pen training.

While round-pens can be valuable in horse training because of convenient geometry that restricts the horse's ability to increase its distance from the handler in the center, it is essential for horse welfare that all interactions within them be predicated on adherence to the ISES principles of training (ISES, 2015). These principles are derived from the current scientific understanding of equine ethology and learning. In the current review, we refer to the adherence of these principles when using the term “ethical training.”

Section snippets

Common uses and potential risks

Commonly used lunging, round-pen, and high-speed liberty techniques carry potential risk factors to both the horse and the handler. The physical construction of the round-pen, any assumptions made concerning the horses' underlying motivation for particular behaviors, the physical fitness level of the horse, and the intended lesson can all pose a potential risk to both horse welfare and trainer safety when not properly addressed.

Ethical approach—equitation science based

Lunging and the round-pen can be used, with a knowledge and understanding of equine learning abilities, simply to exercise the horse. In countries where weather or management practices dictate that horses be kept indoors, lunging and round-pen work can be used not only to exercise the horse but also to decrease postinhibitory rebound effects (McGreevy et al., 2007). When horses have well-trained in-hand deceleration and acceleration responses, they can be kept at minimal levels of arousal

Minimizing risks associated with physical constraints

When properly constructed and used, the round-pen can be a safe place for a skilled trainer to handle horses (Lyons & Kirkham, 2012). A round-pen of 18 to 20 meters in diameter is anecdotally reported (Lyons & Kirkham, 2012) to be sufficient to protect the horse from musculoskeletal damage. However, there is no empirical evidence to confirm the safety of working horses in pens of this size. In an 18-m diameter round-pen, approximately 20 circuits equal 1 km. In just 20 minutes of lunging or

Conclusion

When training aims and methodology have been properly considered and aligned, the round-pen can be a useful and safe place for foundation training for the horse and rider. However, when poorly applied, training in the round-pen can pose significant risks to both horse welfare and rider safety. Given recent increases in scientific interest in round-pen training, now is an appropriate time to develop and recommend best practice lunging and round-pen techniques that foster positive learning

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the anonymous referees who gave feedback on an earlier version of this article and Dr. Michelle Hyde for her assistance in the preparation and proofreading of this article.

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