‘Food For Thought (and Maybe Trouble…)’ – Email 17

Hello ,

Abi here. Maybe I’m being lazy… but It was pretty easy to find the inspiration for my email this week, I’ve been taking notes from Kelly’s Tuesday night lesson on the Online Horse Psychology Course.

Week one kicked off with a topic that always sparks lively debate — the use of food in training.

It’s one of those subjects that sounds simple enough until you scratch the surface. After all, food is a powerful tool for positive reinforcement — no one’s arguing that. It’s an ethical training tool, backed by science: the temptation of a sweet treat releases dopamine, builds positive associations, and motivates horse to repeat a behaviour. What can possibly go wrong?

Used well, it can transform training. Used poorly though… it’s responsible for perhaps as much “bad” behaviour — and more unintended consequences — than almost anything else.

Like most things with horses, food in training isn’t good or bad. It’s how it’s used that matters. Timing, consistency, and what the horse is actually learning (not just what we think we’re teaching) make all the difference.

In fact, even the phrase “food in training” might be a little misleading, because the relationship between you, your horse and food is something you’re shaping all the time — not just during a “training session.”

Every feed, every haynet, every tiny interaction is a form of training in your horse’s eyes.

…'every day is a training day'

So, take a look at this photo — and have a think. How might we have unintentionally trained this behaviour? Any guesses?

Here’s a short video clip from our Members’ Area showing one of the genuinely useful occasions for using food in training — a method we often keep in our toolkit here at Intelligent Horsemanship.

In this case, it helped a pony overcome his fear of the vet.

For those who’d like to explore this topic more, I’m sharing an article from the Intelligent Horsemanship magazine archives — “Food for Thought.”

It’s a deep dive into the use of food in equine training, from Monty’s view on hand-feeding to Sarah Weston’s take on clicker training.

This one’s worth a read and gives a taste of what the IH students have been learning.

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