Livestock Studies 2014, Vol 54, Num, 2     (Pages: 077-084)

Learning and training abilities of horses

Sibel DANIŞAN 1 ,Hakan ÇALIŞKAN 1 ,Ceyhan ÖZBEYAZ 2

1 Osmangazi Üniversitesi, Mahmudiye Meslek Yüksekokulu, Atçılık ve Antrenörlüğü Programı, Eskişehir
2 Ankara Üniversitesi, Veteriner Fakültesi, Zootekni Anabilim Dalı, Ankara
- Gathering a fruitful communication between humans and horses depends on knowing the horses` patterns of behaviour in their natural environment. Today horse behaviour has a crucial role in their training and orientation. People benefit from horses in many ways by exploring their perceptive and learning abilities and then by the aid of these findings, applying correct training methods. For horses, learning skills are very important to be in behavioural harmony with the changes that occur within their environment. To make use of it, a horse`s learning capacity has a crucial importance for humans as well. The value of a horse is increased by its education. For this reason, the connection between horse behaviour and learning mechanisms has to be gathered and horses have to be brought into the sector by applying useful training methods. Today lots of horses are being injured as youngsters because of false trainings or are traumatized or damaged. Due to this reason, it is important to emphasize to train them when they are young. Now that the young horses are trained in their early ages by the aid of correct training methods, in every aspect they offer extensive benefits for human life socially and psychologically. In this essay, horses` learning and training abilities are interrelated to their behaviours. In this review, horses` learning and training abilities, and connection those of with behaviours are considered. Keywords : Horse, Behaviour, Learning, Training