Citation

Fox AE, Bailey SR, Hall EG, St Peter CC. Behav. Processes 2012; 91(1): 125-128.

Affiliation

West Virginia University, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.beproc.2012.05.001

PMID

22617186

Abstract

Biting and chewing by horses on crossties can result in injury to the handler and damage to equipment. Operant-conditioning techniques have been used to train horses and could be used to reduce or eliminate undesirable biting and chewing. Presently, a differential-reinforcement-of-other-behavior (DRO) schedule, in the context of a reversal design, was effective in reducing biting and chewing in two horses. In DRO schedules, a reinforcer is delivered contingent on the absence of a target behavior for a specified interval. Positive-reinforcement procedures offer an alternative to aversive-control techniques typically used in equine training and may provide for better equine welfare and horse-human interaction.

Language: en