Each winter I aim to give Jak a feed a couple of times a day and have found in the past that my dedication to being a good owner who feeds a purely fibre-based diet goes very unappreciated. He tells me in no uncertain terms that it is BORING and that the grass growing around the feed bowl is much more enticing than the feed itself. Just what I want to hear on a cold winter's evening when it's taken me 15 minutes of traipsing around the field in the dark trying to find him.

Last year I found a winner in Top Spec (and the odd bit of mix when I thought about my bank balance) and all of a sudden Jak decided that he would come when called and/or wait at the gate for me. I also gave him the option of spending time in an alternative field by himself where he had extra grass. And he would tend to alternate between grass and no company or hay and company.

As the nights start to close in now I am conscious of wanting to get back into a routine where he comes to call as I really don't like trying to find him in the dark (have been knocked flying by one of his friends who decided to gallop to the gate through me rather than around and it wasn't fun). This behaviour gets well and truly extinguished over the summer when grass more than overrides anything I can offer.

So 3 nights ago I bought a sack of mix, made up a small feed and left it outside the field. Caught him and he started sniffing for his routine herbal treat. Didn't have one so he was immediately a bit confused. Then he smelled the feed on my hand. All of a sudden he was no longer the horse who thought he was about to be taken for a ride and so dawdles up the field to the gate. He was alert, expectant and jogged along beside me to the gate. Very happy boy and I make NO apologies for any anthropomorphism!

The last 2 nights - woohoo! - I call his name and have an orange pony galloping flat out to the gate immediately. Rather amusingly he also thinks that he should be allowed to go to his extra-grass field which the current size of his gut doesn't really require yet. Hmmmm, had better be careful not to reinforce that one for a little while!

Just thought I'd share this story as so often when we talk about spontaneous recovery of behaviours it is some unwanted behaviour that has been semi-extinguished and then inadvertantly reinforced. On this occasion it's very much a wanted behaviour, hurrah!

Catherine

Yes your right Catherine , it is lovely to hear spontaneous recovery happenening in a 'wanted' situation.Very close to my heart at the moment. Just goes to show how powerfull food is to horses !!!! and Me !!!

Ah yes, I know this phenomenon. They call it 'Cupboard Love' I believe. It's actually one thing I like about winter - the way both little barrels on legs (even when they're slim!) charge like the clappers up the field in that 'WOOOO HOOOOO!' manner. Even Hi-Fi gets this reaction, bless em! Right now, there's a purposeful amble rather than a full on charge, as they're just being introduced to hay.

Even Hi-Fi gets this reaction, bless em!

Jak would call that a cruel example of putting the behaviour on a VSR! And he would recommend extinguishing it damn quickly so that nice tasty mix gets added to the feed!

Ha ha Rach, well any time you want to gallop down south I will gladly reward you with a bit of mix too. Only in the winter, mind!

Tee hee hee! Well, the poor starving ponies are now being introduced to veteran mix (more for little B's benefit than the fat exmoor!). Initial reactions are not exactly as expected. Instead of galloping up the field, they were found waiting outside the feedroom door, like hobos at a soup kitchen, ha ha ha! Early days, but I'm treating that as success.

That is a nice example!

I have to admit, my big breakthrough in clicker training Jackson(after 7 months of "yeah, OK") was when I got a sample mug of Top Spec Leisure Time and decided it would make a good handy treat. Suddenly, I had a horse who would leave his friends and gallop the length of the field for a 10 minute clicker training session! Lead ropes were no longer required Apparently carrots are nice, apples are OK, but those little pellets are addictive

The effect has outlasted the Top Spec (it was only a sample) and has transferred to Spillers High Fibre nuts. I continue to find it amazing the effect about 300g of fibre doled out over an hour or so can have on a horse (I'm sure he could get the same number of calories by grazing the same length of time).

I am pleased to say that in moving field a few weeks back we have had no spontaneous recovery of situational behaviours (i.e. refusing to leave other horses at all...) and he is still very happy to go for long, fibre nut motivated hacks

Actually it's a bit of the reverse for me. Warrior always comes to see me, regardless of food. Sadly when the winter hay rountine sets in , instead of being glad to see me with little wickers he is more interested in pushing the other horses off the hay.

He's very good for the soul, and propogates the love of anthromorphism in us all

Hi Sue

Delighted you found the site - welcome! I'm just gradually trying to catch up with the recent flurry of messages from everyone, am getting there slowly.

Lovely how they're all different isn't it! Once the evening hay starts being put out in the winter, Jak's behaviour changes again. Last year he let me know exactly when he wanted hay and company or extra grass despite that meaning being by himself. I just love the level of communication you can get when you listen to the horse, it doesn't need to have any marketable name, does it?!

Spontaneous recovery still going well. So much for behaviour dropping off when it's on a fixed rate of reinforcement!

Catherine