How to teach a horse to choose what rug you put on

It doesn’t take much to have me questioning what rug to put on a horse – if only we could teach horses to choose a rug for themselves. I can’t be the only owner obsessively checking my weather app at the first hint of a cold snap, and then referring to a rugging temperature guide to double check my decision.

If you ever find yourself in this situation, you’ve probably also wished your horse could simply tell you whether they want their lightweight turnout, or if they’re quite happy in a rain sheet.

Well, I hope you’re sat down, because a team of Norwegian researchers taught 23 horses to do just that. They recorded their training methodology in this 2016 paper, and used their method to further research horses’ rugging preferences in an updated 2019 study.

Now, the project continues with high school students in Sweden and riding instructors in Norway learning how to train horses to communicate preference. The researchers are also developing a handbook to make the method more widely available – here are the key things you need to know to try it yourself.

Tolerance vs preference

Dr Cecilie Medjell was one of the lead researchers.

“We observed that very many horse owners put a rug on their horse, and not just during heavy rain and other harsh weather conditions,” she explains.

“Knowing that horses in general are quite tolerant to low ambient temperatures, and that a rug covers preferred allo-grooming [horse-to-horse grooming] sites and also may disturb free movement, such as rolling, we wanted to know how horses themselves prefer to be under various weather conditions.”

Rugs cover the majority of preferred grooming sites. Credit: Alamy

The scientists already knew horses are adept at learning and distinguishing between cues, shape categories and geometric patterns thanks to research by Sappington and Goldman in 1994.

“Teaching horses to actively tell us to put on or take off a rug, using symbols, turned out to be an interesting method to try,” Dr Medjell continues. She adds that they used clicker training principles to teach the horses.

“We had cooperation with a skilled animal trainer, Turid Buvik, who was certain that this was achievable.”

Training the horses to choose

Dr Mejdell and her team wanted to explore the possibility that horses’ discrimination between visual symbols could also link to a corresponding outcome, and whether this could allow horses to signal preference. In turn, these preferences might help guide horse-led management decisions.

The researchers applied this theory to rugging, and developed a tool to “ask” horses their rugging preferences.

Turid and her two assistants used positive reinforcement to train 23 horses of different breeds. The horses learned to recognise three symbols and to understand that the symbols had corresponding outcomes. These were “blanket on”, “blanket off”, and “no change”.

“We had different horse breeds in the training program, and all 23 horses learned the task within 14 training days,” explains Dr Medjell. “Some individuals learned more quickly than others.

“Turid is a very skilled trainer, and that was probably important for the good training outcome.”

Once training was complete, the horses completed real-life preference tests. On one rainy test day, it was 9ºC. Of the 12 unrugged horses, 10 requested a rug while two opted for no change. Those two unrugged horses touched the “blanket on” symbol on test days with arguably the most challenging conditions: -12ºC and 1ºC with sleet.

“We do not know if every individual horse could learn this,” says Dr Medjell. “But, given the 23/23 rate in our first project, we think that most can if they get a good trainer.”

Unclipped pony stands in a misty, snowy field with no rug on

Sometimes horses in the study chose to wear no rug at all – two held out until -12ºC before touching the “rug on” symbol. Credit: Chris Howes/Wild Places Photography/Alamy

How to teach your horse to choose a rug

Dr Medjell says very little equipment is needed to teach this method.

“You need a food reward the horse likes, such as a carrot, and something to place the reward into so it is not hand-fed,” she says. “You also need symbol boards that can be hung on the wall and fence.

“In the early stages, we trained inside in the horses’ boxes, and later outdoors.”

The scientists and Turid developed a 10-step methodology for training the horses to communicate their rug preference. Each step has a goal criterion that, once achieved, the horse can move on.

The ten goals are split into three stages.

“The time needed per step varies among individual horses, and training must be tailored to each horse,” explains Dr Medjell.

“During the first steps, the horse learns to approach and touch a board, using the principle of clicker training. Next, the meaning of two of the symbols [rug on and rug off] is learned by association and numerous repetitions.

“Lastly comes the transition to a free choice situation, and a “no change” symbol card is introduced. It is the horse who decides whether to have a rug put on [or taken off] or to stay unchanged.”

The 10 steps are described in the methodology paper (Mejdell et al., 2016). Dr Medjell says these will be explained in far more detail in the upcoming handbook.

woman dressed in white breeches and a striped top puts a green and blue checked turnout rug on a grey horse

Using the methodology, horses can be taught to request “rug on”, “rug off” or “no change”. Credit: FLPA/Alamy

Timing is key

Dr Medjell says that rewarding horses at the right moment matters.

“Timing is very crucial,” she explains. “In the early learning process, all ‘correct’ movements from the horse, however small, are rewarded.

“When two symbols are introduced, touching the meaningful one is rewarded, the other not.

“When the horse has passed on into the free choice situation and can choose between a relevant change symbol and the no-change symbol, touching either of those two symbol boards is rewarded.”

So, how long before you’re trying to teach your horse to choose their rug?