We’re back with Ella Bradshaw-Wiley, Associate Lecturer in Equine Science at Charles Sturt University, for Part Two of our conversation around her paper, 'Combined reinforcement: Poisoned cue or a panacea for modern equine training? A narrative review.'

Ella's research focuses on equine behaviour, learning and welfare, with her current work exploring combined reinforcement and its potential influence on learning, behaviour, safety and the horse-human relationship.

In Part Two, we head straight into one of the ideas that originally led us to Ella's paper: the “poisoned cue”.

It's a wonderfully memorable phrase but what does it actually describe? Is a poisoned cue a distinct learning phenomenon, or are we giving a particularly catchy name to associative-learning processes we already understand? And importantly, should a cue that has become associated with punishment or correction be considered equivalent to an intentionally designed training sequence in which a horse experiences both the release of pressure and an appetitive reinforcer?

From there, we explore what combined reinforcement might actually offer horse training in practice. We talk about stimulus control, timing and predictability, whether the order of pressure release, a marker and positive reinforcement matters, and the research that is still missing in this area.

We also take the conversation into ridden work and SLO. If completely removing negative reinforcement from riding is extremely difficult, could we instead become much better at reducing it? Could auditory cues, very light tactile cues and positive reinforcement help us transfer behaviour onto increasingly subtle signals?

And, importantly, combined reinforcement cannot simply mean “pressure plus a biscuit”. We discuss where this approach may have value in clinical behaviour modification, what safeguards are needed, and why positive and negative reinforcement have somehow become ideological identities rather than descriptions of learning processes.

Finally, we ask Ella where she would take the research next if she had the horses, time and funding to answer the questions that remain.

Find Ella at Charles Sturt University:
https://science-health.csu.edu.au/schools/ag-environmental-vet/research/research-areas/profiles/equine-science/ella-bradshaw

Read the paper:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2025.106718

#gapingblackhole

Meet Your Hosts

Barbara Hardman (Bright Horse Equiation)
www.brighthorse.ie

📧barbara.j.hardman@brighthorse.ie ☎️+353 85 143 8688

Jen Nash (The Equine Method)
www.theequinemethod.co.uk

📧 Info@TheEquineMethod.co.uk ☎️+44 7902920923