Feedforward vs Feedback
Why we avoid using and creating conditioned cues in Equine Hanna Somatics.
We try to avoid conditioned cues in Equine Hanna Somatics because we want to access a different category of movement than what most horses (and us) spend the majority of their lives using.
Broadly speaking, there are two major categories of movement: feedforward movement and feedback movement.
Feedforward movement is based on previously learned motor programs.
These are movements the nervous system has practiced enough times that they can be executed automatically from an existing motor plan with very little ongoing sensory involvement.
This is essentially what people are describing when they refer to “muscle memory.”
Once the movement begins, it largely unfolds according to the pre-established program. It is typically fast, smooth, efficient, and familiar.
Most of the movements we and our horses perform throughout daily life fall into this category.
The nervous system predicts what is about to happen based on past experience and prepares accordingly.
Part of this process involves something called corollary discharge, which is essentially communication from the motor system to the sensory system about the intended movement that is about to occur.
The nervous system generates an expectation ahead of time then afterward sensory feedback is compared against that prediction to determine accuracy and make future refinements.
Feedback movement works differently.
Feedback movement involves ongoing two-way communication between the sensory and motor systems throughout the movement itself.
The nervous system is continuously comparing intention with reality and making adjustments in real time.
This type of movement is especially important when learning something new or when reestablishing awareness in areas that have become habituated through chronic tension or motor-sensory amnesia.
It is slower, less automatic, and much more sensory-rich.
That distinction is one of the reasons we intentionally avoid creating highly conditioned, predictable responses during EHS sessions.
If we repeatedly use a conditioned cue or the same cue to pick up a foot, the horse can begin executing a learned motor program before there is meaningful sensory engagement with the movement itself.
The response becomes anticipated rather than explored.
Instead, we intentionally use novel, changing, and creative approaches to encourage the horse to follow a feel rather than a cue and stay engaged in feedback-based movement.
We want the nervous system actively participating throughout the process rather than simply running a familiar program.
Once the movement becomes associated with a conditioned cue and begins shifting toward feedforward execution, the neurological quality of the process changes.
The horse may reproduce the shape of the movement without necessarily engaging in the same depth of sensory recalibration, and from a learning perspective, this distinction matters significantly.
Of all the sensory information constantly entering the nervous system, only a very small percentage (about 2%) has the opportunity to be encoded into short-term memory, which is the first step in learning.
One of the things that increases the likelihood of learning is active response and real-time sensory engagement.
Feedback movement dramatically increases that opportunity because the nervous system is participating throughout the movement rather than simply replaying an already established motor program.
From the EHS perspective, that ongoing sensory participation is where much of the change actually happens through restoring the nervous system’s ability to sense, adjust, and reorganize itself in real time.