Are horses as political as we think or is it just another red herring? I've lost count of how many times people have told me that they just wish they could show their horse who's boss, or how their horse is dominant and so they have to be firm with him, or that because horses try to find the weakest link they must learn to speak horse so thay can manage horses naturally.
I think it's time for a rethink on the dominance issue. First and foremost, what is dominant behaviour for? Is every incident witnessed an attempt by the horse to assert dominance? Is there a simpler explanation?
When a horse is said to be the dominant of a pair of horses it is because in contests over some important resource such as food or water, it has always displaced the other horse and 'won' access to that resource. When resources are short horses do need to compete over them, and after a series of competitions the frequent losers will start to give way more easily to the frequent winners.
But are the contests about dominance rank, or the resource in question? I think that they are about the resource, because when resources are plenty horses fight less. I think when horses compete for a resource they are frightened about losing that resource, because after all, it is important for survival. The horse who is desperate enough, and confident enough in his competitive ability will be more likely to compete, and if the opponent is weaker, he'll win. But ultimately that horse got into the competition because he felt threatened, not because he was into politics for politics sake.
All the above means that 'dominance' behaviour is for competing for stuff when one feels threatened. This means then, that when horses direct pushy, aggressive behaviour towards us they feel threatened or confused and they're not trying to be 'dominant' - unless of course we are making advances on their food bowl!
When a horse feels threatened by our behaviour he has four options: get away from us, behave aggressively, try to change the subject through fidgety behaviour, or plain freeze. Aggressive behaviour in its various degrees is quite effective at making us get out of their way or stop what we are doing to them. It's self defence, not the horse's ambition to be dominant over us.
I think that this means that when horses try to push us, bite us and kick us they are confused about what we are trying to make them do, or we are plain scaring them. This means we have to intelligently find away of training the horse to understand what we want without fear so that we can communicate more clearly. It's just not fair to assume that the horse is trying to get one over on us when more simply, he's just trying to communicate discomfort.
Thursday 29 January 2009
Wednesday 14 January 2009
Emotional horses
All horses are capable of emotion. That might sound anthropomorhic, projecting human
attributes onto the horse, but I never said horses are capable of human emotion! Horses amaze me in their emotional capacity, it is precisely because they're not quite like us that fascinates me. The reason why they're not like us is because they are adapted to a different lifestyle and are motivated by different things. But they have some similarities, pretty much all mammals have the same basic emotional neurocircuitry, like that for fear & anxiety, frustration & rage, for seeking the good stuff in life, lust, joy and nurturance.
To help build a good relationship with horses, for the purpose of having fun or competing seriously, the emotional stuff is important. Horses that aren't emotionally fit find it hard to learn technical stuff, and their behaviour shows it, they can become shut down, or be going in every direction at once. Neither state is fun or going to give a competitive edge.
I find that horses can be affected by fear and frustration every day of their lives with us if we restrict their natural lifestyle excessively, confuse them through our efforts to school them and fail to provide some of the fun stuff in life.
Take horses that get stabled at night and go out in the day, especially at this time of year. Number one, they might be affected by reduced day length as neurochemical production is altered. That can be emotionally sensitising all on its own, but normally it may set the scene for stronger emotional states to have a negative effect.
That leads me on to number two: the horse gets wet, hungry and uncomfortable in the field, and by tea time is positively hanging over the gate to come in. That's because he expects that any minute he'll have relief from the wet ground and he'll get his short feed and some hay to munch. That drives his 'SEEKING' system (see Jaak Panksepp's book, Affective Neuroscience). In his anticipation he gets frustrated because he can't get to the dry stable with the lovely nourishing food because someone left a fence and a locked gate in the way! In his frustration he switches from SEEKING to RAGE and bites the pony next to him. That makes the groom mad so she yells or hits him making him fearful, and he didn't know what he did anyway he was just so wound up just then, and now the human is too. Now even more wound up and emotional he drags his owner up the yard and won't stand still to have his legs washed, even though he's done this 100, 000 times before. He gets shouted at for this and the lead rope gets yanked for good measure - not that it works but the human feels less frustrated, but will probably feel guilty in the car on her way home. Finally he gets into his box and digs into his food, now he feels better and settles for the night... But horses sleep for no more than 5 hours a day, so he has a couple of dreams and he's hungry again. But, the haynet's run out and it's still just one more hour before breakfast and release into the field where at least he can run around, have a nibble of grass and chew the fences for a bit until he gets too wet and hungry again...
See how it goes? We've probably all been there but there is another way. Maybe the horse has to live in the stable at night, limited grazing and all that. That's ok, no need to reach for the birch twigs here! The horse could be fed more hay and be fed some additional forages like carrots, swede, alfalfa, readigrass, a nutritional lick - horses love to pick through different flavours, that's what grazing is all about. The horse can get all his dietry needs from feeding this way so no need for a short, sweet feed for him to get psyched up about. The horse's turnout could have some hard standing put in and a hay feeder or two placed there, so that hay can be put out to prevent hunger setting in at 2pm. Then at coming in and going out time the owner can practise some new horsemanship skills to safely lead her horse, hose his legs and change his rug. Then he'll be a pleasure to have and the owner can have warm fuzzy thoughts as opposed to guilt on the way home :-)
Monday 5 January 2009
The Art, Science and Common Sense of Horsemanship
I am frequently queried about my approach to equine behavioural problems and training methods. Because I don’t adhere to one particular method or another it is not always easy to explain what I do actually do. Saying that I simply mix and match is only a part explanation, it would be more accurate to say that my intention when I work with any horse and owner is to look at the whole partnership. I determine what exactly motivates that horse and owner, tailor a training and management programme based on fundamental first principles, and then educate the owner in their use in their specific case. This is the combination of the art, science and common sense of horsemanship.
This approach is loosely similar to the means by which a work of art such as a painting is created. There are basic principles of how to make different colours, use of perspective and light, and set up an aesthetically appealing composition. And although that’s the case, how come one painting is never exactly the same as another, even if they’re by the same artist? That’s where art uses basic principles that can be understood through scientific analysis, but the art is in wittingly or unwittingly applying first principles to create something unique. I look at horsemanship in this way.
There are basic principles to do with the way in which horses function and respond to their environment. Understanding how the horse works is fundamental to understanding how ‘methods’ work. Most horsemanship instruction is precisely that, instruction on how to apply methods whether it’s on how to muck out a stable or teach a horse to lunge. Most instruction, especially at basic levels is not about why to or why not to. Obedience is often deemed important at this stage for health and safety reasons, but continuing an obedient mentality is likely to lead to thoughtlessness. One of my first lessons in horsemanship was the statement that I should never stop learning about horses. It was not indicated to me at this time that I should question established practise but to accept it as best practise and get on with it. A lesson I learned later on, from a somewhat maverick horsewoman who worked locally was that I should question how and why things are done the way they are. A year later, embarkation on an equine science degree provided me with ample opportunity to do just that, and I’ve been finding those opportunities ever since!
Take our tradition of doing almost everything to a horse from its left side. As beginner horsemen we are instructed to halter, tack up, lead and mount horses from the left side. This becomes habitual for us in our future equestrian careers. A result of this is that horses become more used to us handling them from that side, and so we handle them even more from that side because it is where they and we are more comfortable. A cycle of behaviour is formed and we then come to extrapolate this habit to the introduction of new and potentially frightening stimuli to the horse. But why?
The tradition of doing things from the left most likely springs from the horse’s military history. Taking the military example as a suggestion, the sword is carried on the left side of the soldier so that it may be easily drawn from its scabbard and used in the right hand. In this case, handling and mounting from the right hand side of the horse would result in the sword getting in the way. It makes sense to get on from the left where the sword will be less likely to hit the horse’s rear as the rider swings his leg over its back, possibly causing the horse to move inconveniently. Another question that leads on from this is: is this the best course of action with my horse today?
In re-examining the tradition of mostly doing things from the left hand side of my horses, I am first of all aware that I am not a cavalryman and I am not carrying a sword. Therefore this liberates me to choose whichever side I want to lead or mount my horses from, or to introduce new stimuli to them. I could look to see if there is any science on the matter from which to further help me make an objective decision on how to introduce novel things into the life of a foal or inexperienced horse. In fact there is some science on this matter. Horses have an eye on each side of their head giving them a very wide field of view that is best adapted for spotting the kind of movements predators make when attacking horses. It has been suggested that what they see in their left eye is processed by the right, more emotional, brain hemisphere. Information from the right eye is processed by the more logical left brain hemisphere. When Australian scientists tested this idea they subjected horses to novel stimulus on their left and right sides. Horses responded more fearfully when the stimulus was first presented on the left side as the more emotional right brain hemisphere reacted with fear, communicating to the legs to move faster! So now which side am I going to introduce the hosepipe to my yearling for the first time?
This example is just the tip of the iceberg when considering the horse and our intentions for him. It’s the part of horsemanship I love best and is just as relevant to everyday training and management of a horse without ‘problems’ as it is to one with a ‘behaviour problem’. My goal in life is two-fold, to learn as much fact about horses and owners as I can, and secondly to integrate that knowledge into the best management and training practises for all who wish to seek some help from me.
So what method do I practise? Today it might be the loose schooling with food reinforcements signalled by a clicker for trotting with a lower head position for the injured Thoroughbred I’m rehabilitating, and the carefully timed release of rein pressure to inform the nice young cob about how good it is to slow, stop or turn as I progress through the process of breaking in (by the way I still use this term even though other, probably more accurate terms are available because most horse people still understand this term to mean early training of the horse to accept a rider). I will always assess, diagnose and tailor to fit individual horses and owners, so there will never be an explicit ‘Jenni Nellist’ method of horsemanship. I hope I will always continue to empower owners with knowledge so that they can work through their own logical thought processes and apply their own method as they become more skilled equestrians.
This approach is loosely similar to the means by which a work of art such as a painting is created. There are basic principles of how to make different colours, use of perspective and light, and set up an aesthetically appealing composition. And although that’s the case, how come one painting is never exactly the same as another, even if they’re by the same artist? That’s where art uses basic principles that can be understood through scientific analysis, but the art is in wittingly or unwittingly applying first principles to create something unique. I look at horsemanship in this way.
There are basic principles to do with the way in which horses function and respond to their environment. Understanding how the horse works is fundamental to understanding how ‘methods’ work. Most horsemanship instruction is precisely that, instruction on how to apply methods whether it’s on how to muck out a stable or teach a horse to lunge. Most instruction, especially at basic levels is not about why to or why not to. Obedience is often deemed important at this stage for health and safety reasons, but continuing an obedient mentality is likely to lead to thoughtlessness. One of my first lessons in horsemanship was the statement that I should never stop learning about horses. It was not indicated to me at this time that I should question established practise but to accept it as best practise and get on with it. A lesson I learned later on, from a somewhat maverick horsewoman who worked locally was that I should question how and why things are done the way they are. A year later, embarkation on an equine science degree provided me with ample opportunity to do just that, and I’ve been finding those opportunities ever since!
Take our tradition of doing almost everything to a horse from its left side. As beginner horsemen we are instructed to halter, tack up, lead and mount horses from the left side. This becomes habitual for us in our future equestrian careers. A result of this is that horses become more used to us handling them from that side, and so we handle them even more from that side because it is where they and we are more comfortable. A cycle of behaviour is formed and we then come to extrapolate this habit to the introduction of new and potentially frightening stimuli to the horse. But why?
The tradition of doing things from the left most likely springs from the horse’s military history. Taking the military example as a suggestion, the sword is carried on the left side of the soldier so that it may be easily drawn from its scabbard and used in the right hand. In this case, handling and mounting from the right hand side of the horse would result in the sword getting in the way. It makes sense to get on from the left where the sword will be less likely to hit the horse’s rear as the rider swings his leg over its back, possibly causing the horse to move inconveniently. Another question that leads on from this is: is this the best course of action with my horse today?
In re-examining the tradition of mostly doing things from the left hand side of my horses, I am first of all aware that I am not a cavalryman and I am not carrying a sword. Therefore this liberates me to choose whichever side I want to lead or mount my horses from, or to introduce new stimuli to them. I could look to see if there is any science on the matter from which to further help me make an objective decision on how to introduce novel things into the life of a foal or inexperienced horse. In fact there is some science on this matter. Horses have an eye on each side of their head giving them a very wide field of view that is best adapted for spotting the kind of movements predators make when attacking horses. It has been suggested that what they see in their left eye is processed by the right, more emotional, brain hemisphere. Information from the right eye is processed by the more logical left brain hemisphere. When Australian scientists tested this idea they subjected horses to novel stimulus on their left and right sides. Horses responded more fearfully when the stimulus was first presented on the left side as the more emotional right brain hemisphere reacted with fear, communicating to the legs to move faster! So now which side am I going to introduce the hosepipe to my yearling for the first time?
This example is just the tip of the iceberg when considering the horse and our intentions for him. It’s the part of horsemanship I love best and is just as relevant to everyday training and management of a horse without ‘problems’ as it is to one with a ‘behaviour problem’. My goal in life is two-fold, to learn as much fact about horses and owners as I can, and secondly to integrate that knowledge into the best management and training practises for all who wish to seek some help from me.
So what method do I practise? Today it might be the loose schooling with food reinforcements signalled by a clicker for trotting with a lower head position for the injured Thoroughbred I’m rehabilitating, and the carefully timed release of rein pressure to inform the nice young cob about how good it is to slow, stop or turn as I progress through the process of breaking in (by the way I still use this term even though other, probably more accurate terms are available because most horse people still understand this term to mean early training of the horse to accept a rider). I will always assess, diagnose and tailor to fit individual horses and owners, so there will never be an explicit ‘Jenni Nellist’ method of horsemanship. I hope I will always continue to empower owners with knowledge so that they can work through their own logical thought processes and apply their own method as they become more skilled equestrians.
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