#horse behaviour

[infinity-on-high-07]

Dave during Halo (Live in Miami 1993)    

[jefaisducso]

Today, the Moose came home for her winter holidays. Because she’s so damned nosey but dominant, I decide to throw her straight out with the other 3 rather than try and stagger (re)introductions - she’s been with Vigo and Sana before but Horsie is a new face for her and vice versa. Usually I’d take things slower but with Freyja being quite wound up already I felt it was best to just get all the drama over and done with whilst she was tired from travelling and there was a nice new bale of hay to distract them all.

The result was a short period of time where 3 out of 4 horses pranced around together with some yelling and air-kicking, before Vigo occasionally shot into the middle to remind everyone that he’s overall boss. I’ve got lots of footage of them fooling around but within 10 minutes they’d all gotten bored and settled down to eat hay together, which is as good as one can expect when introducing such a bunch of idiots. An hour later, nobody had a mark on them yet and the only contact I saw was a glancing blow on Horsie’s shoulder when he didn’t get out of Freyja’s space fast enough.

As I expected, they fell into an easy order of (from most to least dominant): Vigo, Freyja, Sana and Horsie. It’s good that Freyja has someone to respect and Horsie now has a playmate so long as he minds his manners.

[picea-rubens]

So, I’ve been teaching a friend how to be safe around horses lately, and I just saw a post on here about being amazed by animals feeling safe enough to sleep near you… I’ve been training practicing natural horsemanship for over a decade, and it made me want to make a list of a few basic things some people might not know or think about when it comes to being safe around horses and making them feel safe around you:

Blinking and licking are good signs of thinking, relaxed horses – if they are not doing this, they are not calm – they’re terrified and possibly a bit catatonic.  Horses who are like this and keep getting pushed are the horses who spook/buck/explode and people say, “it came out of no where!”  No, it did not – you just weren’t really listening.

Horses have tri-focal vision.  The bottom, middle, and top of their eyes focus at different distances.  The top part of the eye is for things that are close-up, which is why horses typically lower their heads to look at you and/or inspect you with one eye when you’re near them.  When a horse is looking through the middle of its eye, then it can see what’s going on around it, while the bottom of the eye is the far-sighted portion of the eye.  Horses that fight to lift their head when approaching a jump are trying to judge the distance between them and the obstacle (so, let them).

Cock a foot (i.e. shift your weight more on one side) when chillin’ – this a relaxed, friendly posture when you’re not asking anything of them (they do this themselves all the time).  

Don’t stare them down if you can help it – predators do this.  We have forward facing eyes for depth perception; prey animals do not as their eyes are on the sides of their head.  Humans are predators.  They don’t know you won’t decide to eat them at some point.  Just because you haven’t eaten them yet, doesn’t mean you can’t later.  Anyone getting stared down by a mountain lion would feel uncomfortable.

Don’t approach them dead-on. Again, their eyes are off to the side rather than forward-facing like a predator. Predators approach in direct lines.  Horses meander, so approach them with your body and path at more of an angle, if possible.

Don’t pat them - stroke them instead.  Horses like feeling safe and comfortable.  Dogs and other predators like higher-energy rough praise.  Horses do not appreciate a pat in the same way that a dog might.  

I could go on for a very long time, but basically, if you stop and consider how your actions as a predator may be interpreted to a prey animal and adjust to accommodate that, then you’ll have a horse that will be calmer and more inclined to trust you.  I am constantly floored by the fact that a prey animal, such as a horse, can feel comfortable enough to let a predator on its back.  I’d say they do it like it’s no big whoop, but it IS a big whoop.  That’s like allowing a cougar on your back (they kill you by attacking your neck, so that’s a very vulnerable position) and being, like, “this is fine.”

That is so humbling and amazing to me.

[thequeerblackequestrian]

If your (sound) horse is so pent up after a week of being off that they're throwing bucking/rearing/bolting fits/acting "wild" when it comes time to work again, they probably don't have proper enrichment outside of work to keep them mentally stimulated. JS.

[theanxiousracehorse]

Milo McChaffSnoot has been an angel lately, so I suppose he's been a little neglected on this blog in favour of his blingier siblings. He and Camel still don't get along despite living on opposite sides of the same fence - if I so much as go near Camel, he grumps out hardcore. I also had to block off a corner of their feed yards, as they kept fighting through it. Milo never initiates it, mostly just pins his ears, but the paint sometimes tries to strike through the wooden panels and likes to rile him up and cause problems. I have no idea how to make these two friends, but I suppose Milo once hated his boyfriend so who knows.

[jefaisducso]

Even grown up horses like to play

[thequeerblackequestrian]

THE LIGHTFOOT VLOG IS HERE!

I’m naming this series “Creating Confidence”, and it will be following the progress of Lightfoot, a very reactive and fearful Spanish Mustang.

Don’t forget to subscribe for more updates!

[thequeerblackequestrian]

Favourites from a Horrible Horsemanship post.

*CONTEXT*

 The OP had asked for advice because her mare had recently started "napping" (rearing,spinning around, refusing to move forward). The horse most likely has ulcers or a bad saddle fit, but this is the advice offered instead.

Humour aside, why is it that people want to believe that their horse is being vindictive, naughty, or intentionally bad? While these were the main theme in the comments, people did occasionally offer that since she picked up the behaviour more recently, it is probably due to pain, and that they should check saddle/teeth/stomach ect. People responded by pushing the idea away and insist that their horse really is an asshole that just needs a good beating. Fear of their own ignorance maybe? Fear of being out of control? Insecurity in one’s self?