location. They may
be pushy when led, or rushy when turned out. We puzzle over such strange
behavior, and wonder: what's wrong with our horse?
When faced with non-sedate equine behavior, it's been my experience that
people look for solutions in several reliable places. They may ask their
riding teacher's advice or may query other horse owners. They may seek
advice in magazines, books, or videos presented by experts they trust.
They may even ask their vet, farrier, equine massage therapist, etc.
what the troublesome behavior might be and how to get rid of it. If all
of those avenues fail to bring a satisfactory solution, they may just
give up and learn to live with a less then acceptable or downright
dangerous behavior from their equine partner.
In my capacity as a bodyworker and teacher, I frequently see people
go through these frustrations. In the process of searching for answers
they leave out what I consider the most reliable and sure avenue to
solving a problem. They forget to trust their own knowledge, instincts,
and common sense.
Through many years of teaching equine behavior it's become clear to
me that no one knows your horse better than you do. You observe them
over long periods of time in many conditions. You know their likes and
dislikes. But we are a culture that turns away from ourselves for
answers when problems present themselves. Not that we can solve every
problem that comes up. Many times the hand of experience is
needed. But you have to live with your horse. Your trainer may ride it 4
times of week while the rest of the time it's all yours. A trainer may
not even get your horse to perform the "obnoxious" behaviors
that you see everyday. So what can you do?
In my experience, the key to solving equine behavioral problems is
learning to better understand and interact with your horse's natural
language. One reason that trainers might not see your horse's
"bad" behaviors is that they are more practiced at this type
of observation. For them, this skill may be so automatic that they can't
communicate to you what they're doing. That means that it's up to you.
By honing your knowledge of equine behaviors you can interact with your
horse on a clearer level and often solve problems that once seemed
mysterious.
I've developed a system for more detailed and accurate awareness of a
horse's body language. Once you become more aware of what your horse is
saying an entirely new world will open to you. Not only can you can
begin to understand your equine companions better, but you can keep
yourself safer around them and find ways to work with them that are both
safer and more harmonious.
You begin this exercise by making three lists of equine behaviors.*
The first list includes all the behaviors that show that a horse is
content and at ease. For example, half-shut eyes, lowered neck, floppy
ears, and sighing. Label this the "green" list.
The second list has all the behaviors that show a horse is angry or
upset. These might include, showing the whites of the eyes (except in
horses like Appaloosas that always have the whites showing), laying the
ears flat back, rearing, and screaming. Label this the "red"
list.
The third list is filled with behaviors that are in the middle, like
whinnying, stamping, swishing the tail, and raising the head high. This
list is perhaps the trickiest to do because it includes all the
"in-between" body language cues. Things that show the horse
isn't mad - just nervous, not frightened - just worried, not tense - but
not relaxed either. Label this list "yellow."
After completing your lists, take them with you the next time you go
to your barn. When interacting with your horse watch for behaviors on
the three lists. If you see behaviors from the "green" list,
you know that the horse is calm and accepting of your company and
handling.
If you see behaviors on the "red" list you know he's not
happy and may stay that way for your entire session. He also may take
out his feelings on you - you may even get bitten or kicked.
If you see behaviors on the "yellow" list you know that
things can go either way for you and your horse. Either they can diffuse
and return to "green," or they can escalate and build to
"red."
Here's an example. You're riding your horse. The two of you start out
calmly and willing working together. All the signals are
"green." The lesson you're working on is getting smooth canter
transitions from the trot. After several good transitions your horse
starts showing behavioral signs from the "yellow" list. He may
begin to resist you, tense or raise his head and maybe switch his tail.
You continue practicing. By the end of the lesson the tension builds and
your horse is showing many signs from the "red" list. He lays
back his ears at your leg aids, spooks, and perhaps even tries to bolt
out of the arena. What happened?
Probably the horse was tired and frustrated, and just couldn't do any
more transitions for the day. Perhaps it needed to quit earlier.
Schooling a horse to respond to our cues can be very emotionally and
physically tiring for them. Horses don't tend to lie about their
feelings. When we don't understand, or choose to ignore signals like
this, it doesn't help our quest for harmony and better communication
with our horses.
We all aspire to learn the subtle and graceful cues seen between the
best horse and rider teams. In order to do this we need to become very
good at interpreting our horses' body language cues. The better we get
at it, the more we can say to each other.
Let's look at the same example again but with a different result.
When your horse starts showing "yellow" alert signs, you gave
him a break or change what you're asking him to do for a while. Perhaps
you decide that he's had enough for the day and cool him out. When you
make one of those changes the horse's body language changes from
"yellow" back to "green." He calms down, you calm
down, and the day ends on a positive note. Better yet, the next time
when ride the horse remembers the good times and not the bad. A lesson
is learned.
The same kinds of observational lessons can be applied to behaviors
on the ground - during grooming sessions, for example.
Horses enjoy being brushed. They enjoy having their coats stimulated.
If they didn't they'd never roll, or scratch, or even have mutual
grooming sessions with their buddies.
So why is it that many horses show what we might now call
"red" alert signals during grooming such as shaking the head,
snapping, or grinding their teeth?
Maybe the horse is trying to tell you something about the way you're
grooming him. Perhaps your stiff arm strokes are not enjoyable to him,
or your brush is too hard for his sensitive skin (remember a horse can
feel a fly on their body a lot better than we can). Perhaps he
doesn't trust you not to invade a "private" area (like his
belly or flank), or he has an area that just plain hurts.
If you make changes based on what your horse likes as opposed to what
he dislikes you can watch your horse's behavior signals change from the
"red" to "yellow" or even to "green" in
one session. You can improve your relationship with your horse, it all
depends on sharp observation skills, and a certain amount of patience
with your horse and yourself. Become a better listener and watch
the bond between you and your horses grow!
*For those of you who are novice horsepeople there are many books
available on the gestures and body language used by horses.
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