Equine Psychology
Horses don’t think at all like people. That’s why so many people have problems with horses! If we are going to get along with horses, be safe and achieve personal excellence, we have to learn to think like a horse.
Horses don’t think the same way as people or as dogs.
Learn to think like a horse. Put yourself in the horse’s shoes.
Put yourself in the horse’s shoes.
You are a prey animal. Your whole life is spent trying not to be someones lunch. Your eyes are set on the side of your head so you almost have 360 degree vision, you can see potential predators approaching from just about any direction. And you’re always on the alert for them. You also have acute hearing and any rustle or unusual noise could signal the approach of a predator. Things like rustling plastic sound just like this! For a prey animal one second’s hesitation could mean the difference between life and death.
What would life be like as a prey animal?
Rustling plastic sounds like a predator sneaking up in the bushes.
Predators are easy to identify. They have their eyes on the front of their head, they walk boldly and directly in straight lines. They also smell like they eat meat. They focus hard on you when they’re trying to catch and kill you but most of them can’t run very fast, its only when they catch you by surprise or gang up that you haven’t a chance.
Humans look and act like predators.
Horses are naturally wary of small spaces.
You, the horse are the supreme athlete. With the primary means of survival being escape, that’s always the first thought: run away! And because of this, you make sure you are never in a confined or narrow space where one or more of your escape routes might be blocked. Your speed is all you’ve got, but if you are cornered you have one other option: fight for your life. You have lightening quick reflexes, can strike, wheel and kick in almost a single move. Horses are not usually aggressive, they will choose flight rather than fight, but if they have no option they will defend themselves if they perceive their life to be threatened.
They are more likely to run than to fight. But if they have no option and they perceive their life to be threatened, they will do whatever is necessary to defend themselves.
Inside every wild horse is a gentle horse. And inside every gentle horse or domesticated horse is a wild horse. Never, ever forget this. You can’t change millions of years of nature’s programming. You have to convince a horse that you are part of his heard, you’re his friend and leader.
Inside every gentle horse is a wild horse.
The basis of equine psychology
To understand the psychology of the horse you need to understand his perspective on survival. Once a horse knows he is safe, then he will seek comfort. And if he feels both safe and comfortable the next consideration is play. Horses are extremely playful and social animals. What we have to do is prove to a horse that even though we look and smell like a predator, we wouldn’t hurt him even if we could.
Horses need safety, comfort and play.
Its up to us to convince the horse that we would never hurt him..even if we could.
The Friendly Game is one of the most important games to play with a horse and the more skeptical or afraid he is, the more he is telling you that he still thinks of you as a predator, the more you need to play the Friendly Game.
The Friendly Game helps break down the prey-predator barrier.
Comfort and Discomfort
Once a horse knows he is safe, he wants to be comfortable. Knowing the horse’s desire for comfort makes him very easy to train.
Comfort is important to the horse.
Punishment does not work for prey animals, they don’t understand it.
Horses don’t respond to punishment and reward, they respond to negative and positive reinforcement by slowly taking away comfort and then instantly giving it back when you get the desired response. The difference between punishment and negative reinforcement is attitude and timing.
Positive and negative reinforcement are the most effective. The difference between punishment and negative reinforcement is timing and attitude.
Punishment is an aggressive act, a predator act, and often involves anger. Negative reinforcement is without emotion, is delivered as if the horse did it to himself (like running into your elbow when he tries to bite you!), and it is instant, it happens as a consequence of the horse’s action rather than for perceived disobedience and delivered too late as with most punishment. Unless the reinforcement is instant, the horse will find it hard to associate with his actions.While ever the humans punishes a horse, show anger or aggression, the horse will always perceive him as a predator, not to be trusted.
This timing becomes critical to obtaining good results, the better the timing of release, the quicker the horse learns. As you progress level by level this will be one of the things you’ll notice developing.
Your body language, learning to use the “Schwiegermutter” look (that means mother-in-law in German!) to drive a horse back or a smile to invite him forward become very important. Similarly being able to relax your body when the horse is right both on the ground and on his back will offer the horse comfort.
Body language is important. Horses use it extensively.
Don’t use your voice to give commands to your horse until after Level 3. It will affect your use of body language.
Horses us body language extensively: ears back, nose wrinkled, mouth open to bite, a lifted leg to kick, a switching tail. They use very little voice except to express greetings and squeal in their games or as a threat. We recommend not to use voice until after Level 3. The reason for this is to tune you into your body language and teach you to be effective with it. Using your voice can actually prevent you using body language and phases accurately. It also helps you express fear, frustration or anger! Keep it in a smile. You’ll learn to over ride it.
Equine Psychology continue….next post.
Calendar
M | T | W | T | F | S | S |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | ||||||
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |
9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
30 |