In the Presence of Horses Sue Miller

Each time you enter the pasture, barn or stall you’re engaged in the vital act of reading. Not words on paper. You’re taking in clues about the current situation and figuring out whether you’re safe or not, and so is the horse. Horses are magnificent animals full of grace and beauty, strength and gentleness. Your first greeting should show respect and reverence. A nose touch with an extended gentle fist and a look away will encourage the horse that you are wanting to make friends and get to know them. Horses talk mostly with body language and facial gestures. Sometimes horses do whinny or neigh. Each horse has a different sounding voice and if you listen well, you will learn to distinguish one neigh from another and know which horse is calling out. It's usually the sound they make for greeting, pleasure excitement or fear. The neigh or whinny can sound a bit different for each emotion, if you pay close attention, you will learn the sound of the horse's voice and what those calls mean. Sometimes the breathes they take can have meaning as well.

You can learn a lot about what a horse is feeling from the way they are standing, how their ears are pointed and the way they hold their tails. Horses are happiest when they are at an inner calm or zero state of emotion. Try your best to understand and remember how horses behave under certain circumstances. Knowing what to expect can help keep both you and the horse out of trouble, and ensure an agreeable partnership.

Horses are very aware of their personal space. They have a personal comfort zone just as humans do. As much as we humans want to be close to horses, the horses need their comfort zone respected. Humans want to touch; horses value their personal space within their herd above being touched.

Horses behave like horses and not like dogs or cats. In general horses are friendly and gentle and usually like people. They like to be patted and brushed and talked to. People like to pat the horses face, but the best place to make first contact with the horse is the neck or shoulder. This way you are a safe distance from the teeth and heels of the horse and the horse can see where you are.

Horses have what is called monocular vision. That means that they see separate images from each of their eyes. Horses can see almost 360 degrees around their bodies. They have a blind spot in front of their nose and directly behind them. When a horse lifts its head and

looks forward, their vision can change to binocular vison, they see one image from both eyes, like we see. It’s best to talk gently when approaching a horse so they are aware that you are coming, especially if they are not looking at you or have their back turned.

Horses can get scared, called spooking or shying, of things that people take for granted like loud noises, umbrellas, commotion of too many people, plastic bags that get away and fly in the wind and running children. Horses' reactions might be to pull back if they are tied, spin around and run away if loose or ridden. Changes in the weather can affect the horse's behavior. When the wind blows horses can become quite lively as it is harder for them to rely on their senses like hearing, sense of smell & taste. Cool and brisk days can also bring up the horse's energy.

Humans need to remember that they may go through their day yelling at kids, arguing with coworkers, inadvertently butting in line at the supermarket, or having a bout of road rage on the highway. Then they just assume they can work with horses and suddenly become patient, calm, aware and understanding.

Most people that own horses have a limited amount of time to spend with them. Spending an hour, a day with horses is wonderful. The other side of that is the horse is spending 23 hours a day being a horse, on their own or with herd mates not thinking about being ridden or training. It’s not always easy to be in a frame of mind to be understanding when working with horses, but that’s part of the beauty of working with horses as they always draw our attention back to being in the present moment focusing on them and not worrying or thinking and projecting about near future events like what to make for dinner.

Time is a human construct. We often think in terms of the time it takes to do something. Horses have no sense of time as we think of it. Horses know routine, seasons and length of day or sunlight hours. We might think we’ve done a great job putting in an hour of work with riding or training a horse, the horse likely has a totally different perspective.

Sue Miller is a PATH Registered Instructor & ESMHL, PATH Vermont State Chair, and President of the Vermont Horse Council.