ADA August Centerline

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VOLUME 22, ISSUE 8

Arizona Dressage Association

THE CENTERLINE

Why Do Horses Spook and Avoid Unfamiliar Things?

F rider.

By Andre Ganc inding the cause and understanding that physically horses see things differently is a guaranteed step towards creating a harmonious relationship between the horse and the

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VOLUME 22, ISSUE 8

Continued from page 1 Consider the horse’s evolutionary process, and we recognize that horses are prey animals and not hunters. This is why a horse’s eye is large and situated on the side of the head, and not in the front of the head like humans, this is typical in all prey animals. The lateral placement of the eyes helps the horse, especially when its head is down while grazing, to have an ample visual eld that allows the horse to see what is happening behind its body. However, this affects its forward vision and the horse has to lift its head to better see what is directly in front, and as it does that, the horse loses its lateral and rear eld of vision. This is because a horse’s retina is irregularly concave which creates a change in its perceptual eld of vision by the way the light hits an object. The only way a horse can focus on the object is by bringing its head up or down.

The lateral vision of a horse is not tridimensional, which means that it cannot calculate the distance of an object, in order for it to be able to focus on the object the horse has to lift its head and turn the eye toward the object. This brings and advantage to the horse because it can see what is happening in front of it with one eye, and behind it with the other eye. This is very useful if you are a prey animal. To know where the blind spots are on a horse is important as it tells us not to stand right behind a horse as chances are it cannot see us back there and if it feels something behind it can react in fear and try to protect itself by kicking.

When we are trail riding and the horse out of a sudden spook, chances are it did not see something or could not quite focus its eld of vision. In the case of a horse refusing a jump is because the animal cannot see the obstacle in front of it, and thus refuses to jump it. There are other things to consider too such as a bad approach to the jump or even physical pain that may be affecting the horse.

Some horses are spookier than others, which could correlate to the size and position of its eyes, which can limit its eld of vision. It is possible to held the horse be less spooky, by exposing it to objects and to different atmospheres.

Another important thing that we should keep in mind is that horses can see well in poor light, but its eyes need time to adjust to the new lighting conditions. The horse’s large eyes are quite perceptive to movement, which explains why horses are spookier on windy days. The important thing is to understand that horses see differently than we do.

Understanding how a horse’s eld of vision works helps us predict its reactions. We should not punish a horse that spooks, as it is only reacting to its primary instincts that are telling it to be cautious around dangerous things.

How to Overcome This Problem: To trainer Andre Ganc, it is common to nd yourself in a situation where the horse spooks at a new object or refuses to approach it, be this a natural obstacle or not. In order to overcome this problem, it is important to rationalize and analyze the situation and understand the mechanics of the horse’s mind. Ganc has a few tips and strategies on how to overcome the challenges of a spooky horse. At rst it is important to know that the horse’s refusal to advance or to try and escape the object is nothing personal against its rider and simply an instinctual act of preservation.

Horses are prey animals in nature, and its primitive instincts when faced with situations that the animal is unsure of is to simply ee. Each animal has a “safety distance” that it likes to keep in order to preserve itself. As the horse becomes more familiar with its surroundings or the obstacles around it; the horse will lessen its distance from the things that it is more familiar with, and at the same time, the horse will create and even bigger distance to an object that at some point brought in a traumatic experience to the horse.

For this reason, we must consider a chain of events and how it is processed by the horse: 1)

A horse is walking e notices a suspicious object (a barrel, water, dog, etc.).

2)

The horse stops and looks at it. The most submissive horse will simply stop, raise its head, and look at it.

While the spookier horse will step back or ee to try and get to a safer distance from the object. In both cases the horse’s attention is now focused on the object.

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3)

The rider tries to make the horse approach the obstacle, forcing it to go forward, and in the direction of its fear, and its predator, breaking the horse’s safety distance and creating a big physical discomfort as well as mental while the animal looks at this new and strange object.

4)

The rider repeats this action, con rming a connection between pain, danger and discomfort with the new object.

If you look at this from the horse’s point of view, it is obvious that this is not the best way to get the horse used to the new object or to win its con dence, but unfortunately this is exactly what most angry riders will do in this situation as they cannot believe the horse’s “audacity to spook at unnecessary things…”, these riders end up reacting in an irrational way towards the horse. A horse does not want to spook, it does not spook as an act against its rider. It spooks for self-preservation. One must analyze the moment when the horse pays attention on a new and suspicious object, and be this a bad or good feeling.

We can separate the horses into two quite large and generic groups. The rst group are horses that are submissive and attentive to their riders. In this group one will nd horses that were well started under correct horsemanship as well as those who were started under the classical European system which produces a more co-existential and harmonious relationship between the horse, its rider and other humans.

In the second group we nd the horses that were “taught” to accept in a certain way the rider on its back, but they do not recognize the rider as its leader in which the horse can rely. The animal can lift its head, and look for its rider, wait for the command, but it does with apprehension. The horse will give in as it feels threatened but it also recognizes that this “fake” leader does offer a certain level of comfort.

In this second group it is common for these horses to have a more voluntary and violent reaction while trying to quickly distance themselves from the obstacles, until it can re-establish its safety distance where it no longer feels threatened.

Of course, different reactions demand different controlled actions, of which have been suggested and illustrated, without having to necessarily place several horses into the hypothetical second group.

One important point is that each time a horse is either stroke with affection, or released from its pain, it will have a positive reaction towards the strange object it was introduced to or that it paid attention to. And if the horse is punished or forced to approach while focused on the bad object, the horse will only con rm for itself that this is in fact a bad thing and it should always be avoided at all cost.

Andre Ganc is a trainer, clinician, judge and breeder of Lusitanos.

Located in Petaluma, CA., and São Paulo, Brazil, he has competed FEI dressage from Young Horse up to Grand Prix. André is a national judge up to Grand Prix dressage, all Working Equitation levels, and Halter competitions.

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ADA Futurity Call out for Nominations Please see https://azdressage.org/ada-futuritycompetition/ to nominate and show your 4, 5 or 6year old at the Spring Celebration 2023 at West World in Scottsdale.

The rst/early deadline is Oct 1st Call Susan at 315.558.2938 with any questions

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NAC of ADA 2022 Board Members PRESIDENT: Kirsten Kuzmanic 951-440-4615 Kirstenk38@gmail.com V. PRESIDENT: Kay Laake 217-549-1186 Klaake08@gmail.com TREASURER: Virginia Parker 303-921-6654 vp@sleepingmule.org SECRETARY: Sherry Nash 513-505-8419 Sherrynash2017@gmail.com COMMITTEES: SHOW MANGER: Kirsten Kuzmanic CLINICS/EDUCATION: Sue Crampton 928-925-6043 Susancrampton1@gmail.com WESTERN DRESSAGE LAISON: Sharon Petrone 319-325-7094 timberline@netins.net FACEBOOK, WEB: Kay Laake NEWSLETTER: Sherry Nash SHOW ASSISTANT: Pat Albee 928-778-0516 albeepat97@gmail.com

2022 Show & Clinic Dates May 7th - Spring Schooling Show, Judge - Cynthia Ganem September 17th - Fall Schooling Show, Judge - Michell Combs June 25th - “Ride a Test” with Lois Wittington at Randi Wagner’s Ranch, Prescott October 22-23rd - Amelia Newcomb at American Ranch

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2022 CALENDAR OF EVENTS MAY 6-8: Clinic with Claes Bierenbroodspot, Location TBD Contact Jill Loskill jklarabians@gmail.com 7: NAC Dressage Schooling Show: American Ranch, Prescott, AZ , Judge: Cynthia Ganem JUNE 18-19: ADA Summer Heat & Some More Heat Dressage Show, Location: WestWorld, Scottsdale, AZ in the Equidome with indoor stabling JULY 8-10: TDC Road Runner Dressage Show II: Pima County Fairgrounds, Tucson, AZ AUGUST 26-28: TDC Road Runner Dressage Show I: Pima County Fairgrounds, Tucson, AZ SEPTEMBER 17: ADA Members Only Schooling Show: WestWorld, Scottsdale 17: NAC Dressage Schooling Show: American Ranch, Prescott, AZ , Judge: Michell Combs OCTOBER 15-16: Clinic with Bill Warren: WestWorld, Scottsdale 22-23: Amelia Newcomb Clinic: American Ranch, Prescott, Contact Susan Crampton 928-925-6043 for more info NOVEMBER 3-6: AZ 2022 State Championships: WestWorld, Scottsdale, Judges: 19-20: Fall Festival I & II: Pima County Fairgrounds, Tucson, AZ. Judges:

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