Mind matters
A
s a prey species, horses have been shaped through millions of years of evolution to keep themselves safe so that they can reproduce and survive. They do this by fleeing, usually at high speed, from potentially dangerous situations. This is why they have earned the name, ‘flight animals’. Just as humans, their behavioural responses to pleasant and unpleasant events are the natural expression of their underlying emotional status. The way a horse behaves, what triggers him and how big his response is, for example, is individual to each horse and is based on his previous experience and genetic factors – his natural temperament, which varies between breeds. These interact in complex ways to determine how fearful a specific horse may become when he is exposed to what we owners may consider to be routine situations, such as being handled, trained, being transported or attending a horse show.
Safety for horses, danger for humans While a behavioural response may serve to keep the horse safe when he’s living in the wild, it’s often problematic in the domestic situation where horses have much closer interactions with their owners. These fear responses potentially place both horse and human in danger. When frightened or anxious, horses will show escape responses ranging from agitation, involving a raised head and neck, through pulling away from their handler, to extreme explosions and bolting. So it’s not surprising, perhaps, that a report looking at causes of horse-related injuries stated that, of all the self-reported accidents in the UK involving horses, 70% were due to horse behaviour and training reasons. In fact, one author has suggested that we are 20 times more likely to have an accident when riding or being
While a behavioural response like fleeing may keep them safe in the wild, it’s often problematic in a domestic situation where horses have close interactions with their owners
HORSe&RIDeR 71
➤