Horses are not what you think- why do we keep mistreating horses & how do we understand them better?
- Alyaa Alshareef
- May 5, 2021
- 4 min read
When we begin to think about the origin of our attraction to horses as companions, we find that our pure love for these majestic and wonderful creatures was what drew us to them. However, when we begin delving into the multiple competitive equestrian disciplines , we tend forget our primary love and veneration for these horses, and we begin to sanctify the secondary things that we may obtain with them, such as prizes, points, and money.
The responsibility of understanding horses from a deeper, objective standard must be inhabited by everyone who deals with horses in a sustainable or temporary manner. The horse is a prey animal in origin, meaning that its makeup and outlook on life are completely different from our view as people.
For example, horses don't comprehend the concept of time. Yes, they are aware of the alternation of day and night and patterns of the day. However, they are not able to understand if they are late , if 3 or 6 years have passed, or if today is Saturday or Thursday ... etc.
Thus, horses are not aware of the precise 40 minutes allocated to their training. All they are aware of is the mere present moment. They are aware of the human being in front of them, and what he or she is projecting onto them through their body language.
The horse lives in the moment as it is, without expectations, obligations, or compulsions.
Understand their thinking, and our role in shaping their behavior
The biology of horses is completely different from ours. This may seem obvious and known, but we still label horses with human traits and qualities that can never belong to them. For example, "This horse is vengeful!" Or "This mare is stubborn. " This is also known as Anthropomorphism, which is " the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to animals, or objects.
By doing so, we are shedding ourselves from the responsibility of acquiring the right knowledge and awareness that helps us understand horses' view on life better; thus, understanding their needs and communicating with them better.
Horses acquire different motives than humans, and their means of living differ immensely. As survival is their innate instinct, they will manifest it in their everyday behavior if they think they are facing danger or threat.
To understand the behavior of horses, we must first understand how they perceive life, and then how is their behavior formed?
To begin with, horses don't have the full capacity of a 'frontal lobe' as part of their brain.
"The horse has a very small frontal lobe area, the part of the human brain that handles making plans, strategising and learning to generalise and rationalise. A human baby is able to quickly recognise shapes that represent animals, for example, despite being presented with them in many different colours and formats. Our developed frontal lobe means we can identify key features and apply them across the board. This is generalisation."
"A horse can’t do this. That is why a green plastic bag rustling in a hedge may cause them to react when a white one with spots does not. Both bags behave the same but the horse can’t carry the lesson across from one to the next. That isn’t to say that, by building your horse’s confidence and teaching them an appropriate way to respond in scary situations, they can’t learn to ignore both."
Meaning that there are many human concepts that horses do not understand and will never comprehend them as we do. Including: respect, stubbornness, hatred, jealousy, and revenge,...
Our actions shape their behavior - Positive Reinforcement
Horses form their behavior through reinforcement. Meaning, if the horse acts in a certain way (whether desirable to us or not), our reaction to their actions will help reinforce it (whether -vley or +vley) and embed it as behavior.
Behavior is a cumulative product of reinforcement.
To put it simply, we can help horses behave better if we reinforce the actions that are "right" rather than punishing the "wrong" ones.
Our role in dealing with them is an educational and guiding role. As prey animals, their primary role is to protect themselves from anything that may appear to be dangerous or threatening to their safety. Hitting, yanking, and screaming all translate to them as danger and threat, and they will have to protect themselves first no matter what.
So, it is of most importance to always represent yourself as a source of peace, guidance, and clarity to your horses. Put it as a priority to understand horses better by looking through their eyes. They don't want to hurt you; they want to protect themselves. So, if you constantly find your horse resisting you or going "against" what you are teaching him, think again and look at the situation from his point of view. Assess yourself and actions first.
It is our duty to these animals to acquire all the knowledge we can to help understand them better, be a voice to their needs, and let go of rigid subjective concepts that prevent you from connecting with your horse.
Learn more about +ve reinforcement through the links down below:
Resources:
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