KF Equine Behaviour

Here's a big one: identifying stress in horses. It's not uncommon to see a horse running around in their field and think they're simply having fun. That's great!

But... if we look closely, is it really enjoyment, or are we actually seeing stress?

Could it be separation anxiety? If the horse doesn't have access to 24/7 forage, perhaps it's anticipation of a meal (this in itself is a topic for a whole other post)? There are plenty of behaviours a horse may display that appear positive to us as humans, but it's important to learn to recognize when it's the opposite.

Excess stress can cause problems such as ulcers or potentially even physical injury, as a horse who is running around in a panic isn't always making the best decisions! So the less stressed a horse is, the healthier they will be, and that makes everyone happy. 🤗

Did you know a flehmen response can reflect more than just a new or interesting smell?

While most are certainly aware that this behaviour is seen when our horses are assessing scents (or if you've taught them to smile, as Badger has very thoroughly mastered 😉), some of us may not be aware that a curled lip can also indicate physical discomfort.

Since it imitates what us humans see as a smile, it can be very easy to have a chuckle and dismiss the behaviour, but if your horse displays this response without having an obvious trigger, consider that they may be painful - especially if it's re-occurring!

🌈 the more you know! 🌟

There's a common saying out there that claims quiet people make spooky horses and spooky people make quiet horses, it's one I don't necessarily believe if the quiet person knows what they're doing!

Don't get me wrong, I love a good freaky dance move and those floppy blow-up costumes can be hilarious, but I think they're better utilized outside of training.

All we really need in most cases is time and patience (and some understanding of learning theory, of course). Gradually introduce the horse to things, don't rush it, let them go at their pace and learn to recognize the more subtle signs of discomfort - this is huge for building trust and we are always adding or subtracting from that when we work with our horses. Take things too quickly and we risk flooding, which can ultimately lead to a shut down horse. Not what we want!

So as tempting as I'm sure it is to put on a dino suit and run at your horse, maybe save that for something else... or if you reeeeally need to wear it, consider starting with some systematic desensitization. 🤭 After all, I ain't here to judge peoples' clothing choices!

There are some things we can't always control when spending time with our horses, the weather is one of them. Wind, as I'm sure many of us have experienced, can cause quite a bit of trouble!

But why is that?

Many horses become more reactive when it's windy because their senses aren't able to serve them as precisely as they would on a calmer day. Their hearing in particular is hindered to a degree because of all the extra background noise going on - that's huge for a flight animal, their ears are incredibly important for alerting them to predators.

In order to make up for this, a horse will become more alert. Their threshold reduces, so it takes less to get a flight response. Things they usually wouldn't startle at suddenly become potential threats; after all, to a horse, they're better safe than sorry.

It's not dramatic, it's simply a response to their environment that we should be understanding of and factor in to our plans for that day. Behaviour always has a reason!

Contrary to popular belief, a horse who is licking and chewing is not one who is absorbing/contemplating information or submitting to their trainer.

So if that's not what's happening, what does it mean?

Licking and chewing signifies a release and it typically occurs after a horse has experienced some form of stress. When they encounter stress, horses switch over to their sympathetic nervous system (this may be a topic for an entirely different post) - part of that switch is the slowing of saliva production. Once the cause for their tension has passed, they will revert back to default: the parasympathetic nervous system.

When saliva production resumes, we see the licking and chewing begin as a response. You might even see this in the pasture while watching horses interact with one another.

Next time you're with your horse, keep an eye out for it and take note of what happened prior to seeing this behaviour. 🤔 You can learn quite a bit simply by watching your horse's expression and response!

Knowing when to stop and walk away for a bit during training (or even that particular session as a whole) is a skill that requires far more self awareness than many of us realize.

It can be incredibly difficult to catch frustration in the heat of the moment, especially when the horse world has sort of created this "win or lose" mindset against the horse. We either get our way or the horse has supposedly bested us.

This has been something I used to struggle with a lot - in the past, I would sooner push the issue to get what I wanted than recognize that my horse was struggling; however, with time, being able to call myself on my frustration and step away from the situation has created far better resolutions than starting a fight.

Negative emotions happen. No matter what kind of training we do, none of us are immune to these emotions and there's no shame in feeling them when things don't go right with our horses. We just need to be mindful so we can pause to acknowledge what we're feeling and then let that go without bringing the horse into it.

Stop, breathe, then come back. 😌

Having a horse evade being caught can be quite frustrating, especially in a time crunch. We frequently see this behaviour being blamed on bad attitude, but more often than not, the horse has learned that the halter leads to something unpleasant (aggressive training methods, poorly fitting tack, etc.).

The halter becomes an antecedent, or in other words, it predicts some sort of discomfort.

Obviously, the first step is figuring out what that discomfort is and resolving it, otherwise the behaviour will only continue to be reinforced.

Once that has been addressed, we begin the process of making a human with a halter a good thing. I sadly hear a lot about people intentionally chasing the horse around in these situations and that's entirely counter-productive - after all, your goal is to have the horse want to come to you.

You actually want to counter-condition! Make the yucky thing appealing - and do not think using food is a cop out! It is such a powerful tool in these situations. Take your time and allow the horse to understand at their own pace.

And hey, when you are able to catch that horse, consider just taking them out for a munch on some grass or a groom if that's what they enjoy. No expectations time is a great way to build up some good rapport. 😉

An important thing to remember with any horse is that many behaviours we label as a vice is actually just normal horse behaviour. Buddy sourness is one such example.

In Lucy Rees' book, Horses in Company, she details a specific flight response called "bunching" - this is when horses quite literally bunch up together prior to deciding whether to flee or not. When observing feral populations (which is our best gauge on what is true, natural equine behaviour), it was noted that this was a more common response than running away itself.

As herd animals, safety is always in numbers. Whether that safety is from a real threat or a novel object our domesticated friends are facing, there is no difference. So when you have a horse who is displaying buddy sour behaviour, they are not being dramatic, they're listening to what thousands of years of instinct has instilled in them: being away from the herd is dangerous.

This means that it's up to us to help them learn that they can safely leave their buddies for a bit without needing to panic; however, I would never suggest just flat out isolating them. It will either worsen the problem or create a horse who is shut down, neither of which are kind to them.

Take your time! Gradually build up their confidence in small doses. As many have said in the past, the slow way is the fast way. 😉

There are many, many ways to try and resolve a troubling behaviour. What we need to consider first and foremost, however, is why the behaviour is happening in the first place.

Ya can't fix something without addressing the cause! Otherwise all we're doing is suppressing it, which opens the door for a new problem to manifest.

We need to start thinking: what is the purpose of this behaviour? What is my horse trying to communicate?

It could be fear-driven, perhaps a lack of understanding, ill-fitting tack, pain from an unknown injury or health issue - there are plenty of possibilities. Before falling back on bad attitude in need of correction (ahem, especially if you have a mare, please do not lean on stereotypes!), step back and take a look at the whole picture. What we call bad behaviour is the horse's only means of communicating that they're struggling, and if we aren't listening, what could start off as something small may blow up into a dangerous situation.

So next time you find yourself wondering how, don't forget to make sure you've figured out the why first!

I came across a clip on Tik Tok of a liberty performance that featured a horse displaying very clear stress signals. Many of the comments, however, claimed that the horse wouldn't participate if he didn't want to.

Horses are big animals, yes. It sounds pretty darn difficult to make them do anything they don't want to do, but this is where reinforcement and reinforcement history comes into play. Horses figure out very quickly that refusing something may result in pain or discomfort (i.e., excessive kicking, the use of a spur or whip), which means performing the task is the easier option; use of punishment and improper use of pressure often create these types of situations.

The horse may perform the behaviour being asked of them, whether it's a liberty trick, jumping, or even just being tacked up, but chances are you will see signs of stress being expressed while doing so - it might be subtle or it could be very emphatic (often confused for excitement instead of stress!), but the signs are almost always there.

Horses are very willing partners when treated with patience and provided proper training. Stress signals do not need to be part of everyday work and even higher levels of performance, but it's important we pay attention in training to make sure they're comfortable every step of the way.

In my previous post, I made note of the fact that dominance theory has been debunked with horses. Since it's such a heavily referenced topic in how many people work with their horses (i.e., establishing a "boss" in the relationship), I think it would be helpful to expand on this a bit more.

Ethologists have observed more complicated relationships that exist within bands of feral horses; they are not as linear or simple as many of us believe them to be, nor do they display excessive amounts of aggression within their respective bands. But! We aren't dealing with feral horses, we have our good old domesticated friends - so why does it appear that most domestic herds often have very evident and straightforward hierarchies?

Resource guarding!

Unlike horses who live out in the wild with ample access to resources, many horses living under the care of humans have limited access in some way or another.

Having those limitations puts higher value on the resource itself, which gives a horse more reason to feel the need to defend it against others. This can be applied to anything that holds value to a horse, like food, shelter or water. Heck, even the human themselves can become a resource horses will covet.

As I'm sure many of us have seen, some horses are more aggressive when protecting a resource and this is what creates those bullies we see in domestic herds. In reality, when provided with adequate access to resources, you're less likely to see that aggression. Circling back to food as an example, providing multiple ad lib feeding stations throughout a paddock helps eliminate resource guarding. One hay pile (or hay net, for those who still need to control/slow down how much forage a horse is getting) per horse, plus one or two extra, ensures that there will always be at least one option available for every horse.

Management is an incredibly common issue when it comes to behaviour problems, whether that's within the herd or when working alongside us. The good news is that's usually a super easy fix!

I've attached a link to a fantastic video of Lucy Rees, an equine ethologist whose books I have found to be incredibly helpful.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt5BG0V5jnA&ab_channel=eponatv

Real ethology with Lucy Rees, part 5: Why people think horses are mean When scientists want to study how horses interact, they often do it by trying to figure out which horse is more aggressive and how this aggression is shown. ...