Hi folks, Charlie Horse here.
I just thought I would touch on the subject of horse behavior, so this month I will depart from the letters I have in my “In Box”. They will be back next month!
Some of you humans are trying real hard to think about and understand horses but it isn’t easy. Horse language and human language are not the same, so misunderstandings will occur as long as you expect us to understand you. You should learn to see the world the horses' way, and you will get a whole new understanding and relationship with your horse. You can't punish a horse for having normal horse behavior. Here are a few insights that might help.
We certainly don’t want trouble and we don’t deliberately try to displease humans. We are never wrong, stubborn, bad, obnoxious, etc. We are just doing what we think is right for ourselves at the time. We do this because of our instincts. Also, humans often inadvertently reward the wrong behavior because they are mis-communicating what they wanted. This, folks, is a big one!
Horses are scared while humans seem to think there is nothing to fear. However, for the horse, perception is reality. The horse is a prey animal and humans are predators—a strange match to begin with. However, if humans would adjust their approach and not behave like predators, horses—amazingly—will do almost anything for our humans in spite of our instincts. Humans just need to present themselves to horses in a manner that develops our trust and confidence in the human. We will look to you for direction in times of fear or anxiety. It is, therefore, vital that reassurance be given to your horse if you are to prevent a panic reaction triggered purely by its inherent instincts.
The horse has a very short reaction time, very unlike humans. When horses get spooked by something, we have spooked, reacted and calmed down already before our humans have even understood what was happening. Another thing, horses put everything in life into two categories - things to run from and things not to run from. Simple as that, this is the basic survival instinct.
Observe horses loose together in a pasture or corral; study their movements, patterns, and interactions among themselves. Accurately seeing and being aware of this will help you better understand how you need to present yourself to us in a way horses can best communicate with and understand you.
Horses, by nature, are meant to constantly roam and move around over large areas. Therefore, it is best to keep us in as natural an environment as possible, such as a large pasture with other horses. We are much happier, healthier, and have fewer problems. If this is not possible in your situation, then add even more riding with mentally challenging opportunities out in our natural environment.
I would like to leave all our human friends with one more thought. We never forget anything. Luckily we also have a very forgiving nature!
Until next time,
Charlie Horse
