Carrying on from the post on stress in horses. Let's talk a bit about their behaviour. I believe if we understand the way a horse reacts, learns and behaves. We can make more of an impact on their wellbeing and training.
What is natural and what is learned behaviour?
Natural behaviour is an instinctive reaction.
Some natural behaviours:
Being with other horses (naturally herd animals)
Communication (snorting, nicker, whinny etc)
Rolling
Mutual grooming
Flight (in response to danger)
Sleeping (standing or laying down)
Warning signs from the ears or tail end! A flick of the tail or ears flat back can often be a way to communicate annoyance or a warning sign that you may be bitten or kicked if you continue to carry out the same task.
Learned behavior is a reaction which has been learned either by watching another horse, previous experience or training. Horses respond very well to positive rewards for certain behaviours. So if you are rewarding your horse with food for a certain behaviour, he will more than likely repeat the action to seek out the food! Our horses are very quick to learn and in some cases we need to think ahead and be one step ahead of them! If your horse bangs his front feet on the stable and then he gets fed, this is positive reinforcement and will result in him banging his stable door for food.
Another way in which our horse reacts is by spooking or shying away from objects.
For example my mare always spooks at the same place in the arena. I can approach this two ways:
Ground work
Be a thinking rider
The ground work would allow her to explore the area in the arena that she is unsure about. A “no pressure, open” approach allowing her the option to go at her own pace and have the space so that she does not feel trapped or forced. I could also use some distractions, for example pole work near the area, allowing her to concentrate on something else.
Be a “thinking rider”! Assessing how you ride is very important when it comes to spooking. The areas to think about are what aids are you giving your horse? Are you sitting correctly? How are you handling the spook? (kicking, too much rein aid?). What can you do as a rider to help move your horse around the arena in a better manner? For example, as you come up to the area that your horse finds spooky, could you use shoulder-in before you get to that spot? Or could you circle away before or use transitions to help keep your horse tuned in to your aids.
There is so much to think about and learn from our horses and how they behave. Once we begin to understand them and their “horsenality” our partnership will grow and you will start to see improvements in their way of going and general behaviour on the ground.
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