What is Motivation?

The Veterinarian’s Encyclopedia of Animal Behavior defines motivation as the “desire or inner drive that causes an animal to do something.” It further explains that an animal’s motivation to get a specific reward, even an internal or poorly defined one, or to avoid a punishment can affect how quickly an animal will learn.

The degree of motivation varies among individuals, so results will always vary. For example, the VEAB states:

“Food rewards are more acceptable to animals that have been held off food; however, for some individuals, food is not a strong motivational tool. The success of any learning project may depend on finding the strongest motivating factor for each individual.”

Since most riders are aiming for improved horse performance, it follows that developing a working knowledge of motivation will help achieve these goals. In the learning studies I’ve conducted, withholding food a few hours before each training session always made the horses try harder to learn the tasks. Perhaps you’ve experienced where a few carrots or a bucket of grain helped encourage your horse to walk into a horse trailer, or to allow himself to be caught in a pasture.

Positive Reinforcement for Horse Motivation

It’s easy to see that food rewards, or food stimulus reinforcers, are powerful motivators for nearly all horses and can be readily used to stimulate desired behavior. For this reason, a food that horses enjoy and are highly motivated to work for is known to scientists as an unconditioned stimulus.

These are things that horses don’t have to be taught to work for because they are naturally motivated by them. In contrast, reinforcers such as pats on the neck or verbal praise are not things horses find naturally rewarding and so they must be taught to want to work for them. Therefore, a reward a horse must be trained to work for is known as a conditioned stimulus, because he must be taught, or conditioned, to work for it.

What does it take to inspire animals to want to work as hard for praise or petting as they might for their favorite foods? The process is called conditioning, and there are two major forms that apply to horse handlers. The earliest form, which is known as classical conditioning is based on the involuntary responses of animals to stimuli such as food. It focuses on maintaining these responses when the stimulus changes from something naturally rewarding (such as carrots) to something contrived (such as verbal praise).

The most famous example of classical conditioning was carried out by Russian physiologist Pavlov, who presented dogs with meat powder, triggering a natural salivation response. He then paired bell ringing with the food presentation, until the dogs began associating the bell with the food. The dogs began salivating when they heard the bell, even in the absence of food.

Operant Conditioning of Horse Motivation

While this can work with horses, too, another branch of conditioning, operant conditioning, is more relevant to horse training. Operant conditioning is similar to classical conditioning, except that it focuses on eliciting voluntary behavioral responses rather than measuring involuntary responses. An example of this would be teaching a horse to work for praise rather than for a food reward.

To do this, the reinforcers should initially be naturally rewarding things, such as food treats. The treats should eventually be paired at the time of delivery with the less “natural” verbal praise. Much as the bell eventually came to be stimulating to Pavlov’s dogs, the praise will eventually be a meaningful reinforcer to the horse.

But it is important to pair the two in the right order. In her Journal of Animal Science article “A Review of Learning Behavior in Horses and its Application in Horse Training,” Dr. Cynthia McCall looked at the effects that different ways of pairing something horses already knew, with something not yet learned had on training results.

A practical example of this would be teaching neck reining to a horse already accustomed to direct rein cues. Dr. McCall found that the two most effective ways of pairing were to either apply the neck rein first and then continue it until the direct rein cue is presented, or to apply the neck rein first, then terminate it before the direct rein cue is applied (a method known as trace conditioning).

The methods Dr. McCall found did not work well were to apply both neck and direct rein cues together, or to apply the direct rein before the neck rein cue (a method known as backward presentation). She explained by doing so trainers are using the old cue to show the horse the meaning of the new cue and to reinforce the new cue.

The research I’ve discussed lays the foundation for an important point. While there is an inherent difference between food treats and petting/praise when it comes to motivating horses, we don’t have to strap on a fanny pack full of food treats each time we ride: There are effective ways to teach our horses to respond as powerfully to things that aren’t innately rewarding to them.

Punishment and Negative Reinforcement for Horse Motivation

However, even the most positive or natural rewards may not work all the time. Punishment is also a powerful behavioral motivator. Think about your own childhood experiences of being corrected for inappropriate behavior, and you’ll see that punishment can answer for many occasions where rewards have failed, such as when the “inappropriate” behavior is self-rewarding. For example, as a child I didn’t stop riding my bicycle in the street until after I was punished for it, because bicycling there was fun.

Rewards and punishment are two very different ways to motivate learning. Something a horse finds unpleasant, such as the rider’s use of a spur, can be either a behavioral reinforcer or a behavioral punisher, depending on how it’s used. There are three key terms that need to be defined at this point to prevent confusion, namely positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and punishment.

Positive reinforcers are rewards for behavior given because the horse enjoys and wants to work for them. A negative reinforcer, on the other hand, is something unpleasant, which, when removed, increases the probability of a behavioral response. An example of this is when riders use a spur aid to ask for a canter or lope on a specific lead. The reward for the horse is that the aversive spur aid goes away if he does what’s being asked of him.

Punishment has abusive connotations to many people, but all that the word means is “the use of a negative stimulus with a behavior to decrease the frequency of the behavior.” It differs from negative reinforcement only in that it is used to reduce an unwanted behavior, whereas negative reinforcement is used to increase the frequency of a desired behavior. An example of punishment is swatting a horse from behind with a broom when it pulls back when tied, to reduce the likelihood of the horse exhibiting that unwanted and potentially self-injurious behavior again.

In her article, Dr. McCall noted that trainers motivate horses to learn primarily through negative reinforcement techniques. Consider that every time we pick up the reins and the horse responds by giving to the bit, that behavior is motivated by an aversion to the bit. Every time we give a leg cue and the horse responds, he’s reacting to make that leg cue go away.

We can use petting, praising and treats where they’ll work for us in training, but negative reinforcement and punishment will also be part of our training regimens. In a proper strategy, trainers use all three categories of behavioral motivators in a positive, respectful way and monitor the results, modifying them as necessary. As each horse’s behavior develops over time, so should his training program grow in the hands of a conscientious trainer.

The post Motivating Your Horse appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Do Horses Have Feelings?

The question of whether animals have feelings has perplexed philosophers and animal behaviorists for centuries. Philosopher Rene Descartes once argued that because animals could not be proven to have feelings, they should be regarded as automatons that acted mechanically.

A few centuries later, George John Romanes (a student of Charles Darwin) argued for “injective knowledge,” or that you could infer what was going on inside someone’s mind by observing their reactions to particular circumstances and by knowing how another feels in the same situation. For example, if one animal experiences fear in a dangerous situation and acts a certain way as a result, you could presume that another animal acting similarly in the same situation is also experiencing fear.

The debate continues today. Behavior science is no longer subjective, and when studying animals, scientists have to observe, quantify and explain specific aspects of their behavior without adding personal interpretation. You see, two different people can look at the same equine behavior but come up with two entirely different interpretations, just because of their own life experiences and world views.

For example, I used to exercise horses for someone who believed that animals did not have emotional lives. We would hack our horses together, spending hours on the trail debating the motivations behind the things our horses did. I’d argue passionately about how horses have their own unique motivations for their actions, but he’d come back with how that same behavior could occur automatically, without emotional drive. Neither point of view could be proved right, but we each believed in the truth of our points of view.

That is both the beauty and the shortcoming of behavior science. Only motivations that can be proved are legitimate explanations for behavior within the scientific method. Placing emotional responses on animals may not be wrong, but it cannot be proved to be right, either. For this reason, ascribing human emotion to animal behavior is considered to be unscientific and is generally not done.

What Motivates Animals

Most of what animals do gets explained by two basic and proven animal drives: to stay alive at any given moment (which ultimately results in individual survival), and breed and nurture offspring (which ultimately results in survival of the species). Seeking food, water, shelter and mates can all be accounted for by the drives to survive and reproduce.

On the other hand, if a horse does something that seems like a unique — maybe even emotional — behavior, it’s still pretty difficult to prove his motives. Because we don’t whinny and nicker, and because they haven’t quite mastered English, Spanish or German, horses are not able to tell us their reasons for their actions in absolute terms. Instead, we have to watch what they do and interpret it as best we can.

In my own horses, I’ve observed behavior at times that does not seem to fit an explanation by the two basic drives. For example, one of my mares would act distressed and stop eating whenever her pasturemate was removed for long time periods. Refusing to eat was not exactly good for her personal survival, nor did it do anything to improve her reproductive fitness. To me, the behavior seemed more complicated and personal than “drive” behavior, something more along the lines of how we feel when we’re depressed and lonely.

In a similar vein, some of the research being done with primates is also indicating capacity for emotion. Many of you are familiar with Koko, the gorilla who learned sign language with Dr. Francine Patterson and had a seemingly loving relationship with her orange tabby kitten, Ball. She has been known to express herself as “sad” in relation to apparently distressing events, or to express sentiments such as “love” with respect to people and other animals. Granted, these expressions might seem simplistic when you compare them to our human feelings, but keep in mind that the capacity of these nonhuman animals to learn such human “language” is equally basic, similar to that of very young children. While we have detailed means for expressing every little detail about how we feel, animals don’t. So it is possible that their emotional lives might be much more basic than ours, felt strongly and simply, in the moment and without great complexity.

As a result of such studies, the evidence is building that primates are capable of feelings similar to ours. If primates (not including us) show a capacity to express specific emotions using the language we teach them to communicate with, then might it also be possible that other nonhuman animals, such as horses, also experience similar feelings?

Relating to Equine Emotion

Let’s assume for a moment that horses do have the capacity for emotions. What are the advantages to this? The disadvantages?

One important advantage is that it helps in horse training by giving us a familiar framework for relating to horses. It is easier to understand their behavior if it can be related to our own. If the horse acts in a way that seems frightened, we can assume he is afraid of whatever is happening around him and can handle the situation accordingly.

Another advantage of assuming our horses have the capacity to feel is that we must then accord appropriate respect to them. We must keep in mind their emotional well-being, which is not necessary if we think of them as lacking feelings. Thinking of horses as having emotions requires us to have a certain amount of consideration which we might not otherwise feel like we need to provide. The end result is a higher and more humane standard of care for horses, benefiting horses and society in general.

On the minus side, where do we draw the line? If our horse kicks for no apparent reason, do we assume that horses know the difference between “right” and “wrong,” and hold him accountable for behaving without conscience? Because he has emotional capacity, does he also have a code of morality? I personally equate a companion animal’s emotional development to that of very young children, in whom emotions are mainly self-serving and in whom morality is absent. Even in humans, knowing right from wrong is not innate but must be taught.

Another disadvantage is that it gives owners an excuse for their horses’ bad behavior. It can be used as a crutch to explain away things that should be addressed. For example, a horse that bites a passerby could be excused as “unhappy” or “having a bad day.”

It is possible that we could simply be wrong about ascribing the capacity for some level of emotional life to animals. But considering what can be gained in our partnerships with animals by giving them credit for possessing at least rudimentary emotions, what will we lose if we aren’t right? Considering our physical similarities to nonhuman animals in terms of the “hard-wiring” needed for emotional capability — that is, possessing brains, nerves and pain receptors — I find it extremely unlikely that emotional capacity is uniquely present only in the human animal.

Just because science is struggling with this issue, you as an owner don’t need to be. You and I know beyond a doubt that our animals are individuals of personality and character — and eventually science will catch up and find ways to measure this emotional aspect of their behavior. It might be that horses only have the emotional capacity of very young children, but that is still a powerful emotional life worth of our consideration. When we as humans disregard our horse’s emotional well-being, it leads to a host of problems that can be avoided simply by just giving credit where it’s due.

Further Reading
Recognizing Learning Ability in Horses

The post Equine Emotions appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Before I give you some tips on what to look for, I want to stress that shopping for a horse is a buyer beware endeavor. I have emphasized these words because they are the most important thing to remember while looking for a horse. This may seem obvious, but we often forget that sellers want to sell their horses. I don’t mean to imply that sellers are dishonest (although some definitely are), but rather to remind you that their aim is to present horses in the best possible light. There are quite a few who want to be certain their horses go to compatible owners, but there are also some who are looking to unload problems. While some states require the selling party to disclose everything they know, both positive and negative, to a potential buyer, others require sellers to disclose only that which a prospective buyer specifically asks about. Whatever the case, if you are looking at a horse as a purchase prospect and you want to protect yourself (as much as possible) from making a mistake, it’s up to you to proceed with caution, ask all the right questions and accurately evaluate the answers and to be an astute observer of horse behavior.

Before you respond to an ad or visit any horses, assess your own needs and write everything down. Ask yourself and your trainer the following questions: How long have you been riding? What level of competition are you at? What breed, sex and age of horse would best suit your plans? Do you need a “schoolmaster” to help you develop your skills? How many young, green horses have you worked with before? Do you have the patience, time and knowledge base for a youngster? How much would you have to spend to get your ideal horse? Can you afford it? Can you afford the professional training of taking on a horse with training or behavior problems? If not, what factors are your priorities and which can you compromise on?

As a rule, young, untrained horses are the least expensive because they are unproven and require extensive time and training. However, if you are short on money but have plenty of free time and experience, such a horse might be right for you. If you don’t ride often or are new to riding, or have career or family demands that leave little time for training, by all means spend the extra money and get an experienced horse. Keep in mind that well-trained horses do not have to be expensive. You can find a good horse on a budget if you’d consider an older horse that may be a bit past his peak but may very well be a schoolmaster that can teach you a thing or two.

Once you’ve narrowed down the ads to answer, you’re ready to start looking at horses. Be objective. Don’t let your emotions or the horse’s color or surface beauty get in the way of an astute and accurate assessment of his basic temperament and training. If you don’t think you can do this, bring a horse-savvy friend along to keep you on track, or better yet, bring your trainer and let her help you assess the horse.

Bringing your trainer along is also a good idea if you’re unfamiliar with interpreting a horse’s mood and personality from his behavior. A complete “dictionary” of equine body language is beyond the scope of this column, but here are a few examples of what you can detect.

Request that the owner not have the horse caught, tacked up or exercised before your arrival. The horse’s behavior during catching, leading, grooming, saddling and riding while fresh is important information to have. As you observe the horse, try to assess his general temperament type. Does he rush toward you, ears flattened and teeth gnashing? Then you might be looking at a horse with an aggression problem. He may just need a little love, proper training and consistency to achieve a brilliant show career, but if that’s more than you can realistically handle, you’re better off passing him over.

Or does he turn his rear toward you, hiding his head in the corner of the stall? This guy may be burned out. Perhaps he was campaigned too hard and long, or maybe he’s become frustrated by being chucked and thumped too often as a lesson or first horse. Are you up to finding out why and rekindling his interest in work?

On the other hand, if the prospect comes up to you eagerly, yet calmly, seeming alert and interested but showing no signs of nervousness (snorting with flared nostrils, wide eyes, ears flicking wildly while he stretches his neck out to see you while keeping his distance), as you catch, halter and lead him out of his stall, you may have found a good choice.

Be aware of the horse’s behavior around the seller as well as with you. What is your impression of him as he’s being led and groomed? How are his manners during saddling? Does he work well under saddle for his owner, your trainer and you? Watch the horse closely for signs of nervousness or fear, and observe the owner’s reactions. These subtleties can tell you a lot about the horse’s training foundation and whether it’s based on trust, terror or disrespect between owner and horse.

Visit and ride the horse several times, including at least one unannounced visit. Remember you are on the seller’s turf and have no way of knowing what was done to prepare the horse for your visit. Maybe he has been longed extensively or ridden hard before your arrival to make him calm and tractable. He might even have been tranquilized or medicated to mask pain or stiffness. You should discuss these possibilities with your vet to determine how to safely proceed and protect yourself. If the seller will agree to a trial period for the horse at your barn prior to the sale, that’s a great opportunity for you to learn what the horse is really like.

Proceeding objectively and paying attention to the behavior you observe doesn’t eliminate your risk, but you greatly improve your chances of finding a horse you’ll enjoy—and that will enjoy you.

Further Reading
Horse Buying Checklist
Option to Lease

The post Be Smart When Horse Shopping appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

The good news for us is that domestic horses have been bred for centuries to be tractable and trainable. So, while a few cases of pathologic behavior do occur naturally, the vast majority of these rogue horses are created, not born.

Causes of Bad Horse Behavior

Just like in humans, there can be physiologic abnormalities associated with deranged behavior such as hormonal imbalances or brain and nervous system defects. Some of these problems tend to occur with greater frequency in horses that are the products of severely restricted gene pools (inbreeding), or in horses that develop tumors in hormone-producing tissues such as the ovaries.

High levels of naturally occurring reproduction hormones can make a few horses nearly impossible to deal with. This can be a particularly serious problem with certain stallions, since for them aggressive behavior serves many adaptive purposes in nature. Successful stallions utilize aggressive behavior to defend their harems against predators, to battle against other stallions for control of mares and to drive their juvenile offspring out of the harem (a natural defense against inbreeding). Likewise, hormonal signals can distract certain mares in heat to the point of aggressiveness and make others fiercely protective of their offspring.

How Humans Create Bad Behavior in Horses

But the vast majority of rogue behavior is not a consequence of nature. Instead, it results from severe mistreatment, the lack of human handling, or by realizing that bad behavior causes good things to happen—in other words, bad training. Abusive treatment brings out a horse’s fight-or-flight tendencies, so many horses cope by behaving desperately and often aggressively. Similarly, extreme fear in a “wild” horse unaccustomed to human handling can lead to desperate and dangerous behavior.

Finally, if a horse does something dangerous and finds it gets him out of an aversive situation (such as work), he may be inclined to try it again. As with people and in particular children, if inappropriate behavior has a rewarding outcome, it will stay in the animal’s behavioral repertoire. For example, as the director of the riding program at a children’s summer camp some time ago, I was responsible for the care and maintenance of the 50-horse riding string. Many of these horses were leased out to private homes over the winter, and I had to collect them and return them to the camp in preparation for the summer season. Frosty was one such horse who was being maintained by a family at a boarding stable a few miles away. There were beautiful riding trails connecting that boarding stable and the summer camp, so I had someone drop me off at the barn so I could ride the horse back to camp. Little did I know my charge had learned a few nasty tricks to avoid working for a living and was known as something of a terrorist around the barn.

Thinking I was dealing with a child’s horse who had been used in lessons all winter, I climbed on bareback and hit the trails. Ten or 15 minutes went by and all seemed well, when suddenly and without warning he spun out from under me and galloped back to the boarding stable. I hobbled back to the barn on foot and found him in his stall contentedly munching hay. I brought him out and climbed back on. Resenting this annoying interruption of the plan for the day, he pulled the old spinning trick and within 10 minutes had again returned to his meal. I hit the ground a little harder this time and ended up with a forehead that looked a bit like Gumby’s bump. Now I knew I was dealing with a horse who had learned to use nasty tricks to get his way, so I developed a plan to curb his self-rewarding behavior with some training. Unfortunately, his conditioned response had become ingrained and he proceeded to try his usual tricks the next time I rode him. This time, however, he did not achieve the desired effect of unloading me. He soon realized his reward was not forthcoming and stopped the inappropriate behavior.

Retraining the Rogue Horse

Unless there’s an underlying physical problem, most rogue behavior can eventually be turned around with patience and cautious, consistent training at a pace determined by the horse’s comfort level. As John Lyons states, proper training should leave the horse calmer at the end of a lesson than he was at the beginning of it. Recognize that in certain cases, reforming a rogue may be a dangerous undertaking best left to a calm, experienced and patient professional.

So what is the best course of action to take if your horse’s behavior qualifies him as a rogue? The first step is to rule out any physical causes for the behavior. This can best be achieved through a thorough examination by a veterinarian. The cause of many behavior problems can be identified by careful palpation and blood screening tests. Once the source of the problem is found, there may be a medical solution that your veterinarian can bring to your attention. If the cause of the dangerous behavior is related to reproductive hormones, the solution may be as simple as castration for non-breeding stallions or hormone therapy for mares.

If you’ve ruled out physiologic problems and you’re still left with a dangerous horse, try to figure out the cause. Can you uncover a history of abuse in your horse’s past? Has the horse been neglected? Was he a victim of training shortcuts and brought along too fast? Understanding the nature of the problem can help you form a successful training program to solve it. Honestly assess your own capabilities. Do you have the patience, knowledge base, physical ability and time to solve the problem yourself? If not, seek out a reputable trainer with the experience your horse needs. Don’t sell the horse until the problem is resolved, unless the buyer is completely aware of the horse’s problems and has both the experience and the commitment to work them through. Remember, “problem” horses usually get passed from hand to hand without getting fixed, ending up mistreated, put down or worse—killing someone.

It may be too late to change the events of a horse’s past, but you can certainly influence his future. The behavior you see today does not have to continue. Bad habits can be changed, training mistakes can be resolved. Believe in the ability of your horse to adapt and reform. Horses, like humans, are never too old to learn, and generally, unlike some humans, horses seem more willing to forgive.

Further Reading
Is Your Horse Unsafe
Reasons for Behavior Problems
Training Right the First Time

The post When Horses Act Dangerously appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Still, you can generalize about horse temperaments and use these generalizations to strengthen your relationship with your horse. Once you develop a better understanding of your horse’s basic nature—the good and the not-so-good—you can tailor his training to best meet his needs. Perhaps even more importantly, you can develop realistic expectations for him. You can recognize and eliminate goals that are too lofty, freeing both you and your horse from the stresses of unattainable expectations. It’s a win/win situation.

The six basic temperament types for horses are defined as quiet, interested, nervous, extremely nervous, stubborn and treacherous.

According to J. Warren Evans in the popular animal science textbook Horses: A Guide to Selection, Care and Employment, there are six basic temperament types. He defines them as quiet, interested, nervous, extremely nervous, stubborn and treacherous. While I agree with Dr. Evans that these are the general personality types into which most horses fall, I believe most horses actually fall into more than one category due to their individuality, and that this can vary with the situation and even change over time due to differences in human handling and environmental stimulation.

Do you already have a sense of which category or combination your horse fits into at this point in his life? Here’s a rundown on the temperament types and how each is best handled:

Quiet.

This horse is commonly referred to as bomb-proof by owners and a packer by riding instructors for his unreactive nature. He will tolerate almost anything, from a fluttering flag to an uncoordinated rider with inexperienced hands. This type can generally be trusted to behave safely and to build the confidence of beginner riders, while a more advanced rider might consider him too dull.

When I was a college student in an equine program, most of the horses we rode were young, inexperienced and unpredictable. Once in a while, something would happen to shake the confidence of a student. That’s when the unflappable Quarter Horse, Royal, would be called upon to do his stuff. This steady fellow would carry the shaken rider back to her former level of confidence. He would passably plod through any dressage test and quietly take any low fence no matter how he was brought to it. Royal was not dazzling by any stretch of the imagination, but the program director would not sell him for any price. Horses like Royal have an important role to play in developing riders, but they don’t come along often. Lack of reactivity is simply not typical of the species.

Interested

Interested horses are great for riders with a little training and experience. In well-trained hands, these horses pay attention to the rider’s aids but aren’t upset by them. While they are aware of their environment and respond to things going on around them, it’s unusual for them to react with fight-or-flight behavior. As long as this horse is handled with consideration and sensitivity, riders will seldom go wrong with this sort. Many of the horses you see collecting ribbons at local horse shows fit into this category, as they are both animated and dependable.

Nervous

Nervous is the personality type truest to equine nature, and consequently many horses fit into this category. The flight response in nervous horses is well-developed. They spook easily, perhaps even bolting to escape from perceived dangers all around. They tend to carry their heads high, looking for trouble and ready to react. For a quiet and experienced rider, this horse can eventually make a very nicemount. For a tentative rider, he can be a wreck waiting to happen. Most can eventually develop some trust and a sense of security from confident yet sympathetic riders who allow them to progress in training. They require extreme patience and confident handling from the rider. You cannot rush the trust they require before they can progress.

If you can learn to work with the challenge, these horses can be worth it and wonderful to show as they tend to possess an extra brilliance in spirit and movement.

Extremely Nervous

Extremely nervous horses are so reactive that virtually anything can set them off, and even changes in footing or shadows on the ground could cause fearful explosions at any time. Calm, consistent handling while slowly expanding their comfort zones will ultimately benefit them, but the road will be long and often dangerous. You must stay especially alert at all times. These horses are best left to professionals or to individuals with loads of experience and a solid foundation in equine behavior principles.

Stubborn

Stubborn horses tend to resent work and try to find a way out of it. When pushed, they often become irritable and balky, sometimes even exploding in temper. Trainers often encounter behavior that sets back training, requiring repetitions of lessons already learned. These horses also require riders with a lot of patience, but while the nervous horse requires a quiet hand, stubborn horses need a tactful yet firm approach.

Treacherous

Treacherous horses, with the notable exception of a few naturally aggressive stallions, are nearly always either a product of bad handling or benign neglect. They either haven’t learned to respect humans or have learned to actively resent them. Such horses may unexpectedly attack humans by kicking, biting or stomping on them. Horses who simply lack an understanding of their place below humans on the dominance hierarchy may sometimes be reformed by the most experienced of handlers. Sadly, euthanasia is sometimes the only safe solution for savage horses. Fortunately, such horses are rare.

Many horses seem to fluctuate daily between types. My mare Duchess oscillates between the interested, nervous and stubborn personality types. Consequently, there are days when she’s brilliant and very responsive. Then there are days when she seems to resent her work, prancing or grinding her teeth. I can’t force her compliance, but must develop it from her willingly. Each day is another chance to bring out her best. It requires me to use my creativity and to be a gentle and tactful teacher. But this is what makes each ride unique and each day a lesson.

Liked this article? Here are others you’ll enjoy:
Connecting with Your Horse
Working with Your Horse’s Horsenality

The post Discover Your Horse’s Personality Type appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Our plans may seem innocuous as we imagine them now, but how they actually play out in reality may be an entirely different matter. Looming just beyond our daydreams is a stark necessity that is often a formidable obstacle to the enjoyment of equestrian activities away from home. Somehow we have to load our horses into a trailer and transport them without incident to the event site. If we contemplate the conflict between the horse’s basic nature and what is expected of him for trailering, it’s no surprise that problems frequently occur.

A few years back, an acquaintance at my barn and I made plans to haul our two young horses to a local peninsula to enjoy a day’s outing on picturesque seaside bridle paths. My mare had some experience loading and hauling to local shows, and Darla’s horse Shadow had recently been trained to load into her trainer’s two-horse trailer.

We carefully wrapped Shadow’s legs, attached a rubber head protector to her halter crownpiece and gently asked her to move forward into the trailer. She stepped in with confidence and began eating hay while we attached the trailer tie to her halter. Just to be on the safe side, Darla and I decided to take Shadow on a short ride around the stable grounds before loading my mare into the other stall and setting off on our journey. Everything seemed to be proceeding without any trouble as we started rolling. We had gone about halfway around a row of pipe corrals when we heard a restless clattering from behind us, quickly followed by an abrupt lurching motion.

Darla walked back to see what happened and discovered her mare had panicked and jumped into the feed manger with her front legs, causing her head to be pulled into a dangerously unnatural position by the trailer tie.

We urgently set about trying to free the horse. Darla opened the back doors of the trailers while I entered the front through an emergency escape door and cut the tie strap. Shadow’s head immediately slammed into the roof of the trailer with enough force to split the rubber head protector. She then managed to force her head out of the trailer’s narrow emergency door as she struggled to free herself from the tight space she was wedged into.

With the assistance of a few other boarders, we forced Shadow’s head back into the trailer and secured the emergency escape door. The boarders went in search of strong ropes with which to “pull” Shadow out of the manger while Darla ran to call the vet. In the interim, Shadow continued to thrash and flail, and in the course of her struggles managed to extricate herself from the manger and roll out of the trailer.

Fortunately, Shadow’s injuries had missed her vital areas and she escaped from the ordeal with only 22 stitches above her right eye. For Darla and me, the experience served as a frightening lesson about how quickly everything can go completely wrong during even a well-planned horse-trailering experience. While Shadow (who has since recovered from the incident) had been taught to load into a trailer, she had never been in a moving trailer before.

To minimize the possibility of potentially disastrous trailering problems such as the one just described, it makes sense to try to understand the trailering experience from the horse’s point of view.

The types of problems people tend to have while trailering horses can be broken down into two general categories: loading or unloading problems and hauling problems. At the root of most loading problems is one common explanation, which is simply that horses are born with a natural wariness of confinement. This isn’t hard to understand when we consider that horses have evolved as prey animals whose primary defense mechanism is to flee from danger. The horses that manage to survive in the wild are those that avoid any situation where they might find themselves trapped without and escape route.

In this respect, our domestic horses aren’t very different from their feral cousins. Although selective breeding has had positive effects on temperament and tractability, most horses still have the potentially adaptive genetic “hard-wiring” of their prey species.

Bearing this in mind, let’s try to consider the interior of a typical two-horse trailer from a horse’s viewpoint. The horse is being asked to move from the relative safety of open space into a dead-end space that isn’t much bigger than his body—a space where he stands alone and vulnerable, removed from the comfort and safety that comes from being around other horses. To the horse, a trailer is a dark, enclosed space to which his vision and other senses must adjust, and a potential trap from which no escape route is evident. If you were a horse, would you willingly walk into a place like this?

Recognizing the underlying behavior in most loading problems as fear of confinement gives us the understanding we need to solve them. We must work to alleviate our horse’s fear of trailer confinement or resign ourselves to lifelong battles at loading time. The most important part of this training is to do it well in advance of the actual event, on days when you literally have all day to spend on it. This cannot be rushed, because the horse must set the pace of these lessons. If the horse is pushed, he will not have the chance to relax enough to realize there’s nothing to fear about trailers.

There are many good books and videotapes on trailer-loading training. Two that I have found particularly informative are the video Trailer Loading & Hauling Tips by Jimmy Williams, and the section on successful trailer loading in the book Lyons on Horses, by John Lyons. I have incorporated many of the elements of these training methods in my own training approach.

I like to begin by leading the horse at his shoulder toward the trailer. At whatever point the horse stops moving toward the trailer, I stop with him and leave a little slack in the lead line, waiting as long as necessary for him to relax. The signals that he is relaxing are when he drops his head back down to its normal below-withers position and also loses the rigidity in his posture. This is when I ask him to move forward again. If he balks, I begin lightly tapping his hindquarters with a rigid, 4-foot “pole”—a piece of ½-inch PVC tubing or the blunt end of a firm whip will do—and I steadily increase the intensity of the taps until I get at least a few steps of forward movement. If the horse stops again at this point, I stop with him and again wait for signs of relaxation before asking for any more forward progress, at which time the process repeats.

We continue this slow and steady cycle of relaxation, followed by asking for a little more forward movement right up to and eventually into the trailer, always allowing the horse the opportunity to relax before asking for more.

It often takes many patient hours to teach a horse to load calmly, but this approach gives the horse the chance to relax and realize there’s nothing to fear about trailers. Pulling him in against his will, on the other hand, reinforces the fear. Once the horse is in the trailer for the first time, I allow him to back out whenever he’s ready, and then ask him to load right back in again.

I repeat the loading in and out of the trailer several more times. At the lesson’s conclusion I feed the horse his evening ration in the trailer, further reinforcing the message that the trailer is a pleasant place where good things happen. This lesson is repeated daily until I am certain that the horse is relaxed and happily eating his meals inside the trailer. At this time I will take my calm pupil for a short, slow drive around the stable grounds and perhaps around the block. I gradually increase the length of the trips in the trailer during successive lessons.

On the day of the horse’s first actual event away from home, rather than risk undoing all of this work, I plan to load and haul a few hours earlier than I ordinarily would. This assures me that my approach will be patient and pleasant for the horse. Finally, if the horse’s behavior indicates that previous lessons may need repeating, it’s usually worth it in the long run to skip the planned event and spend more time reinforcing those earlier lessons correctly.

In contrast to the innate anxiety which is at the root of most loading problems, the vast majority of hauling problems are learned behaviors resulting from aversive prior hauling experiences. While it’s true that some horses react to any trailer movement by panicking, as Shadow had, we should recognize that many hauling problems are preventable.

A horse that has had one or two frightening trips being jostled about in a speeding trailer may develop behavior problems such as climbing divider walls (especially on turns as he loses his balance), kicking the rear panels and jumping into the feed manger. Sometimes the anxiety carries over into loading problems as the horse associates being loaded into the trailer with the trip to come.

If your horse behaves dangerously during handling, it is advisable to discuss the problem with your veterinarian, as the horse may require tranquilization to reduce the risk of injury during retraining.

Many conscientious owners don’t realize how rough the ride in a horse trailer is for their horses. I encourage every horse owner to take a short ride around his or her property while standing in the horse trailer (don’t do this on public streets, as it is illegal in some states). When I tried this, I was very surprised to find out how noisy, bumpy and awkward it was riding in the trailer in contrast to the comfortable ride I’d always enjoyed in the towing vehicle. This experience helped me to understand how horses can develop hauling behavior problems resulting from driving that seems quite reasonable to us.

To help prevent dangerous hauling behaviors from showing up in your horse, imagine that your horse trailer is a great, brimming tub of water that you’re pulling around behind you. Try to make all your stops and turns so smooth that not a single drop of water spills out. If you endeavor to haul your horses with this degree of gentleness, your efforts will most likely be rewarded with problem-free trailering.

Read more about safe trailering.
Get some tips on safely unloading your horse.
Before you hit the road, consult our trailering checklist.

The post Trailer Training Psychology appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

You may have seen this sort of bond between species with your own horse and dog. I’ve seen it with my mare, Duchess. One dreary afternoon last winter I drove out to the barn hoping to squeeze a short ride into my hectic schedule. I briskly tacked her up and led her into the indoor arena. Realizing I’d forgotten my helmet, I left Duchess at the mounting block while I ran back to the barn to grab it. When I returned, I saw that a very friendly barn kitten had climbed the mounting block steps to make acquaintance with my mare. Duchess had lowered her head to cat level and was curiously investigating her new friend while the kitten did the same. Awareness of my approach brought an early end to the budding relationship as Duchess turned her attention toward me and the kitten hastily scurried away. I wondered what had motivated the kitten to brazenly approach such a large creature, and why my mare had handled the encounter with an unknown animal with such gentleness.

The unique qualities of individuals such as my mare Duchess and the variability within a species such as the horse make behavior a science where absolute answers are hard to come by. Behaviorists, therefore, must make generalizations based on the behavioral tendencies of samplings of horses representing the population at large.

Most behavioral scientists agree that the reason such amicable alliances form between horses and other animals is due in large part to the horse’s unique social nature. According to Stephen Budiansky, author of The Nature of Horses, horses show a strong fundamental instinct to form long-lasting attachments to specific individuals. This basic instinct toward bonding is the glue that holds harems, the fundamental social structure of the horse, together. But so general is this drive to bond that it appears within horse society in many contexts that have nothing to do with mating. Horses removed from a herd will also readily form attachments to human owners or even a barn cat.

That is if the cat will have them. In general, cats are considered nonsocial because they do not live in groups as adults if they are living on natural prey. When placed together in a home or farm, cats will form dominance hierarchies, but marked aggression may persist in this essentially solitary species. A cat will generally do its utmost to define a territory of its own and to be self-reliant.

Dogs, on the other hand, are more like horses in that they are members of a species that forms “packs” with social bonds. What makes them different from horses is the reason for the social order—they form packs to better bring down prey, living as a group to hunt more successfully. Hence, for dogs membership in a pack is very desirable, but not a necessity for survival.

In contrast to these companion-animal species, horses, as prey animals, must rely upon each other for survival. As a result of this mutual dependence, the bond between horses is very strong. You’ve probably noticed this when trying to take your horse out for a ride without his equine buddies. Cows and goats, which are also prey herd animals, may share just as strong an attachment to their equine companions as the horse will.

So where does the horse rank in comparison to other companion animals in terms of intelligence? As I discussed in a previous column, intelligence is difficult to define in animals because we do not share a language with them. On the other hand, learning ability can be measured by trying to quantify the time it takes the horse to learn tasks or solve problems. So it makes a little more sense to try to compare the learning abilities of different species rather than their innate intelligence.

R.K. Thomas published a study review conducted on vertebrate “intelligence,” which suggested that horses score very well in comparison to other species on learning tests. Using discrimination learning, in which animals must select a specific item to earn something rewarding, Thomas reported that horses achieve high scores in comparison to other species, including many mammals.

While horses can certainly hold their own against other species in terms of learning ability, the type of learning that horses excel at is not the same as that of dogs or cats by nature. Remember, what matters for horses is to learn to survive as a flight animal — being able to recognize other herd members and to discriminate them from potential enemies; to sense danger and to react appropriately. Dogs and cats, however, must be tactical thinkers — they must select prey and devise a strategy to overpower or head off the prey. While each of the companion species is “smart,” natural selection has designed them to think and behave very differently. Horses will naturally be more reactive, dogs and cats more cunning.

So, while many different types of animals have the potential to become your companions, you’re likely to find their species-specific behavior very different. A relationship with a cat, dog or horse will have its own unique qualities, depending on the individual animal and the nature of the species. In general, the cat will be the most aloof of the three main companion species, the dog the most like our own predatory and social species. Of the three, the social horse is the most unlike us.

By bridging the gap between ourselves and an animal that often falls victim to species such as ours, we gain something of value for our own humanity. Perhaps this is the true appeal of building a relationship with a horse.

Liked this article? Here are others you’ll enjoy:
Dogs and Horses
The Benefits of Barn Cats

The post Harmony Between Species appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Maybe you’re a horse industry professional with an interest in identifying agile-minded and compliant training prospects for show or resale. Perhaps you’re simply person working with one horse that behaves with such purposeful cleverness that you wonder about his capacity for advanced thought.

Whatever the differences in your motivations might be, what clearly interests all of us is identifying those qualities that smart horses have in common, and devising an easy, reproducible method of measuring those qualities.

A Clever Mind

One interesting horse in my family, an Appaloosa named Denver Deuce, methodically worked for hours at opening bull-snaps and gate latches until he was free to visit other horses and raid grain rooms. His merry fun picking latches continued through several combinations of chains, snaps and latches until a padlock was finally placed on his paddock gate.

These days, he knows when the lock is not truly closed and is quick to revert to his Houdini ways whenever the opportunity presents itself. His seeming awareness of exactly what is required to free himself from his confines, coupled with the diligence with which he carries out these activities, has admittedly impressed me over the years.

Additionally, there have been other behavioral tendencies that have alerted me that the wheels might be turning a little faster than usual in Denver’s spotted head. He possesses a cunning, scheming type of play behavior that has included, among other things, slowly and deliberately nudging me face first into a moss-filled cattle water trough. He also seems to understand the vulnerability of children. Whenever a child climbs on his back, he changes from spirited riding horse to gentle and reliable mount. Frankly, there have been times when I have looked into this horse’s eyes and felt the presence of a not-quite-so-ordinary equine mind.

Trainability

The warmblood foals out of one of my hot-blooded mares exhibit intelligence of a different nature. In nearly all respects, Duchess’ foals have tended to be much more accepting of their training than their dam has been. They have been relatively easy for me to teach and load into trailers, to stand tied for bathing and clipping, and to longe, ground-drive and start under saddle. They have exhibited a type of accepting, compliant behavior which makes them easy to train, and at least superficially, this appears to be something different than the quick-minded variety of intelligence Denver Deuce displays.

Considering how many different qualities we label as intelligent behavior, we need to determine exactly what behavioral tendencies make a horse a quick and uncomplicated training prospect, and whether they correlate to a behavioral demeanor we can watch for in horses in general.

Intelligence is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify in a species whose language we cannot understand because actions alone cannot explain the logic or awareness behind them.

On the other hand, learning ability, or trainability, can be measured by trying to quantify the time it takes the horse to learn tasks or solve problems. This may seem like a trivial distinction until we consider that what appears to be intelligent behavior in our horses may actually be detrimental behavior for their wild relatives.

Intelligence vs. Learning Ability

Intelligent behavior for horses may be entirely at odds with the purposes of their riders. For example, spooking and bolting at frightening objects is a smart response for these prey animals to make in the wild, but humans require that horses learn to overcome such self-serving behavior to better suit our purposes.Our interest appears to be not so much in determining the actual intelligence of horses, but rather in their aptitude for quickly and correctly learning the lessons we teach.

In behavioral science, we recognize a difference between the ability to perceive and comprehend meaning, which we call intelligence, and the willingness to comply with human expectations, which we call learning ability.

It is important to realize that a large part of what we expect horses to learn is at odds with their general nature. For example, most trainers have experienced the resistance green horses have to many of the tasks we expect of them, including standing still for clippers, crossing water on the trail and walking into horse trailers. The survival instincts of horses are, to some degree, within them all, compelling them to flee from the loud noise and vibration of the clippers, to avoid stepping into places where solid ground is not visible and to escape the trap of trailer confinement.

In order to select horses that can be easily trained to perform task contrary to their nature, and that also demonstrate the presence of a thinking mind rather than a reacting one, we must be able to identify those horses that behave differently from the flight tendencies of the species.

An excellent example of such a horse once belonged to a friend of mine. A few years back, Ellen was bringing her horses up to the barn for their evening meal when she noticed her new Quarter Horse mare was not with the others. She climbed on another horse and rode along her fence lines until she came upon the young mare. The mare’s hind leg had become ensnared in wire fencing as a result of aggressive herding and driving by one of the established geldings in the band. Judging from the horse’s condition, the leg must have been tangled in the fence for several hours, but this 3-year-old filly stood patiently on three legs, with her injured leg suspended in the wire fencing until help arrived. According to the veterinarian involved, the fact that his horse did not panic and struggle is principally what protected her from permanently debilitating tendon and vascular damage. I’m certain most of us would value such a sane and sensible disposition in the horses we trust to carry us.

Quantifying Learning Ability

One method of measuring learning ability that has been used in many different animal species is called discrimination learning. The idea is for the animal to select the “correct” item from two or more items to earn something rewarding, such as food. The assumption is that horses which perform highest on the test are also likely to have the greatest learning aptitude outside of the testing situation. The earliest discrimination studies determined that horses could learn to make correct choices between black and white feed boxes, and this early success paved the way for more advanced studies. Another group of researchers used a discrimination test to discover that long training sessions led to inefficient learning in horses, a fact we should all remember the next time we feel compelled to work on that flying lead change yet another time to “get it right!”

One type of discrimination test, called concept formation testing, measures a horse’s ability to use early learning to solve new problems. In horse training, we expect horses to build upon prior learning to attain new levels of performance. For example, a turn on the haunch requires the horse to recognize and respond correctly to a combination of rein and leg aids presented earlier as separate and basic elements. A horse with an aptitude for forming concepts would presumably be easier to train than one lacking the ability to quickly grasp the overall training objective or “big picture.” This presumption was consistent with the results of a study I performed with a colleague in 1994, wherein the horses that were best at learning to identify triangular shapes in a discrimination test also happened to be at the top of an unofficial ranking by the campus riding instructors for training aptitude exhibited in the lesson ring.

The next study I conducted examined the relationship between the results of discrimination testing and performance on tasks we all ask horses to perform, such as crossing bridges and jumping obstacles. A visual-discrimination test was used to see if the horses could switch from “black is correct” to “white is correct” periodically to test for quick, flexible thinking. When testing was completed, the results indicated that that reversal learning tests did not correlate well with learning to jump obstacles and cross bridges, but perhaps more importantly, the study revealed that many subjects had problems making the switch to the new correct choice at color reversal time. This finding indicated that some horses have great difficulty reversing their initial training. It may be much harder to undo bad earlier experiences than we’ve all assumed. The long-term effects of early training may be more important than we ever imagined.

Building a Better Horse

Presently, behaviorists are making rapid advances in understanding learning ability in horses. However, that quick and easy method for measuring a horse’s trainability still eludes us. As long as there are breeders trying to produce the best horses possible, trainers needing to turn out polished performers as quickly as is reasonable and a horse-buying public interested in getting the most for their money, this question merits our continued efforts to find an answer. Equine enthusiasts should remember the development of this species depends on the decisions we make. As we discover ways to determine learning ability in horses, we may soon be able to accurately select for this trait in our breeding programs. For better or for worse, the future of the horse rests with us all, and it may soon be within our power to do the right thing for both the species and for ourselves, which is to produce consistently adaptable and able-minded horses.

The post Recognizing Learning Ability in Horses appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

A few months later, I encountered stallion behavior many people would consider more normal at the horse facility where I did my behavioral research. I was walking around the grounds, past the rows of stallions I thought I knew so well, when I was overcome by an excruciating pain. One moment all was right with the world, and the next moment I was sailing through the air, landing face first on the hard ground.

I looked back at the normally gentle, middle-aged stallion that had just attacked me, and observed his displays of aggression directed at the brand-new stallion in the adjacent paddock. It was clear that I had been the target of misdirected aggression between them.

What is the truth about stallion-like behavior? Is it those things we love best about horses—charisma, nobility, controlled fire—or is it something vicious and unpredictable that should be checked by gelding the horse?

What is the truth about stallion-like behavior? Is it docile and cooperative, or aggressive and dangerous like popular legend? Is it those things we love best about horses—charisma, nobility, controlled fire—or is it something vicious and unpredictable that should be checked by gelding the horse? Which gender makes the most easily trained riding horses, and which is the best for a performance horse?

Mares, Stallions, and Geldings

Although gender isn’t the only determining factor, a horse’s sex does play a significant role in behavior. Survival and reproduction are the two driving forces of all animals, including horses. Personal survival dictates that they must find food, water and protection from the elements above all else. When those basic needs are met, sexually intact animals (those who haven’t been gelded or spayed) treat the call of their reproductive hormones as the next priority. These hormones ensure the survival of the species and drive animals to send their hereditary attributes into the next generation, giving them a sort of immortality through their offspring.

Hormonal signals tell horses when to breed, and during those times it is a very important item on their agendas.

For mares, the breeding urge is seasonal and cyclical, but for stallions, the drive is ever-present. Libido in stallions is driven by the hormone testosterone, which is primarily produced by specialized cells of the testicles called leydig cells in response to chemical signals from the brain’s hypothalamus and pituitary gland. These chemical messengers are more active when the days are longer, increasing testosterone production to coincide with the time that mares are most fertile and receptive to breeding.

But even during the winter, when most mares are unwilling to breed, stallion behavior is still under the direct influence of testosterone, maintaining some degree of libido, sperm production and secondary sex characteristics. This maintains the drive in stallions to seek out prospective new mates and to check them for willingness to breed.

The Pros and Cons of Testosterone

This is what makes stallions such unique animals, giving them that brilliance, that something extra. In his book Lyons on Horses, John Lyons explains “…reproductive drive is behind many of the stallion’s behaviors … If we recognize this, we can deal with it in a logical manner. We’ll teach the stallion when and where to use this inner drive, when it’s okay to breed and when it’s not. But because of the stallion’s strong purpose in life, we’ll need to invest more time in his training. It may take us two hours to train the gelding, five hours to train the mare and 20 hours to train the stallion.”

This drive to breed makes stallions exceptional performance prospects for highly experienced riders. If the stallion’s strongly driven sexual behavior can be controlled through proper training and that energy channeled into athletic endeavors, they can indeed be the species’ most brilliant members. Consider, for example, the performances of 1996 Olympic dressage sensation Peron and 1984 Olympic gold and silver medal-winning international show jumper Abdullah.

On the other hand, stallion-like behavior can make “studs” difficult to train and potentially very dangerous, particularly in inexperienced hands. Even those stallions with unusually docile temperaments need to be handled properly by expert horse people at all times. Even “nice” stallions can be lethal to novice handlers. For this reason, unless a horse has a one-in-a-million combination of top-quality conformation, temperament and bloodlines, and the owner intends to use him for breeding — or sell him as a stud — most trainers would advise owners to geld horses intended for everyday riding or showing.

Brain Surgery

A horse’s behavior changes after gelding because of the quick and marked drop in blood testosterone levels. In horses, testosterone levels plummet to less than half their original levels very quickly after gelding. Without high testosterone in their blood, geldings are not hormonally driven and distracted by the urge to reproduce, so they are able to devote more attention to their training. This makes them generally easier to train than stallions, with more consistent behavioral tendencies. Gelding is also believed to alter a horse’s personality, making him less moody and more complacent.

On rare occasions, stallions that are gelded after puberty continue to display stallion-like behavior. This problem is most common in horses that formerly had careers as breeding stallions, and occurs because of what was “learned” through sexual experience. Other good reasons for early castration are that geldings can end up taller than stallions due to later closure of long bone growth plates, and that the chances of intestinal herniation as a post-surgical complication are fewer.

Mareish

Mare behavior tends to fall between that of geldings and that of stallions. Some horse handlers call the erratic behavior some mares exhibit during estrus “mare-ish” behavior. They are typically referring to the distracted attitude and edgy nature of certain mares that are more interested in finding mates and breeding during this time than they are in anything else.

Starting sometime around April and going approximately through September in the Northern hemisphere, the increased day length stimulates the mare to initiate 21- to 23-day reproductive cycles known as estrus cycles. During an estrus cycle, the typical mare will spend around five to seven days in heat, primarily under the influence of the hormone estrogen, and will ovulate near the end of that period of breeding receptivity. This can cause problems when it interferes with athletic performance or when it causes mares to become cranky and unpredictable, presenting dangers to their human handlers.

During the shorter days of the year, more mares are sexually inactive and unresponsive, behaving very similar to geldings. During the remaining 14 to 16 days of the cycle, they are primarily under the influence of the hormone progesterone and are not interested in breeding at all.

For mares affected by behavioral problems during estrus, there are various products utilizing the reproductive hormone progesterone, which can be prescribed by veterinarians to keep them out of estrus. However, these may cause side effects in some mares.

Because removal of the ovaries or spaying in mares is a major surgical procedure, it is generally not done unless for medical reasons, such as for certain ovarian tumors. Most mare owners are either not aware of the behavioral changes during estrus or are not disturbed enough by them to invest in medical treatment. Of course, many mares are wonderful riding horses, brilliant show horses and powerful athletes that perform consistently despite the influences of estrus.

This column has highlighted the most obvious differences in behavioral tendencies of stallions, geldings and mares. The “best” gender depends on the ability, experience and preference of the rider, as well as the job required of the horse. Remember that generalizations about gender are simply guidelines, and that the temperament of the horse is ultimately the most important factor to consider. These guidelines can be used to help increase the likelihood of ending up with a compatible horse, but what matters most is finding one that can be trusted and that will be a pleasure to work with.

The post Hormones and Horse Behavior appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.