What are the different personality types of horses and how do they respond to stress?

Carey Williams, Ph.D., Extension Specialist in Equine Management
What is Stress?
Stress is the body’s response to anything it considers threatening. For a horse this could be anything, including trailering and traveling, showing, poor nutrition, feeding at irregular times, changes in other routines, environmental toxins, interactions within their social environment, variations in climate, and illness.
Some types of stress include various physical stresses that are based on the physical makeup of the animal and its ability to respond to changes in diet, injury, etc. Psychological stresses are based on a horse’s personality and its perception of life. For example, some horses are more stressed than others by being in a stall for long periods of time.
How do Horses Cope with Stress?
The horse’s basic stress response starts with a change in behavior, either by moving away from a stimulus, swishing its tail, bucking, tensing up, etc. This stress will then cause activation of the sympathetic nervous system, called the “Fight or Flight” response. The sympathetic nervous system will create an involuntary action of the intestines (diarrhea), endocrine glands (production of adrenaline and cortisol), and heart (increase in heart rate). Next the neuroendocrine system will be activated, allowing the horse’s system to increase its energy utilization.
Each horse deals with stress in a different way depending on their personality.
Demonstrative, Confident Horse
• Lets you know when it is stressed!
• Bucks, kicks, bites, is very curious, mouthy, a troublemaker, etc.
Demonstrative, Fearful Horse
• Worries about everything!
• Shies the first time it sees things and needs time to relax.
Passive, Confident Horse
• Usually wonders, “What’s everyone worried about?”
• Not normally stressed, internalizes stress, shows little change even when stressed.
• Usually is the last one in the field to take off running if something runs out of the woods.
Passive, Fearful Horse
• Wants to please!
• Seems willing to do anything, but will tighten muscles and lips when stressed.
• Won’t show fear until pushed over the limit.
During exercise heat production will increase up to 50 %. This can create a problem when exercising under extremely hot and humid conditions.

When a horse is being trained,
analysis of the horses character type must be sought before instructions
are put forth for training/teaching.
What is your horses type?
Lazy - stubborn
Fighter - fight
Nervous - flight
Willing - bargainer
Lazy horses can become
chums with you very easily and the person may think that the training is
going to be a breeze. That is until the person decides to start teaching
the horse. The horse goes from lovey dovey to a refusing uncooperative
Fighters don't want
anything to do with a person from the start. It maybe called a rebel.
Ready on alert all the time. The horse will let you know that he wants
to fight by stamping or snorting in a aggressive manor. A person should
never approach this type of horse thinking that it will not harm you.
Nervous horses need to be
trained with much more patience and slower progress than the other
types. A nervous horse may see a candy wrapper and go in to a frenzy
while the other types will not think much of this.
Willing horses use their
mind to greatest possibility. They rationalize the best of the 4 types
of horses. They are thinkers with good courage. A willing personality
type will poses the other personality types on occasion, but not as a
With each of these types the
stages of training and the application of the technique will vary. The
lazy horse will have different responses to an application than the
Actions of a horse out in the
pasture can not determine his/her personality when it come to training.
A horse of course has the inborn
personality of fight or flight. But a horse is shaped into a deeper self
personality with the surrounding that it is in.
Semi human surrounding
Horse that are in a nonhuman
surrounding are known as unhandled horses that are not exposed to
handling of humans from birth or the first couple of months of life.
They will take quite some
confidence building to prove that you the human are not going to
harm them. The longer the horse is away from the hands on exposure
to humans the longer it will take to get the confidence built.
To see in the horses eye what
they see humans as would be like the human seeing a alien.

Every person has a natural behavioural preference. A way of doing things. That is anchored in our brains. A person is able to adapt this behaviour to whatever a situation requires. We behave differently in the supermarket, at work, at school or at home on the couch. In times of stress our natural behavioural preference always comes to the fore. If you have to adapt too often or for too long at any time, it takes energy.
These preferences can be divided into four types. We all have these four types in us, with one more strongly represented than the other. People who are dominant are bold, focused on performing tasks, but are quick to blame others if things don’t go as planned. Conscientious people are perfectionists and focused on details, but they set the bar very high for themselves. They are extremely critical of themselves when something goes wrong. You also have people who are very focused on others or on stability and harmony.
This affects the way you are with horses. A horse is a prey animal that lives in a herd. All his motives and reactions are based on that. If you frighten him, hurt him or he becomes insecure, he wants to flee. If you stop him it creates a sense of panic. He will want to run away, but that is not possible. In such a situation he is not open to learning anything, let alone that you can change anything that you think needs improving.
If a horse is frequently blocked from fleeing when something worries him, you create a state that behavioral scientists call “learned helplessness”. That is a kind of soulless subjection in which a horse does its work slavish and seemingly obedient, but without any “joie de vivre” (enjoyment of life). He shuts himself off to the outside world. He is far from that beautiful animal that works in harmony with his rider, with a happy and sparkly appearance. Yet you see it regularly, even with people who call their horse their “dearest friend” and seemingly would do anything for it.
Horses are herd animals by nature and have no problem following orders, even from us. Provided the question is asked fairly and without aggression, so they don’t get scared and provided they understand what you want from them. However, that can be a problem, because how do we understand each other? We are predators and ego driven.

Today’s horses are experiencing more stress than ever!
Whether they are show horses, or endurance horses and even horses used for camping, all are subject to added stressors.
With the show season in full swing it’s a good time to stop and take a look at how stressors may affect competitive horses.
Horses are very emotional creatures who are adversely affected by stress.
Understanding this is imperative to having a healthy and happy competitive equine. How individual horses respond to potentially stressful situations differs, but many health ailments are originated from stress of one kind or another.
Stress can be defined as a general term which describes the combination of psychological and biological responses of an animal during real or perceived threatening circumstances. While the physiological response to stress is a highly complex subject, and certainly is not completely understood, scientists agree that there are two types of stressors.
Physical stressors are things such as injury, over-exertion or a change in the environment. Psychological stressors typically include situations that make the animal anxious or fearful. Uncertainty and fear of the unknown can be categorized as two of the major psychological stressors. Competing horses, and even horses who travel for seemingly leisurely activities such as camping, are exposed to both physical and psychological stressors.

What I’m reading: The Girl in The Box by Janet Miller – Futuristic tale about true love – what else?
In my last blog three weeks ago I talked about different horse personalities, particularly the Extrovert Thinker as typified by my horse Star and how this type relates to Alpha Heroes. Today, I’d like to discuss the Extrovert Reactor and the smart-ass, quirky heroine.
First, a quick note. These personality types are on a continuum, of course. Some are more extroverted than others, some are less reactive. Some can change—become less introverted or more of a thinker. But their basic type remains and influences their actions.
My mare Portia, a grey Anglo-Arab (half Thoroughbred and half Arabian), is a typical Extrovert Reactor. She’s very sensitive to stimuli and hyper-aware of her environment. Even at age twenty-nine and retired, she can be challenging and needs an experienced handler. Not that she’d ever deliberately hurt someone, she just tends to react first and think later.
She’s also a horse that really enjoys life. She loves to play and will try her best to please. She’s the one who yells a greeting when she sees me and comes running up to the gate eager for a treat or an outing. In the show ring or a parade, when she “turned on” all eyes were on her. She also used to fly down a new trail with her incredible walk, eager to see what was around the next corner. Even though she can be a pain in the butt, her exuberance is a lot of fun.
When I first got her as a seven year-old, she was ready to spin and bolt at the slightest provocation—a rock that looked funny, a horse scratching it’s ear with a hind leg, a COW on the trail! She soon learned bolting wasn’t acceptable behavior so she tried others. Like teleporting half way across the arena or jittering in place or jumping straight up. I eventually discovered that part of the reason for her reactivity was because she was in pain. She needed chiropractic care (just starting with horses at that time and not widely accepted) and a correctly fitted saddle (which proved to be almost impossible to find). Once those problems were solved, she settled down a lot.
But she still retained her quirky personality.

Stress isn’t healthy for horses or humans. Stress in your horse can result in anxiousness and can cause physical symptoms such as ulcers and colic. Getting to the root of your horse’s anxiety issues may take some time and detective work. The more time you spend with your horse, the more you will observe his behavior and find clues about what causes his stress.
Horses can be naturally fearful and certain breeds can demonstrate stress more than others, such as Thoroughbreds and Arabians. Recognizing that your horse is stressed and understanding what is causing their anxiety could help to improve your horse’s quality of life. There are common signs that your horse could be stressed.
Loss of appetite
Weaving and stall walking
Stress can be grouped into four different categories for horses:
1. Behavioral or psychological
Ways to help:
Horses are designed to roam and graze for up to 14 hours a day, so keeping them confined to their stable can increase stress levels. So it’s important to give your horse space and regular exercise.
Many horses tend to thrive on a consistent schedule. Establishing a schedule creates a situation where your horse knows what to expect during the day. Stable management, feeding and exercise, and minimizing any changes to your horse’s routine and environment will help to reduce stress.
Provide continuous access to hay
Having full availability to hay throughout the day can help to distract and reassure your horse. When horses are bored, they can become stressed. Consider using a small hay net.
Keep other horses nearby
Horses are social animals, and in the wild their safety depends on the presence of a herd. You can give your horse that same security at home by keeping several horses in your barn and by turning your horse out in a group.
Keep your horses mind occupied
Sometimes it's not always possible to turn your horse out so if your horse must spend time in his stable, provide mental stimulation in the form of toys or by hiding food so that he has to search for it.
You can minimize stress for your horse by making sure that their environment has minimal possible stressful stimuli. This includes regular turnout, and plenty of access to quality and varied food, water and nutrition. Minimizing changes to your horse’s environment as much as possible will also help, and this includes changes to their routine.
Another thing that will help your horse’s stress would be Benefab’s Rejuvenate SmartScrim.

Regardless of personality style, you must always deal with the behavior that your horse presents: If he is distant and removed, you need to get his attention; if he is confrontational, you need to establish your authority; if he is distracted and inattentive, he needs to pay attention and respond to you; if he is worried and mistrustful, he needs to be reassured. And we adjust our approach, not our goal, by assessing our trainee before we begin.
Each personality style is unique and some horses ( and people) exhibit a combination of traits. None are bad but this IS where the personality of the trainer comes in. Not all trainers are well suited for all trainees. And, we prefer to train the horses we get along with and wish we could avoid the ones we don’t. Sound familiar? But effective training is really about bonding so it is important that we know ourselves well enough to understand what WE need to do to bond with our trainee. A good trainer understands themselves and who they are dealing with and THEY adjust accordingly. We don’t expect the horse to change color, we change color to fit the horse. Is it tough to do this, you betcha! And many good trainers fail miserably from time to time when they are working with a challenging fit. But in the end, our goal is to produce a good horse, not to prove that we are superior and if that means changing OUR approach so be it. The alternative is to risk ruining a potentially good horse, not to mention the time and aggravation we could go through for nothing. The same could be said for our “potentially” good people.
Fortunately for our people training we have some great tools that we use to clearly identify who we are, who we are working with and how to maximize our training effort with them. I use DiSC assessment in coaching and training to help individuals and teams understand how they can work most effectively with others. The assessment identifies the personality preferences and tendencies we exhibit in our interactions with team members, family members, each other. It shines light on who we are and how we are likely to interact by defining our styles as: Dominant, influencing, Steady, and Conscientious or some combination of the four.
The DiSC assessment is inexpensive and easy to perform. The results clearly outline the trainees strengths and challenges and provide direction for improving performance.

Ever feel like your horse is in a bad mood? Well, according to a British equine behavior research team, you could be right. In fact, team members said, paying attention to all of horses' main psychological factors--temperament, moods, and emotional reactions--is key to ensuring their mental well-being and their success.
"To attain optimal individual performance within any equestrian discipline, horses must be in peak physical fitness and have the correct psychological state," said Daniel S. Mills, BVSc, PhD, MRCVS, Dipl. ECVBM-CA, European and RCVS Recognized Specialist in Veterinary and Behavioral Medicine at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom. Mills and Sebastian McBride, PhD, associate lecturer in equine science at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University in Wales (U.K.), recently published a paper on the topic.
"Psychological state" is made up primarily of three psychological factors: temperament, mood, and emotional reaction, the team said. Temperament is a basic, long-term attitude. Developed from genetic factors and life experiences, a horse's temperament usually remains essentially consistent throughout his life.
Mood, on the other hand, is a short-term attitude. Just like people, they said, horses can have good moods and bad moods, motivation and grumpiness. And as for emotional reactions, these are the most immediate kind of attitude. They are the way a horse reacts to a specific situation, whether it's an open umbrella or a separation from his pasture buddies.
Although emotional reactions are primed by the kind of temperament and mood a horse has, but they are still considered individual psychological factors, they added.
What the "correct psychological state" is for each horse varies, however, according to the kind of work that horse does, they said. For example, a dressage horse should be cool and calm so as not to be distracted by his environment, but "flightiness" in a racehorse can be a good thing.
Likewise, the barrel horse and cutting horse need to have significantly different psychological states than the endurance horse and carriage horse. Each discipline has its precise "preferences" for the psychological state of the equid doing the work, they said.
"Just as a Shetland will never win the Derby, so a horse of inappropriate temperament will generally never succeed within a certain discipline," Mills and McBride stated.

Let me say that again, it takes the RIGHT personality using the Right technique for the Right personality. In other words, the person doing the training has to be of the right frame of mind, and MUST understand, and train to, the personality of the trainee. This may be a little confusing so, as I often do, I’ll use my wife’s horse training to clarify for us humans.
A good horse trainer will always use the first lesson to get to know the horse. Horses, like people, have distinct personalities. Unlike people, horses are big and strong and can hurt you if you push the wrong buttons. Because we respect their size and our ultimate goal is to produce a good horse, we pay attention to who we are dealing with and train accordingly. Some will respond to training like second nature and some require warm up and praise to build confidence just to leave the stall. And the sooner you begin to understand the horse, the sooner the real training can begin.
When it comes to personality, horses, like people, can generally be grouped in to four categories or styles:
• Challenging; Prideful, Territorial, Strong Sense of Self.
• Social; “Official Greeter”, Interactive, Easy to train.
• Fearful; Guarded, cautious, looks to another horse or a person for strength.
• Aloof; Independent, Delayed or Dull responses, Tends to ignore commands.
Our Challenging horse was Faith. Faith would meet you head on in the round pen but once she understood you were serious, would perform better than her peers to prove her superiority. In the alternative, our Social horse Miss Fitz will go along with just about anything we ask her to do as long as she is getting the attention. We might use different adjectives to describe people personalities but you get the idea. Each personality has specific preferences and tendencies that we look for and use in our training techniques. Each has its advantages and challenges but understanding the horse allows us to set expectation and get the most we can out of a session and, ultimately, out of the horse. This applies to our people too!
So how does this change our approach to training?

Signs, causes and how to manage stress in horses.
Stress is a normal physiological process that occurs in all animals, and just like it affects us humans, stress can also affect your horse.
Short-term stress is actually an adaptive mechanism and is not always bad because it helps horses escape a threat or cope better with their environment. Basically, if horses didn’t get stressed sometimes, they would be more likely to get into tricky situations. However, the problem comes when horses are stressed for longer periods of time, without being able to get away from what is causing it. This is when stress begins to have damaging effects on your horse’s body, including reduced immunity, inhibited performance and, in particular, gastric ulcers (EGUS).
So, how can you tell if your horse is stressed, what are the most common causes and what can do you do to help ensure your horse’s stress levels are kept to a minimum for optimum health and performance?
Signs of stress in horses
When your horse is exposed to something than elicits a stress response, commonly known as a ‘stressor’, their body releases a hormone called cortisol which promotes behavioural and physiological changes that result in some common signs and symptoms of stress, including:
- Vocalisation or ‘whinnying’
- Tail Swishing
- Reduction of appetite
- Stereotypies e.g. crib biting or box walking
- Flared nostrils
- Elevated cortisol levels
- Elevated heart rate
- Gastric ulcers
Causes of Stress in horses
If your horse shows any or a combination of these signs, then it is likely they are experiencing stress. Once you know your horse is potentially stressed, the best plan of action is to find out what is causing it and taking appropriate action to reduce stress levels.
There are many causes of stress linked to environment, routine and management but some of the most common ones include:
Just as we can get stressed and fearful of performance, so can our horses. In addition, the noise, atmosphere and other horses at a competition or show are major stressors which can affect your horse. Research has shown that cortisol levels rise at competitions prior to performance in a range of disciplines and that higher or prolonged levels of stress negatively affect performance (Becker-Birk et al. 2013; Lewinski et al. 2013; Christensen et al. 2012).

Being able to adapt and therefore survive as a species shows us that even as the horse grows, it can be socialized to new environs. Socialization is being adapted to new environments, a task at which the horse is master. How this is done is through the equine’s ability to assimilate.
Overriding associated memories by using assimilated imprinting is possible because of the generally friendly, gregarious and curious nature of the horse. The feverish foal can be taught to have no fear of the veterinarian in the white coat if its handler wears a white coat during the daily routine of feeding and taking care of the horses. Over time, with patience and careful handling, the foal soon learns there is nothing to fear about the person in the white coat.
One might ask: “Why go to all the trouble? Wouldn’t it be easier to have the veterinarian remove the white coat when taking care of the foal and other horses?” Yes it would, but the trigger of unwanted behavior still remains in the associated memory of the foal and you don’t want it to re-fire three years later when the foal is grown and about to run in the most important race of its life. Unresolved triggers of bad behavior can have a profound impact on the racehorse, resulting in it acting up in the paddock or balking on entering the starting gate.
Sometimes behavior is not a reaction to a trigger but it is merely a tendency or trait of the horse’s Individual Horse Personality. The key to knowing the difference between personality traits and triggers of bad behavior lies in ones ability to recognize the triggers that dictate certain behaviors or stress. …
…Often, horse owners, trainers, do not know the difference between an expression of the Individual Horse Personality and behavior triggers. They only see the effect those triggers have on the horse. In the example of the horse balking at entering the starting gate, it is logical to assume that the starting gate is the trigger of the horse’s behavior. But, in reality, the white windbreaker worn by the gate handler is the trigger of behavior causing the horse to balk at entering the gate. Long ago, when the horse was a feverish foal with an abscess, it learned to fear anyone wearing a white coat.

A number of things can make horses stressed, like being alone, loading and riding in a trailer, veterinary care, farrier work, preparing for and going to shows, changes in weather, changes in the people caring for them, changes in routine such as a new stall or differing feeding schedule, stall rest due to injury or illness, and a stressed handler or rider. Horses express psychological stress in a number of ways.
Horses that are chronically psychologically stressed can start to lose weight. Since there are many reasons, such as heat stress, parasites, poor feed and health problems, it’s necessary to look at all aspects of the horse’s care to troubleshoot weight loss.
Stall Walking and Other Vices
Stall walking is when a horse walks around a stall or walks back and forth along one wall repetitively. Weaving, cribbing, wood chewing, wall kicking and fence walking are all signs of stress.
Most of us yawn when we are tired. It’s the way our bodies inhale a little extra oxygen to fuel our sleepy brain. Horses, however, don’t yawn for the same reason, nor is it an appeasement gesture, as in dogs. A University of Guelph study found that yawning may be a way for a horse to release endorphins. Yawning and most horses will do it several times in a row, is a sign that the horse was feeling stressed, and by yawning, is releasing the stress.
Some horses grind their teeth while stabled, some while ridden. Tooth grinding can be a sign of physical or physiological stress. If the horse has no other dental issues, it’s important to check for things like EGUS and other sources of chronic pain or stressful situations.
Many examples of poor behavior while ridden can be caused by physiological or physical stress. Stress can be expressed through pawing, pulling, tail wringing, bucking, rearing, bolting, or being cold backed.
Many performance horses suffer from equine ulcers. This can be in response to a stressful show schedule or other stresses.
Manure and Urination
A horse that is stressed can produce copious amounts of manure in a short time. Some may produce very runny manure. Horses will often urinate if stressed, and if they can’t relieve themselves because they can’t relax, such as in a trailer or when being ridden, they can become antsier.

While some researchers have developed behavioral testing to identify which horses are good for which kinds of work, these tests fall short of addressing specific psychological factors, they said. Ideally, scientists will be able to come up with psychological testing for horses that will help place them in the right careers, which will help prevent economic losses and improve horse welfare.
Mood testing could also be useful during training and competition days, to assess what the horse is realistically capable of at that moment. And while some breeders are taking temperament into consideration when matching stallions and mares, it's far from being a priority on a whole.
Research is currently lacking in these critical areas, Mills said. "Whilst there is a growing literature on temperament in horses, there is still very little scientific work on the emotional reactions of horses and almost none on the assessment of moods," the team stated in its paper. "It is nonetheless important to appreciate that although it is difficult to study these phenomena, this does not mean that they are not important and certainly that they do not exist."
In the meantime, however, owners will have to wait. Said Mills, guessing a horse's mood or temperament isn't reliable without scientific grounds. "A bad test can be worse than no test since it leads to false expectations," he said.
"People need to recognize that it's not about getting a good horse but about getting the right partnership--in other words, the right horse for them," Mills told The Horse. "What works for one may not work for another, so always try out and feel how the horse goes for you."
The study, "Psychological factors affecting equine performance," appeared in the journal BMC Veterinary Research in September. The abstract is available online.
Disclaimer: Seek the advice of a qualified veterinarian before proceeding with any diagnosis, treatment, or therapy.

If we don’t make allowances for this species-specific behavior in our training approach, we’re doomed to fail. We can help them learn to react to their fears in a “safer” way, but we cannot train their fear out of them. Their sensory modalities are different than ours, and we may not have the physiologic ability to perceive much of what they react to. However, there is usually a legitimate, underlying reason for the flight reaction, whether or not we’re actually aware of it.
While it’s true that there are behavioral patterns that prevail in most horses, it’s also important to recognize that each horse is an individual with a unique personality. Instead of struggling to make horses fit into a mold, accept and embrace each horse’s individuality as a mystery you have the privilege of trying to understand. Riders have a role much like that of a school teacher in that we must keep our pupils feeling positive about the training process by allowing them room to express their uniqueness. You’ve probably watched a jumper or two that likes to throw in a little buck stride here and there on course that seems to say, “I’m feeling good and having a great time!” Others just go quietly and uneventfully about the same business. They’re all doing the same work, yet each horse’s individuality shines through. If a rider is attuned to her horse, she’ll know the difference between ordinary behavior stemming from her mount’s unique personality quirks and the tense, rigid, sullen behavior of an unhappy horse. This is a very important distinction to make, because the former is acceptable, while the latter should alert the rider that it’s time to slow down and get the horse back on the team.
Even when we truly love and cherish our horses, it’s very easy to succumb to the ever-present pressure to perform. Who out there doesn’t want to be the one with the glorious horse that can do it all? What show rider doesn’t have her sights set on the blue ribbon? The problem is that sometimes the desire to excel makes riders try to rush things that really take time to develop.
Winning was everything to one longtime campaigner I knew several years ago. He tried out new horses as easily as he changed clothes each show season. If the horse didn’t win, down the road he went, and another prospect was purchased to take his place.

These particular horses are also not kept in stalls, when in fact they need to walk or run for miles every day, and not tortured in the various ways most horses are, including harsh bits and horseshoes that are hard on their feet. These EAGALA horses, even more than most, have been cared for “holistically.” They have large pastures where they can behave like horses, and are never struck. Above all, they have been doing EAGALA work for years, working face to face with humans who want or need to connect with them, all of which means they have been free to develop their own personalities and reactions.
Second, the participants. Just as the horses’ personalities have been free to become quite diverse, our human participants are of course very diverse, too. All HSPs are NOT the same. The herd of animals and people are highly respectful of that. Indeed, often workshop participants identify with a particular horse. Many of them have been rescued from difficult circumstances and during part of the last half of the second day we have sometimes told their histories. On occasion a horse has a history much like that of the person who felt some kinship with it.
The Entire Herd Is Highly Sensitive
Whatever their personality, all horses and all of these people are all highly sensitive (although some are even more so than others). For horses, sensitivity is required for survival. As you watch them, you begin to see how much it is an advantage for you, too. They show all four of DOES (the four aspects of being highly sensitive): Depth of processing and being easily Overstimulated, more Emotionally responsive, and sensitive to Subtle stimuli.
How do they show these? Although they can react quickly due to a subtle cue of threat or opportunity, as HSPs can, you can often see them processing the situation before they make a move. They can be very slow to decide what they want to do next, like we can be.
That they are easily overstimulated becomes obvious during the course of the workshop. We humans, with our feelings and actions, do bring them to a point when they clearly need (and get) down time.
Their emotional responsiveness and empathy means they can react quickly when one of them senses danger or an opportunity. But this responsiveness also gets applied in a more subtle way all the time, for example in these workshops.
Their sensitivity to subtle stimuli is even more intense than ours.

Select obstacles that may require the goer to stretch their ability – but never let them be overfaced, since their confidence can be damaged by a catastrophic failure.
This is the horse who may lack some talent for their purpose, or lacks the enthusiastic energy of the goer – but it honestly tries to accomplish anything put in front of it. This horse may never light the world on fire, but can provide great value, given the right job and leadership.
Common mistakes – the trier is often overlooked, for lacking the flash of the goer. This can find the trier relegated to a role that does not fulfill the talent they do have, leading to boredom and dullness. Thus, a horse who might have found their spark becomes an unnatural plodder. On the other end of the spectrum, the willingness of a trier may lead someone to believe there is more talent their than there actually is. This can lead to the trier being overfaced with challenges that eventually lead to either breakdown or acting out.
The right way – when working with a trier, you have to find the balance between keeping them interested and engaged, and pushing them past their true capability. A trier will stay enthusiastic when given slowly increasing challenges, where success encourages them to reach a bit further each time. This is my favorite type to work with, both in horses and people. They are more challenging than the goer, in the process of determining where their talent lies, and in finding just how deep that talent might be. The puzzle of finding the right formula of challenge and caution appeals to my sensibility – and watching the joy as they achieve more than they had ever thought of trying is priceless.
This is the horse who is not necessarily unwilling, but who generally lacks energy, enthusiasm, and often specific talent. Although slow in development, given the right support this horse is willing to do those jobs that would frustrate the goer, and even bore the trier. Even in those seemingly dull jobs, the plodder can be very happy with clear cues and appreciation for their effort.
Common mistakes – the first mistake is often to overlook or undervalue the plodder. There are places in this world for plodders, and they should be valued for all that they bring. But if they are dismissed and ignored, we lose that potential value, and they can eventually lose any sense of trying they might have had.

Many behavioral problems are associated with confinement. Under free-ranging circumstances, horses wander and spend >60% of their day foraging. The remainder of their time is spent resting (standing or lying down), grooming, or engaging in another activity. This same pattern is seen under barn conditions; even with free choice of grain, horses will eat many small meals a day. Horses are highly social animals that require contact with others for normal daily maintenance and well-being. Isolating horses can lead to development of problems. The main goal of managing behavior problems in horses is to identify the deviation from normal equine behavior and correct it.
Aggression is a common problem in horses and includes chasing, neck wrestling, kicks and bites, and other threats. Signs of aggression include ears flattened backward, retracted lips, rapid tail movements, snaking, pawing, head bowing, fecal pile display, snoring, squealing, levade (rearing with deeply flexed hindquarters), and threats to kick. Submissive horses respond by avoiding, lowering the neck and head, clamping the tail, and turning away from the aggressor.
Aggression to People:
This behavior is seen mostly in stalls in which the horse feels confined in a small space that is also easily defended. The varieties of aggression toward people include fear, pain induced, sexual (hormonal), learned, and dominance related. Some horses, especially young ones, play with each other while showing signs of aggression such as kicking and biting. Although benign to other horses, this can be dangerous to people.
The first step in managing equine aggression is identifying the cause, and if possible, removing it. Training and positive reinforcement to establish control over the horse are also used, along with desensitization and counterconditioning. Dominance-related aggression in horses is different from canine status-related aggression (also known as dominance aggression) in that it is not context-dependent. Environmental management is important as well; good management should include sufficient resources such as space, food, and water. Some horses are considered to have pathologic dominance aggression; they will attack other horses and people that are near them. These horses should be separated completely from other people or horses and have a poor prognosis.
Aggression Toward Other Horses:
Aggression toward other horses is mostly associated with sexual competition, fear, dominance, or territory (protecting the group and resources).

Understanding Horse Behavior
To understand horse behavior, the best place to start is to observe them in a natural setting where their true natural horse behavior can be seen.
In this environment, where man does not impede upon their will, we discover the social order of a prey species animal.
To Discover "The Secret Lives of Horses" to the fullest Click Here!
Defining Prey vs. Predator:
A prey animal species means that it is an herbivorous grazing animal and is killed and eaten by predator animals such as a lion or a wolf (humans are considered a predator species, after all we do eat grazing animals).
Herbivorous grazing animal means that it is a vegetarian that gets its food by grazing.
Amongst the prey species you basically have two behavior types as well. The best example of distinguishing the two is to notice that cattle and sheep of the prey species will bunch together for safety while horses and deer will choose to flee or take flight from danger.
This is very important to know because “flight animals” are much more skittish and will startle more easily than a prey animal that bunches together. As a result a flight animal is more easily “traumatized”.
Without the ability to flee, horses will turn and fight with their hind feet, teeth or strike!
What will set off both kinds of prey animals is sudden, unfamiliar and fast movement the animal isn’t expecting. In horse behavior terms, we often refer to this as spooking.
They rely on vision first to detect danger before other senses such as smell. What is important to note is to a horse “danger” really means “being killed”!
With this in mind have you noticed many horses are more skittish when the wind blows and even familiar objects become scary things?
Unfamiliar sudden movements will trigger natural FEAR in horses. FEAR leads to PANIC and panic leads to FIGHT or FLIGHT.
To see an example of this click
Click here for information on Wild Horses vs. Domesticated Horses
For some history of horses dating back to the Ice Age click here!
Ever wonder why horses yawn? Click here!
In a natural herd environment herds usually live in small groups. A stallion might live with only four to six mares (depending on the territory) and the other stallions will live in bachelor groups.

As with aggression toward people, some horses may be pathologically aggressive toward other horses. The first step is separation of aggressive horses from other horses, and keeping subordinate away from dominant horses. Separation is achieved by solid walls or two fences to avoid kicks through the fence. Horses should have sufficient resources, and desensitization and counterconditioning is the best treatment approach. In cases of sexually related aggression, castration and progestins (eg, medroxyprogesterone 70–80 mg/300 kg/day) can help. Adverse effects of such treatment should be weighed carefully, and the horse should be monitored closely. Adding tryptophan to the daily ration or administering selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may be helpful in some cases. Punishment should be avoided.
Aggression by mares toward people is normal during the first few days after parturition. This behavior is hormonally driven and usually wanes with time. Mares should be familiarized with their caretakers before delivery and have minimal contact with other people after delivery. No treatment is required in most cases.
Aggression While Breeding:
Stallions that are aggressive when used for breeding are often overused or used out of season. Stallions can develop preferences for mating and may not be compatible with the chosen mare; changing the mare may help. If stallions were stabled with mares when they were colts, they may have some social inhibition for mating, and forced mating can result in aggression. The goal of treatment is to treat the main cause of aggression; changing the mare (because of preferences) or artificial breeding can also be attempted. Physical restraint (eg, hobbles) and desensitization can help as well. Clicker training has been used successfully to desensitize stallions with this problem.
Compulsive behaviors in horses can be divided into movement-related behaviors and oral behaviors. They can be called stereotypic because they are repetitive, occupy a large part of the daily activity, and serve no function. Confinement and poor management practices are the primary contributing factors. In addition, bedding, feed, and social contact influence stereotypic behaviors. Horses that have more social contacts, are fed more roughage and more than one type, are fed two or more times daily, and are bedded on straw are less prone to these behaviors.

As a general rule of thumb, it is fairly safe to say that when a horse gets bigger, it will become more difficult to handle if it is not a draft or coldblooded breed. One of the exceptions to that rule is the Oldenburg. As a breed, these horses were initially developed to be a coach horse that could take on some farm work if called upon. This required the temperament of the horse to be balanced, flexible, and accommodating, which are the key personality traits that you’ll still see in the modern Oldenburg.
Because this breed is a warmblood, there is still a certain fire to their personality that comes out from time to time. Oldenburgers like to be active, so a horse without an activity is going to be a horse that causes trouble. They are a tall sport horse, with an excellent jumping ability and lengthy gait, so it is often necessary to work this breed every day to maintain the evenness of their temperament.
Why Do the Personalities of Oldenburgers Vary So Much?
As a breed, the Oldenburg horse is expressive and willing to work. The breed societies have a very liberal approach to developing the modern Oldenburg, however, so there are varying degrees of “hotness” that come into play with this breed. For this reason, identifying the temperament of an individual horse often means looking at the lineage and parentage of each specific animal.
Because the Oldenburg is such an excellent sporting horse in regards to show jumping, there has been a movement within this breed to transition it from being a warmblood to a hotblood. This has caused a certain sensitivity to come into the breed, where the horse will not tolerate an inexperienced rider.
This has led to specific temperament testing requirements as part of many breed association registrations. Stallions and mares are scored on their character, constitution, willingness to work, rideability, and temperament. Each is given a score so that owners can know what they are getting with their Oldenburg since temperaments exist with such a great variety.
That variety does create a certain amount of uncertainty, but it also means that finding an Oldenburg horse with the right elements for an owner’s specific needs is not a difficult process.
Loyalty is the Trademark of the Oldenburg Breed
There is a certain honesty to the Oldenburg personality that is present, no matter how hotblooded the horse may be. They are extremely loyal to their owner, trainer, and herd.

Our horses possess unique qualities, just like people. We are so lucky to have a variety of personalities to work with.
Peachy (Peachy Keen) is a 16 year old appendix thoroughbred. She has been with Britt for 7 years. Her history is somewhat unknown, but we know she is a rescue from a major seizure of neglected horses some years back. She has CAO (Chronic Airway Obstruction) and takes daily allergy medication. With the right environment and diet, Peachy’s disease is under control. She is one of our very reliable riding and relationship horses. She can be very low energy and sets anxious people at ease, but may require a person to increase his/her energy to achieve connection.
Jesse (Jesse’s girl) is a 16 year old quarter horse. Jesse has been formally trained with natural horsemanship principles, and has historically been the reliable “go-to” horse at her old home. Jesse is another reliable riding horse, and she is learning daily how to stay present instead of dissociate with her relationship partners.
Monty is a 17 year old Tennessee walking horse. She had a hip surgery as a young two year old, and has never been able to be ridden as much as most horses because of this. She is a gentle giant and loves attention from everyone at the farm. Monty is learning that she cannot fit in our laps.
Susannah is an 8 year old Tennessee walker/racking horse cross. She seems to really love the children that come to the farm in particular. She is more suited for advanced riders, as her gait makes her fast and energetic. She is also a great relationship partner but can push your boundaries. She is also learning to think things through rather than react.
Tully is a 22 year old racking horse. She is Susannah’s mom. She and Susannah have lived together with their past owner until she needed to donate them due to health concerns. Tully is also fast and fun, but can also be very gentle and kind.
Gabriel is a 6 year old appendix thoroughbred. He has hock issues that have made it impossible to race or be a show jumper, so he has found his home with us. Gabriel is a sweet, passive gelding who really lets everyone run all over him. He could use some assertiveness training with horses.

Although humans came into contact with horses about 50,000 years ago, they were originally herded for meat and skins. Evidence suggests that they were domesticated about 5,000 years ago - substantially less than many other farm animals including goats, sheep and cattle. Horses are believed to have first been domesticated in the steppes of the eastern Ukraine and central Russia, as people started to lead a more nomadic lifestyle. Historians debate over whether people first rode horses or attached carts to them, but the latter is thought to be the most likely.
The heavy draft horse gives an impression of weight combined with strength. The body is wide and he back broad, often accompanied by rounded withers, which in some breeds, in the interest of increased pulling power, may be higher than the croup. The body is heavily muscled, particularly over the loin and quarters. The shoulders are relatively upright to accommodate the collar, and the legs are thick and short. The heavy horses usually stand between 16 and 18hh. Their actions are short giving maximum traction.
Every horse is different in how it learns and reacts to outside stimuli. Just because training can be accomplished using certain methods for some horses, this doesnít mean that those techniques will work just as well on every horse. We donít teach all children the same way, and all horses donít learn exactly the same way either. In each case, there are issues past and present that we need to keep in mind, as they may impact the effectiveness of our training. The first thing that we must take into account is that no animal or human learns well when they are stressed. Take a test, or try to meet the deadline at work while your teacher or boss stands over you with a whip, yelling and screaming, and occasionally prodding you with a sharp spur to get his point across, and I think you will understand. The only difference between horses and humans is the reaction we get when the teaching method breaks down.
Both human and horse will shut down under stress, both sometimes leave the area to reduce the stress, both resist against stress, and still others will fight if the stress is great enough. Humans may yell at each other, but horses canít talk and, therefore, often resort to a more physical response. Sometimes they run away hard and fast dragging their owner with them, or just leaving their owner behind.

Inclement weather and a crisis at work have been a roadblock to working with the horses in the last couple of weeks. They get hugs and scratches from me, during evening chores – and seem happy to see me on those occasions – but that has been the bulk of my interactions. So, it is probably no wonder that while I was contemplating the leadership crisis I’m struggling with, my mind immediately wandered to equine metaphors for the situation. I thought that sharing those might be entertaining (and perhaps a little enlightening) for you, and therapeutic for me!
I have long said, in these pages and elsewhere, that when first I had to lead a human team it was the horses who guided me. My experiences in observing them, learning to read the signs of trouble or success, and adjusting to the feedback I received from them, laid the groundwork for doing the same with my employees. At the same time, I’ve spent a good deal of time watching how others deal with specific situations, and noting what does and does not work. So, here are just a few of those equine lessons that are pertinent to the current crisis I am observing in my workplace.
This is the horse who goes forward willingly and energetically. It can also refer to the one who boldly tackles whatever obstacle comes up. This is the enthusiastic individual who is every horseman’s dream.
Common mistakes – there are two mistaken approaches I have seen to this type of horse. The first is the insecure rider who will try to slow the goer by hanging on the reins. The results of this can vary: the horse gets dull to the pressure on the reins, and just bolts; the horse reduces its speed, but in frustration at not being able to move, dances on the spot, basically becoming an emotional wreck and “spinning its wheels”; the horse eventually gives up in a case of learned helplessness, becoming dull and losing all value as a mount.
The right way – the value the goer brings is the eagerness and willingness to tackle anything. The down side is that they can be so eager that they can go until they burn themselves out. So, the proper way to be a leader for a goer is to let them go, providing light guidance in direction or speed. Recognize when fatigue is approaching, early enough to get them to slow and recover before going at speed again.

These muscular talents can really kick up a storm both in the rodeo ring and on the football field! You should see the cowboys/Stampeders fly! Ouch! They are goin' down! Go Green!
|Going in Different Directions|
Have you ever felt like you just don't belong? If so, you know how this pair feels. They hang out occasionally with each other, but seem to be going in different directions. They are off in their own little worlds and stand out because of their colour. Even though they have their colour in common, which naturally draws them together, they don't have much else in common. They tend to be loners, and actually don't mind being alone most of the time!
These two greys, on the other hand, want to fit in and muscle their way into a crowd to surround themselves with just about anyone to feel included. They will do and say just about anything to fit in! Recognize the type?
|An Oreo Cookie|
It is believed that these three creative types enjoy Oreo cookies so much that they always stand with the whitish buddy in the middle! Paint, Grey/White, Paint! What fun and how yummy!
In reality, they keep the grey in the middle because it is different, an underdog, and they like to not only watch out for and protect underdogs, but they like to be different and stand out themselves! You know the type!
|Roll Over Grover|
In every crowd there are characters like this guy! Ahhhhh, taking a break in the shade and rolling about in the sand how refreshing?! Or, does this horse secretly wish he was a dog and someone would come over and scratch his belly? There are some people and horses that are on a quest for attention!
There are some people who do what everybody else is doing. Horses are no different! After the first horse performed the doggy roll over, five others decided that that looked like fun and took turns rolling in the shaded sand!
|In Blaze of Glory|
In order to hang around this horse herd, you need to have a white blaze on your face! They are wondering if the performing doggy show is ridiculous or if they should join in on the fun? They are the thinkers of the groups and need to weigh all of their options before joining in!

As for humans, anxiety may affect certain horses and can generate consequences on the horse’s physical, emotional and physiological condition. In this article, we will explain how you can spot signs of anxiety on your horse and how to deal with your horse’s anxiety when such signs appear during competition. Eventually, we will explain how the use of Seaver connected devices can help detect and measure the stress level of the horse.
On a competition horse, anxiety and fear can have an immediate influence on the performance; reducing the ability to focus and triggering some unusual muscle tightening that get the horse harder to ride for the rider and eventually reduce the performance.
Stress can be necessary when providing some good adrenaline for the horse or the rider. The horse is so said to be « alert », his senses are deepened and he is paying a great attention to the new environment in which he has to work and compete.
However, when the stress level is too high or when the horse gets too sensitive to external factors, stress turns into some negative and detrimental emotion that needs to be detected and cared for.
When a horse is feeling anxious on a regular basis and over relatively long periods of time (hours, days…), he is very likely to develop signs of ulcers, loss of weight or divers tics. Such disorders take various shapes but they all have immediate and long-term consequences on the horse’s physical condition.
Measuring the stress level of a human athlete is not something easy. However, men and women have the ability of analyzing and expressing their emotions. Anxiety is not easily measurable on a human body but it is even more complicated to do so on a horse.
Researches have shown a link between the horse’s cortisol level and the horse’s anxiety.
Faecal and plasma cortisol concentrations turned out to be indicators of the measurement of equine unease and well-being.
Measuring cortisol in a horse’s saliva or by taking a sample of a horse’s blood allow comparably accurate results to identify stress and serves as a useful tool for improving equine welfare.
Such method has numerous constraints (availability, shipment of the sample, time required to know the results etc) and may also cost a great deal of money.
Other signs can help you to read your horse’s emotional condition to identify anxiety, fear, stress or discomfort.
Vices such as weaving, cribbing, wood chewing, wall kicking and fence walking are all signs of stress. Unusual sweat or decrease in appetite is another indicators of the horse’s stress level.

horse lingo help
I am currently trying my hand for the first time at working with a very stubborn horse. I'm not subscribing to any one particular method so far but I don't like smacking, shouting, whipping, etc. I know I need to be consistant so I chose one method (Clinton Anderson) and have been sticking with it just because that is what I have access to and like I said I want to stay consistent.
So the main problem is, having not grown up around horses and not been around many trainers before I don't always know what people mean. For example, I think my horse falls into the left brain introvert category (parelli) but I don't know how to judge personalities yet. How do I know if he's playful- how do I play with a horse? How do I know if he is bored or just resistant? What I do know: he is very stubborn. Shuts down when pushed, has very little respect for people on the ground, only wants what he wants. He seems to be a very smart boy, but that too could be my biased opinion. Oh and he is extremely food motivated. Any help or tips are greatly appreciated. Please don't recommend I watch Parelli videos. I can't afford them and have no other access to them other than buying.
I guess my question here is; how do I keep him from being bored and how do I motivate him? I keep reading that I need to out think him and try reverse psychology. How do you do this if you can't get inside his head to begin with??
I can't help with the brain personality thing, but I would actually recommend trying a blend of various trainers. Stay consistent with your horse, yes, but explore methods.
I don't really recommend Parelli. A lot of people have had success with him, but unless you really want to get into all that scene and spend all that money. I'm not saying Parelli doesn't necessarily work - but I think its very much sold out.
I think the best way to deal with horses is to use common sense. I wouldn't really buy into "left brain" and "right brain" type thing, but be open to things. I've heard mixed reviews about Clinton Anderson, so approach him with caution, use your common sense.

Identify your Personality Type
Why your response to stress can prevent you living life to the full
Stress is an intrinsic part of life, and much of our activity is a response to it, or an attempt to pre-empt it. Hunger, for example, represents stress at a physical level which we can anticipate and respond to in a more or less healthy way, depending on what habits we have developed and what other stressors are in play at the same time.
Our habits and typical patterns of responding to stressful experiences become part of our personality, but if we restrict ourselves to a small range of responses we can start to miss out on important parts of life.
Gerda Boyesen, pioneer of Biodynamic Psychotherapy, talked about four personality types - Rock, Warrior, Sunshine and Princess on the Pea (from Hans Christian Anderson's tale). Each of them manifests both positive and negative responses to stress, but none of them allows us to live life to the full.
Rock is solid, dependable, always there for you, immovable, hard, cold, unfeeling
Warrior is aggressive, challenging, hates injustice, takes sides, despises tender feelings
Sunshine is warm, puts others at ease, says "I'm fine", ignores unpleasant realities
Princess on the Pea is sensitive, discriminating, vulnerable, easily upset, complaining
If you can identify strongly with just one of these personality types, it's likely that you're missing out on some of what life has to offer, finding relationships difficult or failing to attend to your own authentic needs.
If you'd like to know how Biodynamic Psychotherapy could help you expand your capacity to respond to both stressful and pleasant experiences, and so have a fuller and more satisfying experience of life, please contact me.

Situations. Many horses are uncertain about dark or enclosed places (like an indoor arena), and even more are genuinely scared of being alone (they are herd animals). Often this fear will be expressed by being buddy-sour or barn-sour, and sometimes they don’t want to go in a ring, either at home or in a competition.
3. Sounds. Highly strung horses are easily unglued by loud, unexpected noises (a car back-firing, a garbage can falling over). Others can’t stand hissing noises (like from a leaky hose coupling), and others don’t like rustling noises (in leaves or under something). Both probably sound like a snake.
4. Clipping or other grooming/handling. Some horses are genuinely afraid of clippers, either the sound or the sensation. Some don’t like to receive shots, and others are anxious about being shod.
5. New places. This can be as obvious as moving to a new home or going to a competition. Or it could just be moving to a new stall or riding in a new trailer. Anxiety could even be caused by more subtle changes around the barn (the jumps were moved in the ring, for instance).
6. Type of work/type of rider. Horses often prefer a certain type of rider. And often horses with a strong desire to please become anxious because they don’t understand what’s being asked of them, either because the exercise isn’t clear to them or the rider’s aids are confusing.
7. Other animals. Horses are often afraid of birds, cows, goats, sheep, donkeys, deer or other wildlife. And some are afraid of other horses.
The only way to deal with most things that cause equine anxiety is repetition, because they're things you just can't change or that your horse just has to deal with. | Photo Courtesy of EQUUS
Remove The Cause?
Once you’ve isolated the cause of your horse’s consternation, the big question is what can you do about it? And that’s where you have to be creative, confident and even willing to do an unusual thing or two.
The first thing to determine is the degree of your horse’s fear. Is he genuinely terrified? Can you feel his heart pounding? Is he shaking? Does he bolt blindly away?

My mare is the talk of barn. She's extremely affectionate and loves to get attention. She is more on the "hot" side when it comes to personality. But, she is still young and energetic. She's always the first to greet you in the field, and cuddles as often as she can.
She's extremely smart, but horribly stubborn. She often knows what you want/need, and if it is something that she is not fond of, believe me, she will try to find a clever way out of it. Just keep in mind that they are very intelligent!
Love my ASB. :)

Anxious-emotional riders are often overprotective and show elevated emotions when interacting with their horses and sometimes refer to their horses as “fur-children,” to the quiet horror of those passers-by unfortunate enough to overhear that which can not be unheard.
Stockhausen thinks that the completely undisciplined, random observations she has made over time suggest that horses with warm or restrictive riders spend less time acting like monkeys. And she was not surprised to see the impact of anxious-emotional riders. She includes this dimension based on past experience, which noted that horses of anxious-emotional riders tend to have more problems fitting in to polite horse society. The biggest takeaway for riders is to set limits and be more calmly detached in the relations with their horses.
“If riders want to reduce the amount of monkey-like horse behavior, they should be warm when dealing with them, but somewhat restrictive at the same time, and set rules, and those rules will work,” Laczniak originally said about people and Stockhausen completely agrees when applied to horses. “For riders who are more anxious, the rules become less effective and those horses are going to act like monkeys.”
My grateful apologies to Dr. Laczniak for allowing me to ride the coat tails of his excellent work to help me express what I have noticed in my mere anecdotal equestrian observations. If I have some thing to add to the Universe it is only because I stand on the shoulders of giants.
Thank you Dr. Laczniak.

However, horses are big, flighty, scared, and reactionary animals that move very fast and with a lot of power. Enjoy your horse but be aware that it can hurt you very bad, very quick and even thou he will not mean to hurt or kill you, it can happen. A horse will kill himself trying to save himself. An old horse saying, "There are two kinds of horses, those that are hurt and those that will be hurt."
Young horses are very curious. This is good. Many people stop this and confuse this curiosity as disrespectful or bad behavior. Let your horse check out things and be curious. Horses love to play and this is all learning to them. If you only have one horse, I would suggest you get a sheep, cat, goat, or another horse. Horses are herd animals and when they are kept isolated, they develop bad habits and heath issues caused by stress. A horse can't sleep well and will not relax if alone. They need to know there is an extra set of eyes and ears to look out for danger so they can sleep and relax. Horse's like dogs, need a job. A horse in herd is either a leader or follower. This keeps them mentally fit and will help them stay safe and healthy.
Thinking like a horse is the key to understanding and having a good relationship with them. We have to think like a horse and not expect the horse to think like us. We are predator type animals and they are prey, they live in fear of being hurt, eaten or captured. There primary defense in life is their speed to run. Controlling that is not easy and it cannot be done with strength, it must be done by thinking and understanding. Horses do three things really well, they are run, eat and poop. Horses are scared and flight animals that run for safety and security. They will not eat unless they are relaxed and feel safe. If you just keep feeding a horse, they will eventually warm up to you. Do not confuse comfort with you as respect or love. If you are feeding them twice a day, it would be better to feed them smaller portions 3 or 4 times a day, the more they see you as a food provider and get use to you, the quicker they will feel safer with you.

Equine Anxiety 101
You’re hacking peacefully along when you feel a tremor go through your horse’s body. His previously floppy ears snap forward, and his head rises up. As you wonder when your horse turned into a giraffe, his steps become slower and shorter, his back drops, and he emits the emphatic horse-in-jeopardy snort.
You look left and right, desperately trying to see the flesh-eating monster that must have just emerged from the bushes. But you see nothing. Nothing but rocks, trees and grass. The same rocks, trees and grass that have always been there.
But wait, what’s that? There, in the tree, a tiny shimmer of white. It looks like a piece of a grocery bag, caught on one of the branches. And just as you think, well, it can’t be that, your horse wheels, leaving you hanging in space for a moment as he hightails it back to the barn, not noticing whether you’re still attached to him.
Every person who rides encounters something they dread while they’re working with their horse. Maybe Dobbin has a thing about the trash truck. Maybe he’s convinced that whitetail deer are masquerading as peaceful, grass-eating creatures but are really waiting for the chance to pounce on a delicious meal. Or perhaps what really unhinges your horse is being alone.
Whatever your particular issue, equine anxiety is the No. 1 training and management issue for every rider and trainer.
No matter what the cause or expression of your horse’s anxiety, all riders need to accept that all horses will be afraid of something periodically. It’s the nature of a prey animal to always be “on the lookout,” and it’s a behavior we must accept.
The first step-and this often harder than you would think it should be-is to determine what’s causing your horse to be anxious and thus unruly or disobedient. The very thing that makes horses such fabulous animals to train, their incredible memories and ability to extrapolate from previous experiences, also causes them to hold on to negative memories and makes them difficult to convince that future situations won’t be negative.
Seven Types Of Fear
The causes of equine anxiety usually fit one of seven categories:
1. Objects. The objects that horses most commonly find terrifying include: rocks, farm equipment, cars, buildings, jumps, garbage cans and pretty much anything they consider out of the ordinary.
2.

The videos were all different disciplines — ridden dressage, natural horsemanship, in-hand dressage, bridle-less riding, Western reining, and behavioural rehabilitation — but at no point were we judging the disciplines or handlers themselves, just the participants’ perceptions of the horses’ body language featured in each. We asked participants which of 13 different emotional states they believed the horse to be experiencing: these options were angry, anxious, conflicted (defined in the survey as “experiencing two emotions at the same moment in time”), enjoying it, excited, fearful, frustrated, playful, relaxed, stressed, stubborn, submissive, and switched off (or “resigned”). We also asked whether participants would be happy to see their own horses experiencing the handling, and gathered various pieces of demographic information such as preferred discipline and equestrian experience.
Our experiences of working with clients had taught us that recognising the subtle signs of fear and stress is a rare skill, and we hypothesised that the data would confirm this. As is so often the case, things were not quite so straightforward. Our participants (opportunistically recruited via Facebook, so not a representative sample of the equestrian industry, just the best we could do at the time) seemed to be very good at recognising the body language in some of the videos, but not all. Our statistical analysis found that the videos featuring natural horsemanship and bridle-less riding were particularly misinterpreted as positive experiences for the horses.
This is something we commonly see in our consulting as well: Euphemisms and flowery language result in many people believing that such training practices are benign, with the horses described as “playing” and engaging with the handler in a manner analogous to equine herd behaviour. Of course, a little more consideration results in the recognition that the training at best invokes negative reinforcement and punishment, and often stretches to flooding. This results in some very stressed horses whose body language is mistaken for “relaxed.”
Another interesting finding was that increased owner experience did not lead to increased likelihood of interpreting the body language correctly. Even working with horses professionally was no guarantee that the participant could recognise equine fear or stress. Deep down we are probably not surprised by this — there are plenty of horse professionals whose empathy for those horses is lacking.

The origin and makeup are, however, different for each specific warmblood breed.
Why Are Horses Called Cold Blooded, Hot Blooded Or Warm Blooded?
Temperament descriptions for hot, cold, and warm-blood horses:
- Hotbloods tend to be hot headed, feisty, and sensitive.
- Most coldblood horses are calm, cool, and less reactive.
- Warmbloods fit in between and can range from more energetic and sensitive to more laid-back and lazy. A warm temperament perhaps.
Environment origins for hot, cold, and warm-blood horses:
- Coldbloods originated from colder, harsher climates.
- Hotbloods were developed in warm to desert-like areas.
- Warmbloods were developed in the European regions but were influenced by both hotblood and coldblood horses.
Types Of Horses
Horses and ponies fall into two groups: horse breeds and types.
There are different ways to group horses by type. But there are four main horse types that all horses can fall under, and then subcategories under those.
While the actual origins of horse types are unknown, there are many theories as to where they originated from.
The two earliest types of horses, according to current knowledge, are hot-blooded and cold-blooded. Warmblood, pony, and miniature breeds are said to have branched from these two throughout time.
Four Main Horse Types
Search on the internet, and you will find different information on the main horse types depending on your source.
However, after years of learning and falling down rabbit holes, I have come to the best conclusion that these are the four main types of horses.
The four main types of horses are heavy horses, light horses, ponies, and miniature horses, which are all categorized by size (height and body build.)
The other types are subcategories that can fall under these.
- Heavy Horse
- Light Horse
- Miniature Horse
Where Do Hot, Cold, and Warm Blooded Horses Fit Among The Four Main Horse Types?
Coldbloods fall under the “heavy horse” type. Warmbloods and hotbloods are both light horse types.

Racing officials globally ponder over 1, 2 or 3 differences in the handicap process whereby they attempt to get equality for betting purposes. If 1, 2 or 3 pounds can make a difference in the race outcome, then recognize the difference it would make for a horse to empty out 10-20 pounds of fecal material as they flee the charging predator.
As horses evolved, evidence suggests that the faster ones lived to reproduce while the slower ones were generally harvested before reproducing slow horses. While it’s true that we have been interrupting Mother Nature for 6000 years, earlier patterns are still in place. It seems that this particular phenomenon was well established for millions of years before we began to genetically manipulate Equus for our own desires. I am pleased to have the opportunity to complete this exercise. I should have written about this characteristic many years ago.
It is interesting to note that I have paid close attention to the frequency of defecation as I bring horses to the round pen for their first saddle and rider. Regardless of their mental appearance, if they defecate with unusual frequency I tend to regard them as hyper nervous individuals. This alters slightly my approach. I will require less and push less hard on those that repeatedly defecate. I have found this to be an effective way to deal with these individuals.
Certain individuals extremely sensitive to the perceived rights of animals in general may well take the position that if its stressful we shouldn’t be doing any of these things with horses in the first place. That is certainly a separate issue but I feel strongly that that would be a major mistake. Stress is a part of every biological entity and properly attended to can provide a strength instead of a weakness. The flight animal inherently is looking for a friend.
The horse is a herd animal. They do much better physiologically if they can exist in a tranquil environment with trusted individuals as life partners. Trust is the definitive word and it is with that goal in mind that I discovered and quantified Join-Up in the first place. In order to bring about a trusting partnership a certain level of stress must be experienced in order to justify an outcome of trust. We must realize that horses are extremely flighty animals and in order to bring them to a level of trust with the human they must pass through portals on their journey that can be stressful to a degree.

You may have problems with regulating yourself and your emotional states. You may also have pain issues. All these difficulties can combine and be very hard to untangle. This clip is a little bit about my horses shifting between anxiety and curiosity as they explore leaving the barn for the yard near my horse trailer. They knew the plan was likely about going riding somewhere. The two horses have different attitudes about coming out into the yard and staying near the trailer.
I shortened a 45 minute period into 5 and a half minutes, so you can see a little bit about using the idea of stress ramping up and stress ramping down, approach and retreat concepts, and some of the idea of pacing. I let my horses take a long time to decide that they wanted to come out into the yard. This was an exercise for my horses in exploration within a certain amount of boundary.
People also experience a dynamic between anxiety and retreat, and curiosity and exploration when facing situations that are challenging. A therapeutic approach for people and horses too, is to find a way to scale the challenge to a manageable amount.

The horses, as well as humans and pets tend to have a variety of behavioral problems. These behavioral issues can occur suddenly after a traumatic experience, or can be deeply rooted in the psyche of the horse from previous experiences. Anxiety in horses is a common condition that can affect every aspect of running a horse, and affect the appearance of a horse. What causes anxiety in the horse? The anxiety will almost always have a root cause. The cause may be physical (caused by a physical factor – such as a snake or a barn door hitting) or psychological (an abusive past, or stress and separation anxiety).
It can also be hereditary – so it is important to determine the cause of the problem. All horses that exhibit sudden anxiety should undergo a complete checkup at the vet. Other causes of anxiety may include: * A horse in a new environment or stressful environment * Fear of other horses that share stable * Lack of a close relationship * Lack of training or experience traumatic Abuse * Remember that horses are animals to fight or run, so when put in stressful situations have a tendency to become anxious and want to ‘run’. Some horses will be less nervous than others because of how they manage stress. Also, always check the physical things that can cause anxiety – such as a barn door knocking, firecrackers in a neighboring field, etc. . Diagnosis of anxiety horse Because varying degrees of anxiety, it is important to know your horse and watch for physical and behavioral changes.
* Hiding in the corner of the barn’s eyes widen * * * Restlessness or tremor twitching jogging step forward and backwards * Rearing * Sleep disturbances * Loss of appetite-related physical conditions include include: Constipation or stomach upset * * * Riots Colico eczema or skin and Hair Loss Help Many horse’s anxiety medications to help with nervousness, excessive anxiety or stress in horses. Unfortunately these medications are not without side effects, and while they may help relax the horse long-term effects are unknown. In addition, the sedative and painkilling drugs can numb your senses of a horse – can do competitive events as well as training more difficult because it requires concentration and vigilance. Talk to your vet about other alternatives. Many natural remedies while still maintaining the horse alert. The homeopathic ingredients such as Cham, Kali. have traditionally been used for centuries. And promoting the appropriate levels of salts in living cells necessary for the physical and mental health.

Licking and Chewing
Natural horsemanship information has suggested that licking and chewing is a sign that a horse is accepting new information, such as during training. This action may be more like yawning in its function, as a way to release any stress it may have felt.
Colic symptoms can be caused by stress. A new herd mate or changes in routine, whether or handler can be enough to make some horses mildly colicky. Chronic stress can lead to EGUS, which of course, can cause colic symptoms.
Any number of stressful situations can cause a horse to tremble. Just the appearance of the veterinarian, farrier or the arrival of a trailer in the yard can cause some horses to start shaking. Usually, as soon as the cause of the stress disappears, the trembling stops.
High Pulse and Respiration
When a horse becomes stressed, their pulse and respiration rates can increase, sometimes drastically. It’s important because of this to know your horse’s basic TPRs.
As a horse’s pulse and respiration may increase when stressed, it may start to sweat (and tremble). Work stress tends to show up between the horse’s legs, and under the saddle area and can eventually cover the horse’s whole body. It depends on how hard and long the horse works. A stressed horse may sweat in patches, however. Patches of sweat can also show the location of old injuries.

Now that I’ve ruined your girl hood fantasies, I wanted to be rescued by the knight’s white steed, little did I know. If we don’t hug their faces, maul their noses, and suck the air out of their nostrils, what can we do. redeffine liberty in all endeavors. do more than sit and read. how about a relationship on his terms. What I am learning from you, Anna, is helpful as I work to understand the horse. What I am left with is that anyone who truly wants their horse to be content will let them “be a horse”. So, from that I conclude that we shouldn’t ride them or handle them but instead, ensure their safety and physical needs are met and then let them alone. Any other intrusion and you’ve made this clear, is anxiety inducing and stressful. So why do you continue to own horses? With a barn and tack and expectations? I will continue to be a devoted reader but I am struggling to decode your real message. Humans are extremists. On top of that, we take everything personally. Every moment isn’t forever, it’s just a snapshot-second. We are looking for a tendency on the continuu. Can I give you my definition of stress? Being alive. Do I think horses should be abandoned. No, they’d hate that. Do we over-handle them? Yes. ride with Funktionslust. horses are always on a tendency between bordom and overwhelm Because just being alive is stressful, that during times of stress is when I can help the most.

Even as horses grew larger, they were still a staple on the diet of whatever preferred meat to grass. So the horse, over millions of years, learned a key lesson: Don’t think, react. If something with a jawful of Bowie knives is bearing down on you, you do not pause to ratiocinate. You kick, bite, or run instantly.
This is why so large and powerful an animal is subject to strange fits and vapors, and is easily so spooked by so many seemingly harmless things. It has the mentality of a New York City subway rider who has learned to see mortal danger everywhere.
And so we come to our first piece of horse sense. If Old Thunderdent is dreaming, tied to the picket rope, and you come blundering up behind him, he is likely to present you with a hoofprint in the sternum, not out of malice, but simply as a matter of racial memory. Horses don’t like surprises, so don’t give them any. When you walk up behind a horse, let him know you’re there before you get within hoof range. If you’re near his head, don’t make any sudden gestures, because until you’ve been bit by a horse, you haven’t been bit.
All horse are individuals. Some are smart: some are stupid. Some are levelheaded; some are crazy. Some are gentle; some are mean. (A digression: If you check into the background of most “mean” horses, you’ll find that they suffered from treatment that Dr. Josef Mengele would have blanched at. All too many people delight in brutalizing horses in the name of discipline.”)
It’s a matter of horse sense, before you climb on board, to ask if the critter has any quirks, mannerisms, or pet peeves you should know about. Years ago, I rode a horse whose previous owner had tied its head to a tree and beaten it. The poor creature’s face was scarred, and its vision was affected. As a result, the rancher told me, it carried its head low to the ground, simply in order to see where it was going. Now if I hadn’t known this, I would have been hauling on the reins, trying to get his head up, making an already bad situation worse.

How a horse responds to being treated like they are feeling differently than they are, depends on the horse. Ciara, our 6 year old APHA pony, used to respond by shutting down. She was so tuned out and “lazy” that it was nearly impossible to have any sort of interaction with her aside from standing still and possibly walking. The second she’d get scared or confused, she’d stop and couldn’t be moved. We have been together for two years now. We know each other quite well and trust each other, but we are certainly still growing, so run into challenges. Now that she has had what she considers fair treatment, being treated based on how she’s truly feeling, she does NOT tolerate unfair treatment. If she feels like you’re treating her unfairly, she is more than happy to buck you off, and she has bucked me off, several times. Mainly around cantering under saddle when MY dis-ease has caused me to treat her like she’s being naughty, when she was actually scared.
Ciara has taught me an important lesson about myself and traditional horsemanship. Traditional horsemanship taught me that when things aren’t going right, try harder. Although this can be valuable advice for riding and life, I’ve found that I’ve reached a point in my horsemanship, as have many of my clients, where it gets me into trouble. Therefore, not only do I practice monitoring the horses mental and emotional space, I very carefully monitor my own. By watching my mental and emotional processes, I am slowly decreasing the number of unconscious responses in my work with horses and people that treat them unfairly. I wish I could say that I have eradicated such responses, but I think it will be a life long journey of decreasing them. The moment I feel that hardness inside my body, mind and heart, that grit, I’m learning to stop. Breathe. That hard, gritty feeling has become my clue that I’m probably treating a horse or person unfairly. The horse is probably trying to tell me how they’re feeling, and I’m ignoring them, I’m probably treating them like they’re being naughty or spoiled and they’re not.
I am doing my best to become a soft, thoughtful and responsive human being, so that I can give horses the space to become soft, thoughtful and responsive horses.

Guest post by Becky from Insightful Equine.
Having an anxious horse is exhausting.
You just want to focus on reaching your goals but its hard to accomplish anything when your horse is constantly distracted by worry.
The first step is to stop fighting for their attention and start understanding what’s going on.
Horse anxiety is a complex beast.
It’s impossible to cover everything in one post, so I’m touching on eight points that will at least get you one step closer to finding relief.
Here’s what your horse wants you to know about anxiety:
1. Horses aren’t using their anxiety to get out of work.
When our horses become anxious during an exercise it’s easy to think they’re acting up to avoid work.
Looking at the bigger picture you’ll find that your horse isn’t trying to avoid the work itself but rather something about the work that’s troubling them.
Maybe the way they’re being cued has them on edge or perhaps their confidence took a nosedive when the exercise became physically difficult.
If you find that your horse is looking for a way out of an activity, stop to pinpoint the exact moment that the evasive behavior started and you’ll find the source of the problem.
2. Anxiety is impacted by more than just the environment.
It’s usually pretty easy to spot environmental factors that cause horses to get stirred up.
We all know that horse that loses it’s marbles every time the wind starts howling.
But what we don’t usually pick upon the more subtle factors impacting their emotions such as vitamin and mineral deficiencies, immune system weakness, physical pain, hormones, genetics, and nutrition.
If you’re looking to ease anxiety I encourage you to approach it with as much openness as possible.
Being open to making mental, physical, emotional, and environmental changes will be what ultimately brings balance to your horse.
3. Natural Healthy stress is good for horses and helps to reset their response system.
Creating a stress-free environment will ultimately make your horse become moresensitive to being triggered.
By sheltering our horses from every little thing and arranging their lives so they don’t have to think on their own or use any natural survival skills they will become more helpless and more easily overwhelmed.
The key here is setting up their environment with natural stressors that they are capable of working through.
One idea would be to put out food in different areas of the pasture every day,then let them figure out how to find it. This simulates seeking and finding food the way they are designed for survival in nature.

Status and how the outside world thinks about us is important to people. The horse couldn’t care less, but to us that’s a different piece of cake and you may not think about it every day, but it is part of the way we communicate.
Take away the pressure
Following orders is promoted, when a reward is in store. If certain behaviour or movements are rewarded according to the standards of a horse, he will repeat them. Unfortunately, this is just as true for bad behaviour. So, if he sees an opportunity to tear himself loose and disappear into a juicy green pasture, you can be sure he’ll try again. If he finds you scary, then leaving you is already a feeling of reward and he will want to repeat it.
Behaviour that yields something is repeated
For a horse removing something that he finds unpleasant is a feeling of reward. You should take that “unpleasant” very broadly. Pressure on his side with your calf is not painful, but reducing that pressure is a reward for him. Reducing pressure on the bit certainly feels like a reward to him.
Reward in this way is most effective in training, but it is important that you are aware of what you reward. It is not helpful if you unconsciously take pressure off of something you don’t want. A well-known example is a horse that reacts anxiously to the sound of electric clippers. If you turn it off when he spooks, you will teach him that the scary machine will go away if he reacts frightened…
Communication between people is not always easy. If you know that there are four types of behaviour with a different motive, you realize misinterpretation is happening a lot. We use spoken language with all kinds of words to argue, negotiate or mitigate something, but it is often unclear what our real intentions are.
Horses like simple language. They like black and white. They don’t do much with grey areas. That is why it is important to be clear and above all be consistent when dealing with horses. If you want something from him, always ask the same way.
Make sure you always respond to something in the same way. If you put your legs on to go forward and he doesn’t go, give that same aid a little harder. If he still doesn’t go, you may even have to touch him with a whip.

• Eyes are soft with no white showing in the corners – The horse is in a relaxed state.
• The upper eyelid is wrinkled – The horse is tense, worried or surprised. Think of how we raise our eyebrows when startled or concerned.
• The whites of the eyes are showing – The horse is showing increasing concern or anger. His anxiety level may escalate to panic.
Head & Neck
Horses use their head and neck to communicate in various ways. Observing this area can provide some good clues into what is going on inside the horse’s head at that moment.
o Head held high – The horse is alert or excited.
o Head lowered – The horse is relaxed, submissive or in grazing mode.
o Chewing – If not eating, the horse is showing signs of submission.
o Flehmen response – This refers to the horse curling his upper lip back. Some call it a “horse smile.” The response tends to occur in response to a new scent or a scent he is attempting to identify.
o Arched neck – The horse may be in a playful state or possibly an aggressive state. When ridden, horses are often asked to travel in a frame that requires them to arch their necks.
o Weaving the head and neck back and forth – also called “snaking.” This is an aggressive behavior and should be considered to be a warning sign. However, it is distinguishable from the stable vice called weaving, in which the horse weaves his neck back and forth in rhythmic fashion in an attempt to relieve boredom.
Legs & Hooves
Horses use their legs and feet not only to ambulate, but to express themselves. They also use their legs and feet as a means of protection, or even attack, when they feel threatened.
• Pawing at the ground – The horse is expressing anxiety, anger or perhaps boredom.
• Stomping with front leg– The horse is expressing increasing frustration or anger. However, during the summer months, stomping may be the horse’s attempt at fly control.
• Striking with front leg – This is a very aggressive action. The horse is either in attack mode or taking an extremely defensive position.
• Hind leg cocked with front of hoof resting on the ground – The horse is probably in a relaxed state.
• Hind leg raised – This may be a sign of irritation, pain or a warning that the horse is preparing to kick.

Change of environment
Horses in an established herd have access to familiar resources, safety, social relationships and the opportunity to be a horse, which is essential for their health and well-being. Changing your horse’s environment by moving to a new home challenges all of these factors simultaneously. Horses thrive when in familiar surroundings with familiar horses, so taking them out of this and putting them into an unfamiliar environment can be one of the most stressful things a horse can experience.
Introduction of new horses
Introducing new horses into an established herd can be challenging, not only for the new horses, but also for other herd members. Within this herd, a distinct hierarchy will exist that allows all members to know their place, often forming bonds with similar ranked horses and enabling everyone to live well together as a group. When a new horse arrives, this hierarchy is disrupted, and each horse needs to re-establish their place within the herd. This upheaval and uncertainty can be stressful for all horses, but particularly those of a lower ranking that will need to defend their position over the new horse.
What can you do to help reduce stress in your horse?
The good news is that stress can be reduced with the right management and support. Understanding your horse’s mental and physiological needs and giving them as natural a life as possible that reflects these, will help manage any potential stress.
In horses who suffer with performance stress, good management can help keep them calm and focused. Research has shown that more experienced horses are much less stressed at competitions, so try and ensure your horse is as ‘experienced’ and well prepared as can be for future competitions. Getting your horse out and about from a younger age is therefore essential to help them become familiar with all the sights and sounds of a competition and acclimatised to what is expected of them.
Creating similar noise, stimuli and the general excitement that you find at shows by taking your horse to clinics and group lessons is a vital step in the competition horse’s education. And getting your horse familiar with signs and the many strange objects that they might see at a show, so it becomes part of their routine, can also help to reduce stress. Routine is very reassuring to horses, so it’s important to try to stick to the same routine at the show as you would at home – use the same tack and feed and create a pre-performance warm up routine that is the same at every competition, to help keep your horse calm and prepared before entering the ring.

- Cold-blood- heavy horse
- Hot-blood – light horse
- Warmblood- light horse
Hot, Cold And Warm-blood Comparison Chart
|Type||Temperament||Environment||Characteristics||Most Common Uses||Breed Examples|
|Hotblood||hot head, feisty and sensitive||warm, desert-like climates||Slender athletic build, long neck and long limbs, smaller hooves.||Racing, endurance||Arabian
|Coldblood||calm and cool, laid back||cold, harsh climates||Large stocky build. Thick strong neck.
Big boned legs and large hooves. Thick coat, mane and tail. Sometimes feathering on legs.
|Farming & Forestry work, hauling heavy loads||Clydesdale
|Warmblood||ranges from energetic and sensitive to laid back and lazy||originated in Europe||Good sized bone. Medium sized hooves. Strong hind quarters. Thick mane and tail.||All levels and types of equestrian sports||Hanoverian
What Are Hot Blooded Horses?
Hot-blooded horses are known to be high-energy and bred for speed and stamina. They have straight or dished heads, slender bodies, thin necks, dainty legs but strong tendons, smaller hooves, and a high-set tail.
They are thin skinned and have a very short coat. Even in the winter it doesn’t grow out very much. Horses of this type tend to be very smart, quick learners, and adaptable, but they also tend to be more nervous, sensitive and spirited than other horses.
They are light riding horses ranging from 800 to 1,200 pounds. In terms of height, they are in the medium range, measuring 14 to 17 hands at the withers.
Before moving on the origin of hotbloods you should know there is another meaning using the term “hot” with horses which you should known about.
So hotblood is a term used for the breed type but “hot” is a term used to talk about a horse’s behavior as well.
When a horse is acting “hot” that means they being difficult to handle and are full of extra energy.
A certain horse could also be a “hot horse” as their general temperament despite the fact that, they may not be a hotblood breed.
In another instance horses can act “hot” even if it is not there typical behavior, due to different changes.

Difficulty: Hard (but we’re here to help)
What you’ll need: Patience
Think back to when you first started riding — the barn was a joyful place and every ride ended with a kiss on the muzzle. But as we get older, balancing work, home life, and barn time is tough, and setting riding goals can add in a little extra pressure. So we SmartPakers put together some of our favorite tips, tricks, and smart solutions to help both you and your horse keep your cool all year long.
Tips for you
“Breakfast on show days is tricky because I never feel like eating but I know I need to, so I always have a drinkable yogurt. It makes me feel full (but not too full) and calms my stomach.”
–Susan, Barn Sales
“Whenever I take my horse somewhere new, I make sure to leave plenty of time for him to adjust and relax. Plus, this helps my nerves because I don’t have to rush.”
“Sometimes making it to my lesson on time, or making it to the barn at all, can be a source of stress. When that happens, I take a deep breath and remind myself how lucky I am to have such a wonderful horse, and that this is supposed to be fun!”
“Understand that your horse has a unique personality, just like you and every person you know. Don’t expect him to change who he is just because you want him to.”
Tips for your horse
He’s occasionally nervous and tense, looking around and fidgeting as you get on. Slightly on edge, he is sometimes unfocused on the job at hand.
“I establish as much of a routine as possible with my nervous guy. Amazingly, he also seems to like it when I sing to him, perhaps because it helps me breathe and relax!”
She’s cranky and irritable, kicking out and pinning her ears. Thanks to her roller coaster of mood swings, you never know which attitude you’re going to get.
“I pay attention to whether my sensitive mare actually wants to be groomed. When she’s not into it, I respect that and let her be dirty, and she’s much happier for it!”
He’s over reactive and excitable, dancing in the aisle and jigging in the ring. A bundle of nerves and energy, he’s always looking for a “monster” to spook at.

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- Horses have the ability to elicit strong feelings and emotional in people. They provide the opportunity to explore these feelings/emotions when they arise. Emotions such as fear, anxiety, panic, sadness, grief, anger, rage, happiness and joy may be evoked when being around the horses.
- Horses also model awareness and safety and survival .
- Horses offer unique feedback to how clients behave around them.
- Horses are very sensitive to people’s behaviour and respond differently to subtle changes in an individual’s mood and/or behaviour.
- Horses model relationships through their interactions with one another.

If a
human saw an alien would we be so willing to be relaxed and
Horses that are in a human
surrounding are horses that have or have had handling from a human.
Horses that are handled
properly from early in life will not fear humans. It is like the
human is scenery. It's there and no big deal.
The horse that is in a semi human
surrounding have both characteristics of the nonhuman and human
One can have a horse in the
pasture and not handle try to catch the horse until later on in the
horses life. This horse will keep the distance just incase the human
is going to "eat" the horse.
There is curiosity in these
Confidence building will not
take as long as the nonhuman surrounding horses.
Mental impressions made by either
nonhuman surrounding or human surroundings have a great deal to do with
how an animal will react.
If a horse was mishandled in
the human surroundings either by abusive action or by not teaching
manors will make the teaching process much harder than if the horse
had no human contact.
Horse in the nonhuman
surroundings will have different experiences depending on the
environment with in the surrounding. One horse may live in pastures
of green year round while another will live in more range conditions
where they need to find food and watch for predators.
Endocrine System needs balance.
Ductless glands can determine
how the nervous system is used along with the mental capabilities.
Nutritional needs in a horse are a
must for a health active thinking horse.
Without proper nourishments a
horse can not function properly. The horse will not be using the
brain nor the body normally.
Physical capabilities of the horse
may limit or heighten a horse.
If a horse is in pain it will
not do what you want comfortably. Thus the horse will tell you in
the horses own way that something is wrong. Such as bucking, shaking
the head, pawing, laying down and limping to name a few. But this
does not mean that when the horse bucks, paws or lays down that the
horse is in pain. This may also be a horse way of avoiding training.
If a horse possess physical
characteristics that are limiting for certain disciplines then the
human should not push the horse or compare the horse to any other
horse.

Your horse gets to use their instincts productively while gaining confidence in their survival skills.
4. Stress can cause heightened senses.
Just picture the last time you’ve been stressed out and the sound of someone slurping coffee sent you right over the edge.
Horses can feel the same way, when your horse is anxious, something as simple as the radio playing too loud can send them over the edge.
Taking an assessment of the sights,sounds, and smells in the area will show you things that may be contributing to their overwhelm.
5. Horses need to feel their concerns are being heard in order to overcome them.
Blowing off your horse’s worries takes a dig at the trust in your relationship.
Imagine telling two friends that you’re afraid of ghosts. One tells you to shut up, ghosts aren’t real, you’re being an idiot. The other one asks why you’re afraid, then offers to help you face your fear.
Naturally, you’ll feel more comfortable with the friend that offers to help without judgment.
Next time your horse starts stirring with worry, have the patience to be the second friend, help them explore what’s going on.
6. Telling your horse to STOP feeling anxious doesn’t help them to feel better.
We’ve probably all done it. Saying calm down, relax. The problem with this approach to anxiety is that it doesn’t give the horse any instruction of things they can DO.
Remember anxiety is an involuntary reaction if they could just calm down they would (they have no desire to feel anxious and are probably just as annoyed about it as you are).
Instead, give them more guidance with small specific action steps that they’re capable of doing.
Be sure you’re strategic with these action steps, working toward lowering stress not just making your horse busy.
7. Overcoming anxiety works best with a multifaceted approach.
Trying one method and getting lackluster results doesn’t mean that the method is faulty. It usually means that it needs to be paired with additional support to be more effective.
For example, let’s say you’re using systematic desensitization to slowly help your horse feel comfortable being separated from his buddy but you aren’t making any consistent progress.
No matter how many baby steps you take, you’re not getting anywhere near having a horse that is confident on his own.

Studies have shown that the domesticated horse did not differ substantially from the wild horse, such as Przewalski's horse, either physically or psychologically.
"Horses need physical contact with other horses, and social isolation prohibits the horse from engaging in mutual grooming, play, and simply just being near other horses they are bonded with."
"Most domestic animals are social animals. That is almost a requirement for being domesticated."
He discussed ways horse owners and managers could meet the species-specific needs of the horse in a modern world, including group housing alternatives, and pasture enrichments, such as dirt to roll in, trees and branches to forage on, and early socialization in mixed sex/age herds.
"I hope I've made it pretty clear that what we need is much more information on how horses are housed, how much they get out either alone, and with other horses, and how much they are ridden," Ladewig said.
He implored those attending the conference to send research students out to acquire much-needed data in this area.
Release Teaches: Horses learn on the release of pressure. This takes time to learn, understand and master. Release or retreat has a lot to do with timing and feel. Whenever you stop doing something the horse thinks whatever he was doing, when you stopped pressure, is the right answer. That is why you never stop pressure during bad behavior. I see too many people tie a horse and when it starts pulling or freaking out, they rush over and untie it. This is bad timing and bad training. Only reward, which is to release or stop pressure, on a horse, when you get a right response, not during the wrong response. This is also called advance and retreat, advance meaning pressure and retreat meaning release of pressure. Soft hands make soft horses. Nervous owners make nervous horses. Owners that do not understand pressure and release confuse a horse and the horse never learns the right answer with timing and feel.
Starting Horses: In the old days, horses were not started until they were in their 4's or 5's, however they were handled a lot at two and then put out pasture to learn herd behavior and respect from horses not humans. Good horseman would teach everything on the ground, so when they got in the saddle there were no surprises to the horse.

Their sight, hearing, sense of touch, and no doubt their sense of taste and smell, are all finely tuned for their life in the wild (and some of these horses grew to adulthood in the wild).
Horses as Teachers
Of all of their traits, their emotional responsiveness and true empathy is what impresses us all the most. They sense what you’re feeling, whether you want them to or not, and respond with pure authenticity. Sometimes they mirror you, so that if you are confused, they are as well. If you’re relaxed, they are as well. Sometimes they are annoyed when you are not your authentic yourself, just as we can be by others who are faking it, and you can tell they are annoyed. They do not really know human politeness or shame. Yet they forgive and forget quickly if they sense you have changed.
They particularly do not like us when we are doing one thing and feeling another. To feel safe, horses need a clear leader. If we try to direct them but are ambiguous, they get nervous or might even drive us off. When we know what we want and are honest about it, they often choose to let us lead. And they show great empathy, especially when we are distressed. They are uncanny in knowing what the issue is. It makes you think they are operating on another dimension.
Sometimes we have a discussion right in the corral. One or more horses might join us, coming into our circle, provided our conversation is lively and honest. If we start intellectualizing, I have seen them turn their back ends to us!
A funny example happened when a group got tangled up while doing an activity. They just could not figure out how to accomplish it, which is always okay because we emphasize that there is no right way to do anything in the workshop, including getting it done in a certain amount of time or even doing it at all. But the humans were tense, having difficulty deciding whose suggestion to follow. We had put two other horses in a separate corral and as the workshop members struggled, all the time being super nice and polite yet clearly also miffed, these other two horses became more and more agitated (something we had never seen before), sensing the confused state of the humans.
Since many HSPs have taught ourselves to hide our feelings, it is good for us to have them brought to the surface by these creatures who miss nothing and hide nothing themselves.

A weaver with an anti-weave grill on his stable for example is likely to learn that he can step back inside his stable, and can continue to weave there, often with much greater intensity than when he could do it over his stable door.
So what is so Funny About Stereotypies?
I don’t think I have ever come across someone at a zoo who thinks that watching an animal who is pacing back and forth across the front of their cage hour after hour is funny. Most of us these days are educated well enough to know that this type of behaviour is closely related to stress and few of us will go home from that zoo believing that the pacing animal was either ‘happy’ or having a good time. A huge number of us would find that image distressing and may find it difficult to watch at all. I know I would.
And yet, if I want to find a video of a horse demonstrating a stereotypic behaviour, all I have to search for on YouTube is ‘Funny Horse’ and I am sure to find some in the results. On many horse related Facebook pages it common to see videos of horses showing extreme stereotypic behaviour with a caption from the owner of something along the lines of “Look how funny my horse is”. Even when well-meaning and well educated horse people respond with information explaining the concern about stereotypic behaviours, they are often ousted by hundreds of responses telling them to lighten up, and that the horse “isn’t stressed – he’s clearly just having a good time!”
So what is it about equine stereotypies that make people want to believe that they are funny? Why are so many people unable to understand that their horse is displaying an extreme stress response, no different to the pacing animal in a zoo? Answers to that one on the back of a post card please!

That’s why they require an experienced person to handle and work on their excitable and fired-up temperament. Additionally, hot blood horses are vulnerable to stormy weather.
This is due to their Middle East origin where they are more at home in desert conditions. For many years they were used as a symbol of power and wealth by the North African tribes.
Examples of hot breeds are the Akhal-Teke, Barb, the Thoroughbred, and the Arabians. When talking of hot blood horses many people just refer to the Thoroughbreds and Arabians.
Breeders selected for a breed that would be suitable for pulling wagons, carriages, and plows. The breeding effort over a long time resulted in an animal that is large, strong, muscular, and resistant.
Given the nature of work they were intended to do, cold bloods had to be calm, gentle, and patient. Medieval soldiers preferred the cold bloods because they were strong.
They would carry heavy armor as well as the soldier and travel long distances. Today, cold bloods are the most popular breeds for riding.
They were bred in harsh climates and are hardy with very heavy bone and feathering. They were bred by crossing the Arabians and Thoroughbreds with carriage or war horses.
Hot bloods are spirited horses with high speed and endurance. Warm bloods are a mixed breed of the cold and hot blooded horses.
She is a mom of three who spends all her free time with her family and friends, her mare Joy, or just sipping her favorite cup of tea. If you’ve spent enough time in the barn, you have possibility heard the terms warm, cold, or hot blood mentioned.
Hot- Blooded : These horses are the nervous and energetic types. Some ponies can even fall in the category of cold blood.
Tagged: barn, blood, breeds, cold, horses, horsewomen, hot, mammals, personality, temperament, terms, warm, warm blood Depending mainly on the agility and the body size of horses, there are two main types known as cold blood and hot blood.
This article explores those differences in relation to their major characteristics. They have a unique combination of characteristics including size, substance, and refinement.
An ideally warm blood would be 162 – 174 centimeters tall at their withers, and their top line is smooth from the poll to tail.

Some horses will also snort, rub their head on objects, and display an anxious expression. Most commonly, horses shake up and down. There are five grades to this problem: 1) intermittent signs, mainly facial twitching; 2) moderate signs with noticeable shaking such that can interfere with riding; 3) advanced stage, and difficult to control; 4) uncontrollable and unrideable horse; and 5) dangerous behavior with bizarre patterns. In most cases, the horse looks as if it has nasal mites or is being attacked by biting flies. Many medical conditions can cause head shaking (eg, seizures, respiratory tract diseases and parasites, ear and eye disease, GI disorders, pain, trauma, nasal foreign bodies), and these must be excluded. Behavioral causes of head shaking include an improper bit, an incompetent rider, fear and anxiety, dressage leading to extreme cervical flexion, and compulsive disorders. Geldings seem to be affected more frequently than stallions or mares. Management should include treating any underlying medical problem, desensitization and counterconditioning, and potentially use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Some horses hurt themselves by biting or kicking the abdomen with their hindlegs. Some of these horses also vocalize. Underlying causes include displacement behavior, self-reinforced behavior, and redirected behavior. Skin diseases and pain can also lead to self-mutilation and must be excluded. This problem seems more common in young males (< 2 yr old) and may possibly be triggered by environmental stressors. Management should include sufficient stimulation and exercise and increased social contact.
Fear and Phobia
Like dogs, horses can have fears and phobias. The two main presentations are noise and location or environment phobias. Horses have an innate fear of new things (neophobia) that explains some behavior issues such as trailer-related problems (see below). The management is similar to that in dogs and cats ( see Treatment of Fears, Phobias, Anxiety, and Aggression Treatment of Fears, Phobias, Anxiety, and Aggression When behavior of dogs is undesirable, there are three levels of consideration: 1) Behaviors within the normal range for the species, age, and breed. In these cases, the owners need guidance... read more ).
There are two main presentations of trailer-related problems: loading into the trailer and travelling.

Horses are majestic animals who respond in the moment. They are honest and never hide how they feel, giving immediate, non-judgemental feedback to the energies, behaviours and emotions around them.
They are unique with each horse having his/her own personality, likes/dislikes, behaviours, strengths, quirks and vulnerabilities. They are prey and herd animals which means they are highly aware of everything that is going on around them, on a physical and energetic level. They are highly social and empathic, relying on their herd for safety, comfort, play, interaction and survival.
Because of all of the above characteristics, horses can teach us humans about ourselves – about how we interact with others and the environment, how we behave within relationships and about deeper belief patterns and attitudes we may hold – by responding to our attitudes, behaviours, feelings and energy. Horses can lead us into connection, learning and growth.
CONNECT. LEARN. GROW.

- Asymmetry where problem localised to only one side.
- Specific ‘triggers’ e.g. particular movements in horse, specific elements of work including particular styles of jumps or individual dressage movements or changes in balance in rider and topography (e.g. down or uphill).
- Consistency of ‘misbehaviour’ i.e. happening to same extent in same way each time.
- Sudden onset of ‘misbehaviour’ where no warning given.
- Sudden onset aggression towards all people, all horses and other animals.
- Stereotypic behaviour (‘stable vices’) either suddenly starting or increasing in frequency ( due to rising levels of natural painkillers) or a reaction to frustration or distress in genetically susceptible horses.
Other signs due to horses natural instinctive behaviour patterns
- Horse initially moving away from the source of the fear or pain when space is available to do so, including turning away and standing head down in the corner when tack is brought.
- Defensive aggression – kicking out with one hind leg at a time
- Bolting where the horse goes as fast as he can until he slips, falls, collides with something or is exhausted is nearly always a sign of genuine fear, pain or a physical problem.
- Most horses which rear to the point of falling over do so out of fear or due to pain or physical problems.
- Rushing due to difficulty reining back or turning in confined spaces.
- Rushing, flattening or crashing fences or slow careful ‘determined’ refusals. Horse may jump better cross-country that show-jumping.
- Continued ‘misbehaviour’ even when results in predictable unpleasant consequences.
- Any slip, trip or fall however minor may lead to physical problems and major behaviour problems a few days later even although the horse may have seemed fine at the time and performed well immediately afterwards.
- Unusual body shapes, e.g. ‘grass bellied’ or ‘herring gutted’ or appearing ‘overdeveloped’ in front and ‘underdeveloped’ at rear may be long term postural adaptations in response to discomfort from poorly fitting tack or physical problems.
- Repeatedly persistently knocking poles and reluctance to move onto different surfaces.
- A history of poor performance before the behavioural crisis or unexplained ‘lethargy’.
- Stilted, short, choppy strides, not taking maximum stride conformation and fitness allows and difficulty bending, feeling stiff despite correct schooling.

Even if temperament changes over time and is not, by itself, the only condition for the adequacy of an equine to a specific situation (which can be influenced by are hormonal condition, its history, its learning mechanism – I advise you to read this article on the temperament of the horse (in French),very interesting), there are certain constants that are found in a horse and in a pony that constitute a difference between the two animals.
The French expression that defines a “hot-blooded” or “cold-blooded” equine is not biological and has nothing to do with the animal’s body temperature. It is used in the equine domain to designate a temperament with a strong or calm tendency. The origin of these terms appeared as early as the end of the 18th century when the “purity” of animal blood was important and a classification of horses by tblood was common.
There are therefore “hot-blooded” and “cold-blooded” horses, defined by their race and personality, among others. “Hot bloods” are used as saddle and sport animals and known for their emotional exploding and liveliness. The “cold bloods” have a calm temperament, are patient and more robust than the “hot bloods”. As explained above, they are usually used for agricultural work, in order to tow a plow or heavy carts for example. There are also “hot-blooded” and “cold-blooded” ponies. In general, ponies are defined by their calmness and docility (characteristic of “cold bloods”) and horses by their agility, their liveliness and sometimes their obstinacy (specific to “hot blood”). With any rule its exception but these are traits stable in time encompassing all equine races and taking into account only the innate character of each animal.
The name of the breed can help you: small effective trick
Some equine breeds can tell you if you are in front of a pony or a horse. Example: the Landes pony is a pony even if its size is just over 14.2 hands. Quarter horses are horses even if, conversely, they can pass below the 14.2 hand mark.
- Other examples of pony breeds: Australian pony, German saddle pony, French saddle pony…
- Other examples of horse breeds: paint horse, rocky moutain horse, florida cracker horse…
Here we are in the extraordinary, in extremes of longevity or size that are beyond comprehension.

Story from Anne Koletzke at Glen Ellen Vocational Academy, Inc
“You like potāto, I like potahto”
Horses are like people – they have different personalities. They can be nice, friendly and hardworking, or awkward, difficult and lazy. If horses were people, some would be on the dole, and others would be entrepreneurs. ~Tony McCoy
I always tend to think of Mikey and Rio together, probably because they are the only two Quarter Horses at Glen Ellen Vocational Academy, Inc (GEVA), an Equine Retirement and Rehabilitation Foundation and Sanctuary. But I do them such a disservice when I do this, because they are really quite different horses.
They do, of course, have similarities: As far as anyone knows, Mikey and Rio were once Western pleasure or show horses—they most certainly were never racehorses like most of the other horses at GEVA. They are both also on the smallish side, and are, in fact, the two smallest horses on the farm. Mikey, a handsome buckskin, has a dorsal stripe and “primitive” stripes on his front legs, and Rio, a registered Paint as well as a registered Quarter Horse, also sports a dorsal stripe and leg stripes. And they are both gentle, unaggressive horses who usually find themselves near or at the bottom of the herd pecking order.
But other than such superficial similarities, these two horses are so very different. Mikey, for example, is seldom far from the side of his paddock-mate, Chunky, whereas Rio, who lives with 6 other horses, often seems to prefer spending much of the day enjoying his own company.
They’re quite different in how they relate to people, too. When you enter Mikey and Chunky’s paddock, Mikey can be counted on to immediately come over to say hello and to demand attention. Should you be foolish enough to think just giving him a quick pat on the neck as you pass by on your way to clean manure from his paddock will do, you’ll find him waiting for you back at the RTV, so completely blocking your way you can’t possibly empty your shovel into the truck without making him move first. And good luck with that, as by this time it’s as if his hooves have grown roots. Deep roots.

- When you scratch a horse’s midline around the girth area, the natural reaction should be lifting the belly, which raises the withers. The lifting of the withers should be visible. Some horses will only be able to do this after limbering up or after a chiropractic session. Other horses can’t do this at all, which may or may not affect his rideability.
- Looking for this reaction is only one piece of a much larger puzzle! If this horse moves onto the PPE stage, it’s worth having your vet check on this reaction and others in the hind end.
Notice how a horse reacts to touch and pressure!
How does your possible new horse react to pressure on his muscles? Especially the saddle area?
- A horse’s reaction to massage and grooming can show you more about his personality or indicate muscle soreness or discomfort. Or tell you about his skin sensitivity.
- Ill-fitting saddles, spine issues, and a hard day’s work are all possible reasons.
What’s the reaction to handling a horse around his ears, sheath/udders, and other sensitive parts?
- There can be a lot of past trauma, as is the case for ear-shy horses that have been ear-twitched. Which is an absolute NO, by the way. Injuries can also prompt a horse to protect certain areas.
- Other horses might decide that certain parts of their bodies are off-limits. This speaks more to temperament and trainability or general sensitivity to handling.
How does this horse stand to have his temperature taken?
- By now, you are sensing a pattern – what’s the reaction, and what is the possible reason for this reaction?
- Is this merely a case of horses training humans not to do things, or a horse that’s never had this done before? Or is there something wrong with his tail?
Watch his overall demeanor while he’s groomed.
- Does he seem calm, agitated, distracted, angry, or engaged? Maybe you see a quiet horse, and you want a fire-breathing dragon! Or vice versa.
Watch it all if you can!
How is the horse during the tacking-up process?
- It might be helpful for you to see a prospective horse being tacked up! Look for three main things:
What is the reaction to placing the saddle on the horse’s back?

Elevated Sensitivity to Tactile Stimuli in Stereotypic Horses
| Contributor(s):: Sabrina Briefer Freymond, Déborah Bardou, Sandrine Beuret, Iris Bachmann, Klaus Zuberbühler, Elodie F. Briefer
Although stereotypic behaviors are a common problem in captive animals, why certain individuals are more prone to develop them remains elusive. In horses, individuals show considerable differences in how they perceive and react to external events, suggesting that this may partially account for...
In-Person Caretaker Visits Disrupt Ongoing Discomfort Behavior in Hospitalized Equine Orthopedic Surgical Patients
| Contributor(s):: Catherine Torcivia, Sue McDonnell
Horses have evolved to show little indication of discomfort or disability when in the presence of potential predators, including humans. This natural characteristic complicates the recognition of pain in equine patients. It has been our clinical impression that, whenever a person is present,...
Evaluation of several pre-clinical tools for identifying characteristics associated with limb bone fracture in thoroughbred racehorses
| Contributor(s):: Anthony Nicholas Corsten
Catastrophic skeletal fractures in racehorses are devastating not only to the animals, owners and trainers, but also to the perception of the sport in the public eye. The majority of these fatal accidents are unlikely to be due to chance, but are rather an end result failure from stress...
Horses Failed to Learn from Humans by Observation
| Contributor(s):: Maria Vilain Rørvang, Tina Bach Nielsen, Janne Winther Christensen
Animals can acquire new behavior through both individual and social learning. Several studies have investigated horses’ ability to utilize inter-species (human demonstrator) social learning with conflicting results. In this study, we repeat a previous study, which found that horses had...
Oct 06 2022
Animal Assisted Interventions Webinar Series - Decoding equine behavior for wellbeing management: An introduction for AAI professionals
The Welfare of Traveller and Gypsy Owned Horses in the UK and Ireland
| Contributor(s):: Rowland, Marie, Hudson, Neil, Connor, Melanie, Dwyer, Cathy, Coombs, Tamsin
Travellers and Gypsies are recognised ethnic groups in the UK and Ireland. Horse ownership is an important cultural tradition, however, practices associated with poor welfare are often perceived to be linked to these horse owning communities.

If they have a good horse, they are good. If they have a scared horse, then they are scared, if they have a horse that fights, then they fight. All horses do what they do because of what is done to them. Bad horses are not born, they are made.
Bad horses are never born, they are made: All horses are born a horse, knowing nothing but instincts, survival and they are just horses. From that moment on all interactions with humans will either teach good or bad. Depending on the handling, all horses can be either good or bad. But there are many bad horses that were made and now they are labeled. Which is why so many horses have a past (bad handling) and no future.
Release teaches or A horse learns on the release: Horse hate pressure, they are comfort seeking animals; they avoid stress, danger and threats (pressure). A horse will always choose easy over hard, it will walk rather than run, it will avoid conflict and seek comfort. A horse looks for release from pressure or release from being uncomfortable. So by making the right thing easy and the wrong thing hard, we use the horse's natural instinct to seek comfort and avoid pressure and this helps the horse find the right answer. So stopping or releasing the pressure or discomfort, we tell the horse what the right answer is. Release with bad timing does not work and only teaches the wrong thing, but understanding how important release is and what it teaches enables us to better communicate with our horses in a language they can understand. If you don't understand how release teaches, you can't talk horse and the horse will know it before it happens. Rearing horses are a great example, when people don't understand release and a horse rears, most people will stop what they are doing and move away from the horse so they don't get hurt. So by giving release (move away and stopping) the horse thinks and learns, by rearing I get release, therefore rearing is the right answer, to stop pressure. Soon he knows that when he rears, you will stop pressure and then he knows what is going to happen, before it happens.
"A horse knows what is going to happen before it happens": Horses are Kings of observation and they miss nothing and see everything. You cannot fool them or fake them, they know if you know and they know if you don't know. They are exceptional observers.

(Natural Selection 101) Only wild horses with good feet survive to reproduce and pass on the "good feet" gene. Why are horses so spooky? Same exact reason, the non-spooky horses are too slow to react, too calm, do not run or react fast enough and are eaten first, so they are not around long enough to pass on the "calm and non-spooky" gene. Fear, alertness and fast reactions keeps horses alive. Which is why you should never blame a horse for being scared or fearful, it is there nature.
If you understand a horse you will know that you can't make a request half way and accept half right answers. There can only be one right answer in order to be consistent and so you don't confuse the horse. Sounds and words have to mean the same thing every time or they lose meaning and will mean nothing. A kiss means canter to my horses, period. I see so many people that want a kiss to mean run, move, come, look at me, people kiss to say hello to a horse, to get a horse's attention and then get mad at the horse if he does not know what a kiss means. One sound for one action. The same thing with a click. One well-known clinician (JL), uses clicks for everything. He clicks to move a horse, he clicks to get a horse's attention, he clicks to trailer load, he clicks and clicks and the horse still does what he wants. Then people who watch him do what he does and it does not work. Horses learn to adapt so they will learn to ignore cues that mean nothing or that mean too much and have no meaning. Be aware of what you do and what you are teaching, awareness will improve your horsemanship skills.
This picture below is a good example of a herd with a look out horse. The dark brown horse who is standing (Big T or Tanner) is my mustang.
Tanner is standing guard and watching over the (his) herd. The horse on the left, that looks dead is my other horse, Buddy. It is easy to see that Buddy is very relaxed and calm with his dead horse" imitation. Tanner, on the other hand, is alert, not relaxed and ready for a reaction to any sign of danger. You will not see Tanner sleep like Buddy.

The funny thing is that even though he is gentle with humans, he is the direct opposite with other horses. He came to me as a stallion at 6 years of age (now gelded), so I am sure that some of his aggression has to do with that; but I also see he lacks some social skills and rules the herd with an iron hoof. I am guessing he has been isolated for much of his life. He is the smallest horse I have (less than 15hh) and even the 17hand Percherons move when he twitches his ear or nods his head. He really wants horse companions, but doesn't understand mutual grooming or even just how to play around.
I was getting very frustrated after 6 months of having him because he really didn't seem to be breaking through that trust barrier. He was still hard to 'catch' and he was still slamming against the far wall of his stall when I entered (open corral type 12x12). Just moving a hand would send him into panic. On top of all that he is an asthmatic, which is triggered by an allergy to dry hay. This is a real management issue since I don't have a pasture yet (just a very large pen open to a 40x50 pole shed). I also free feed my horses with round bales. I had to keep Brego separated from the rest of the herd (he was right next to them, but not in with them). I also couldn't put in a buddy for him because he would beat them up. His hay had to be dunked in water. As long as I did that, he was fine; but what a hassle * especially up here in WI.
A few things happened. First a new friend of mine, who practices homeopathic medicine, came over and treated Brego homeopathically. The change was rather dramatic and after about a month I had a different horse. Still scared, jumpy * but less. He 'looked' happier and more at peace. I could enter his stall without such a dramatic response and he was becoming easier to catch. Brego was also getting into the taste of sweet feed. When he first came to me he would not eat anything but hay. I could leave sweet feed in with him for days and he would ignore it. He would eat ground corn and plain oats, but not enthusiastically.

Petting, cookies, and hugs do not mean much to a horse. They just want to be a horse. They do not want to be a person or a dog, they only know how to be a horse and that is all they want to be. In order to allow them to be a horse and be comfortable with you, you must understand them. They are flight animals. They are prey and we are predator. Mother Nature told them at the first sign of trouble run, do not think, do not look, do ask what or why, just use your legs and run to live. Their best defense to survive is speed. Run from danger at high speed and you live. Stand around and think and you die. It is that simple for the horse. So when a horse get scared or tries to run, do not get mad at them, do not be rough with them and do not label them as mean, dumb or stupid. They are simply being a horse, trying to survive in our world. A horse is pure horse and that is all they know. Run when in trouble to stay alive. In the horse world and in a herd, horses are always talking. Most people do not see it or know it, but horses are great communicators. The way they move, how they hold their ears, where their head is, how their body is positioned, what their tail is doing, the speed they are moving, are they looking with one eye or two, all send messages to other horses. If you don't learn this language, then your horse will be talking to you and you will not hear him or understand him, so he will either stop talking or get more aggressive to try and get you to listen.
In the picture below, you will see two Prey Animals bonding. They find comfort and safety in numbers, they are herding, bonding, what those that do not know call buddy sour or herd sour, this is just prey animals seeking comfort and safety by being together, they are using numbers to survive. They have doubled their ability to hear or see Predators. To the unknowing it may look cute or nice, it is basic survival skills and if you don't see that then you will misunderstand the horse since it is also a prey animal.
A horse communicates to let you know he understand what you are saying or to make you do something. This process is often misconstrued.

Now this can be done with or without roughness - I think one of the reasons some horses survive fairly rough handling is that their dispositions are basically stolid and less reactive - they just shrug their shoulders (so to speak) and ignore rough handling and get on with things. Rough handling can be a form of adversity that develops a horse's ability to deal with things - not that I think that's a good excuse for rough handling - but it can also, in a horse that's sensitive or nervous, cause great damage and even permanent impairment of a horse's ability to work together with people (this came close to happening with Dawn). I don't believe roughness is necessary to produce a solid-minded horse - working softly but effectively with a horse does the job better and can produce a horse that is both soft, mentally and physically, as well as solid-minded - the combination I'm calling softness+.
I did a post a while ago - "An Ode to a Good Working Horse" - that addressed some of the things that I believe are needed to produce a good working horse. You'll notice if you read the post that most of those things aren't about the horse or the specifics of the situation the horse is working in - they're about the rider. I've had the privilege of knowing several good working horses - our Norman the pony (now at Paradigm Farms in retirement) was one, as was my mare Snow when I was a teen and my mare Promise when I was showing hunters (just goes to show that mares can be good working horses too). We believe that Norman may have been abused before we got him - he was somewhat dangerous on the cross ties or in his stall, particularly with children, but was a pro in the hunter show ring - completely unflappable and safe under all circumstances - he was one of those ponies who really cared about winning but would also stop cold if his rider was about to fall off or he thought the distance to a jump was wrong. When we brought him to our barn after his show career was done, he could be ridden on the trails in a halter or driven in a cart, and other than an inexplicable fear of large boulders (go figure?), was reliable. He was never dull, or quiet or dead to the world, just reliable.
My mare Snow was like that too. She was a QH, and I don't know her background.

If you’re working the lunge, trying going in the other direction to add some variety for the horse. You can change out the stall toys from time to time. You can also let the horse stay out a little later or go out a little earlier to satisfy the need for variety.
Stubbornness in the Oldenburg Breed and What It Means
Oldenburgers are generally even-tempered and easy to control, especially for their size, but there is a certain stubbornness that you can find within this breed. The horse may suddenly not want to train any more. There may be a rejection of the tack. There may even be a certain aggressiveness that targets other horses or the owner which appears suddenly.
When this occurs for a horse that has been owned for some time, then it is generally an indication that there is a health problem present. Check the horse for cuts, bruises, and skin conditions that the coat may be hiding. You’ll also want to check on the health of the hooves, especially if an active horse becomes inactive and aggressive.
Colic can also be a concern within this breed, especially if nothing seems wrong and there is a sudden personality change.
If you’ve just obtained the horse, then the aggressiveness may be due to the change in environment. Aggressiveness can also be present for horses that are used to being in an Alpha role and feel like they need to establish or re-establish that role.
To get the most out of an Oldenburg, focus on consistency. This breed prefers to interact with experienced owners, riders, and trainers and they can have little patience for beginners or novice riders. Over time, when a relationship is formed with the horse, you will be able to see the positive traits of the Oldenburg horse temperament.

You are working hard, it was busy on the road, you fly into the stable to ride your horse and you have exactly one hour before you have to go to your next appointment. Your horse is in the field with his friends and there you come charging in, with an aura full of stress around you.
Another scenario: You love horses, you want to ride but deep down you find those big animals quite scary, but you definitely don’t want your friends to notice how scared you are. So you put on a brave face and you step into the field to get your horse.
I can think of a few more examples but I think my point is clear. Something is not going well here. Horses communicate non-verbally. They can read your body language better than any fortune teller and they mirror behaviour. You can try to hide your real feeling, but a horse will see through that.
People are not so aware of body language and that can cause a lot of confusion. Take the situation where someone walks backwards in a lunging circle, which is an invitation for a horse to follow you, while at the same time chasing him away with a whip… for a horse that is completely incomprehensible.
Even when you are in the saddle a horse is very aware of your mood. I am convinced that horses can show compassion. So, if you feel sad and you have a bond with your horse in many cases he will respond kindly and gently. Anger, stress, impatience or rushed behaviour makes a horse insecure or even afraid, which will cause him to want to get away from you.
In order to train properly you must have the right focus. That does not work with one eye on the clock. Whoever made up that a lesson lasts exactly one hour? Not the horse. Put your phone away. You should focus on your horse and not be half distracted when a message comes in. He deserves your full attention. You need your brain to think about what you are feeling, what is happening below you and what you can do to improve it. To find solutions that make it more clear to your horse what you want from him.
If you are in a rush, impatient or afraid, do not mount. Pay attention to him in a different way. Give him a nice grooming session, take him for a walk or do in hand work. Enjoy his company.

There's a very interesting post by Laura over at Equestrian Ink on what is a solid-minded horse, with further interesting discussion in the comments. Laura makes a distinction between a horse that is soft - e.g. responsive and obedient, and with you, even under stressful circumstances and even if the horse is scared - and a horse that is solid-minded - a horse that is self-confident, not worried by much and able to cope, even if the rider is less experienced or the horse is put in a situation where many horses might be afraid. I guess the distinction she is making - Laura, correct me if I've got this wrong - is that the soft horse looks to its rider for guidance and direction and trusts its rider enough to follow those directions, whereas the solid-minded horse is confident on its own. She also makes the point that the solid-minded horse may in fact not be particularly physically soft, or even mentally soft in the sense of always immediately responsive to the rider.
I guess what I'm looking for in my horses is what Laura calls soft - responsive and willing no matter the circumstances even if worried - plus that further intangible self-confidence that comes from a combination of innate disposition, good training and handling and also physical softness and mental willingness - I guess I'd call this softness+. And I agree with Laura that there are good solid-minded horses out there who aren't particularly soft physically or always willing and will pack people around - but I think solid-minded horses can also be soft.
So how do you get from physical softness to mental softness to all of that plus solid-mindedness - the whole package - softness+? There was some interesting discussion in the post and in the comments of the role the horse's training and job experience played, and about how horses should be best managed to grow into solid-mindedness. I do think it requires a horse to grow up and mature and have lots of miles under the saddle. I also believe that there are some horses who just can't get there, or who are so difficult to get there that it might as well be impossible, at least for ordinary, reasonably skilled horse people.

Her research, which has been published in the Journal
of Comparative Psychology and the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science shows
that horses are much more complex and intelligent than they're given credit for.
But how do you find out what a horse thinks?
Hanggi has designed non-invasive tests that use positive reinforcement, like
food rewards, to see what horses know.
For instance, Hanggi wanted to explode the myth that horses can't transfer
information from one side of the brain to the other because the two sides aren't
connected. The theory didn't make sense to Hanggi because anatomy shows
that the two sides of the horse's brain are connected. So she set up
a board with two openings in it that revealed different shapes. Then she
blindfolded one of the horse's eyes.
"We [taught] the horse to choose one of the two different shapes until
it consistently chose that shape," Hanggi explains. "Then we switched eyes and tested
it, and it chose the right one right away."
Another aspect Hanggi tested was "categorization learning".
"That looks at how animals sort their world," Hanggi explains. "It's how they put
objects and events in classes or categories."
With the same board, Hanggi and her team would show the horses different
shapes, - some solid and some with an opening in the centre. That type of
sorting allows an animal to categorize food and non-food plants,
or predators and non-predators, or can be applied in the training of horses.
Horses need mental challenge and time out of their stalls
"We found they were very good at classifying objects," Hanggi says. "That helps
them deal with all sorts of external stimuli coming to them, instead
of being inundated with all sorts of different things, they can sort them
into classes so that their learning mechanisms are not overused."
Hanggi also administered a test to assess how well the horses could "learn to learn."
"We used reversal discrimination learning," Hanggi says. "That's where the horse
looks at a circle and a square, and it [is supposed to] always choose the circle.
And it takes a hundred or so cycles before it learns to pick the circle.
Then you reverse the contingencies, so it has to choose the square
[to get the reward]. At that point it will still go to the circle,
but eventually it will switch to the square.

This loyalty can present itself through protective actions, especially for stallions, and this can be mistaken for a negative behavior by someone who might be targeted by the animal.
These horses also enjoy social activities, especially with their human counterparts. They may be bred to be an exceptional animal and have high levels of energy, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a desire to have laid-back moments, like a lazy trail ride with their favorite person. As long as you can manage the energy of this breed in some way, you’ll have a horse that is supportive and willing to work.
Their willingness does have some limits. Oldenburg horses tend to prefer familiar environments or circumstances. If you put them into a new environment or situation, it becomes much easier to spook them because their self-awareness senses are extremely high. It is not uncommon for a spooked Oldenburg in a new situation to throw their rider, then get spooked again because they threw their rider.
Because there is such variability within the registry, it is necessary to look at the papers of the horse to determine what you’re likely getting in terms of temperament. Because there are several cross-breeds brought into the Oldenburg line, including Thoroughbred blood, you have access to almost coldblooded personalities to extremely hotblooded personalities that seem to borderline on mania.
How to Get the Most Out of an Oldenburg Horse
Oldenburg horses prefer to have a daily routine that is followed exactly. They do not like having disruptions. They are happiest when they can do the same thing every day. This desire for “sameness” has made them one of the most successful dressage breeds in the world today. Only Dutch Warmbloods and Hanoverians have consistently higher standings in dressage compared to the Oldenburg breed.
From a home environment perspective, consistency means following the same feeding, turning out, and exercise rituals. Oldenburgers like having the same stall mates next to them, having the same amount of time out in the pasture, and working in the same way with their owners or trainers. You just need to watch out for the development of boredom, however, because you can be doing everything right and maintaining your routine and then suddenly the horse becomes rebellious.
How can you have a backup plan for a horse that likes to have the same routine, but then suddenly doesn’t want the same routine? By having have some variations available.

A total of 1088 injuries were recorded of which 597 were present on day 0, before the horses were put into their groups for the study. 188 new injuries were recorded after grouping day 1 and 303 new injuries were recorded after 4 weeks. The majority of injuries were minor (80% category 1, 18% category 2). Throughout the whole study, a total of 3 injuries were recorded as category 3 and 2 injuries were recorded as category 4. The two category 4 injuries occurred to young warmblood horses.
There was no difference between mixed age and similar age groups, mixed sex and same sex groups or the stable and dynamic groups in the mean number of new injuries recorded. The main predictor of injury actually turned out to be breed, with Warmblood horses significantly more likely to get injured than Icelandic horses. The researchers hypothesise this could be because the Icelandic horses have been bred for a calmer temperament, and they also tend to have more body fat and thicker coats which better protect them from kicks and bites.
The main predictor of reactiveness was breed, with Warmbloods being the most reactive breed and Icelandic horses being the least reactive. Mixing older horses with younger horses or just having groups of older or younger horses did not have any significant effect on reactiveness.
This study suggests that horses are unlikely to get severely injured from being turned out in groups and their welfare is more likely to be compromised if they are not allowed to socialise with other equines and exhibit normal herd behaviour. One thing to note that could affect rates of injury is competition for resources. In this study, all horses were in paddocks of at least 0.5 hectares and at feed time each horse was given its own pile of feed.
Keeling, L.J., Bøe, K.E., Christensen, J.W., Hyyppä, S., Jansson, H., Jørgensen, G.H.M., Ladewig, J., Mejdell, C.M., Särkijärvi, S., Søndergaard, E. and Hartmann, E., 2016. Injury incidence, reactivity and ease of handling of horses kept in groups: A matched case control study in four Nordic countries. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 185, pp.59-65.

Ultimately these definitions recognize this ‘problem’ as a mental health affliction for the animals as do Hothershall & Casey (2012) who term the behavior ‘pathological’.
Stereotypies in horses do also highlight a welfare concern as it is widely recognized within the literature that horses displaying these behavior do as there is some deficiency in their environment, living or work conditions either in the present or past tense that has triggered this behavior often associated to management risk factors and stress (McGreevy, 2004, Hothershall & Casey, Mason, 1991, Hockenhull & Creighton, 2014). In-other-words – I see these behaviors as red-flags to the horse being a) a possible welfare risk b) psychologically ‘ill’ for want of a better word c) a horse in distress who needs urgent assistance with his living situation d) usually with an owner in need of practical and emotional support.
The other side of that coin is the approach of horse-owners. I certainly don’t say that in condemnation because attitudes are formed on the basis of learning from others; social influence and the words used that create perceptions of what is going on.
For the vast majority of horse owners who consult for help, these behaviors are known as ‘stable vices’.
To see the problem it’s worth looking at the definition of the Oxford English Dictionary, here’s the definition of a ‘vice’:
Vice; “depravity or corruption of morals; evil, immoral, or wicked habits or conduct; indulgence in degrading pleasures or practices”.
In this simple exchange of words our horse has gone from suffering a pathological, welfare based mental health problem to being an immoral, indulgent being who is deliberately engaging in wicked practices (and probably deliberately to annoy us many humans believe).
This creates a problem for the behavioral practitioner because immediately you have contradictory beliefs and perceptions to that of the owner (often but obviously not always). In compassion for the owners it’s also worth noting that many owners who have their horses on livery yards are under huge social pressure to resolve the problem. A stigma is often attached to these behaviors (McBride & Long 2001) often related to the anecdotal belief that horses imitate these behaviors, probably augmented by the belief they’re being ‘naughty’.

I'd have some of the riders keep going, and some go with my horse and I back towards home. We'd continue with that until he was comfortable leaving the other horses, going towards home and going away from home. Then we'd just go riding with one other horse, and split ways. Again going away from home and towards home alternatively. The idea would be that he learns he is perfectly safe away from the group, and controlling that herd bound instinct.
Situation 5 -- I would start at the beginning. Again. Re-introducing the wash area, the wash appliances, the hose with no water running, the hose with water running, and the noise it makes. I'd take it slow but continue moving along when the horse is comfortable. Then I would have the horse tied in a quick release or a person hold him if they were available. I'd start the hose going, preferably luke warm water, and hose off the hoof of one of his front legs. If he reacts, I will keep the hose on his hoof until he stops moving, for just a second, and take the hose away. Depending on his stress level, I'd try again or wait until the next day. I'd gradually move the hose up his leg and all over his body, waiting for him to take a second to relax before relieving the pressure.
Situation 6 -- I've had a lot of horses do this, it's one of my biggest pet peeves. I'd make sure I had a good strong halter on, preferably a rope halter, or a be-nice halter. I'd catch the horse with a lunge line, so I have more rope, and if the horse bolts, catch him with the lead and turn around, heading back out to the pasture. I think it's important to turn the horse AWAY from you. Respecting your space and all that. We'd continue doing this, leading him to the stall and if he goes even a tad faster than you want him to, turn him back around. Eventually he should learn that going fast means it takes longer. At least that's the idea.
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

Horses are positively interesting characters! Like people, they have their own personalities and appearances. They like to be with other horses and are upset when they are separated from those they care about. They like to be included in a group and will follow each other. Sound familiar?
Early Thursday morning, after sleeping on the Maple Creek rodeo grounds in the living quarters of our horse trailer, I awoke to a warm Saskatchewan summer sun painting the prairie with light, the scent of silver sage circling through the fresh air and sounds of several horses calling and whinnying, snorting and blowing.
Being next door neighbours to a penned up herd of rodeo horses, (what we don't do for the ones we love), I decided to head over for a visit. These professional horses are used for saddle bronc and bare back riding. How often does a gal get to admire about one hundred horses at a time that are lounging and grazing, following and rolling, cuddling and teasing, visiting and discussing their previous night time performances and preparing strategy for their next rodeo?
When the four legged beauties spotted my husband, my dog and me, they naturally out of curiosity, gathered near to check us out. There were bays, chestnuts, greys, red roans, whites, and paints. Would you like to meet a few of the interesting characters?
|Totally Radical, Dude!|
It seems horses are no different than people. They tend to hang around others who are similar to themselves. In their spare time, these two rebellious teen aged long side banged horses enjoy an afternoon of skateboarding and can be spotted doing kick flips! You should see them, it is quite something to see. Like totally radical, Dude!
These two white faced romantically involved horses are nuzzling each other and are wondering if they will ever have a real future together? At the moment, they only have eyes for each other and tend to ignore what others around them are doing!
|Planning Their Next Move|
This small troupe of proud sentinels are standing on guard forming a fortress wall around the two horses chowing down on the freshly scattered hay. All directions are allocated and scouted!
In fact, what they are really doing is planning their next showboating stunts that they intend to do on the end line of the next Canadian Football League game when the Saskatchewan Roughriders kick some Calgary Stampeders' butt!

That way, he progressed in small steps but was not bored and never lost his eagerness to learn. We can still see this attitude today as he continues improving with his new rider, Helen Langehanenberg (2012 German Olympic team members).
Foster the Horse’s Personality
For my father, there was a close and inseparable connection between the right training and the development of a horse’s personality. He always, rightly, used to say: “We not only need to strengthen the muscles but, in particular, the personality of the horse.” What we want as riders are self-confident horses that are reliable and attentive but also ones that love to show off in a positive way. This is particularly valid for dressage, where such expression earns us higher marks.
My father’s most famous and successful dressage horse was the Westfalian gelding Ahlerich. He was a good example of the “Here I am” expression my father looked for in his horses. If the right training has taken the horse to the point where he feels strong and masters the tasks with ease, it will feel delightful to work with us and show himself to the world. Many remember Ahlerich’s exuberance at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, where the pair won the individual gold medal and performed 75 consecutive one-tempi changes during the victory lap.
Sometimes to foster a horse’s personality also means to accept that we can influence but never dominate him. We have to find subtle ways to control exuberant horses. The first that comes to my mind is Dresden Mann. When I got him—a just-backed horse and a licensed stallion—he was very strong-minded and really dominant. He was not so much fixed on mares as he was on other stallions, which he strongly considered his rivals. Though I never felt unsafe on him, in hindsight there had been a few rather dangerous situations when warming him up at shows with other stallions in the ring. As a result, Alfi, as we nicknamed him, often had problems focusing on me.
First, we just tried to avoid tricky situations. Then we worked with a renowned German horsemanship trainer, but Alfi just did not give in. He controlled us rather than let us control him. Finally, we realized that to struggle with him was useless. Luckily, his owners agreed to geld him and the situation improved.

Do you feel comfortable with creatures that think for themselves and are confident about their actions? Or do you prefer shy, gentle beings that depend on others for guidance? Think about your own personality and how others would describe you. Because both horses and humans are social mammals, we match up best with similar temperaments. In other words, “like attracts like”. Quiet, calm people can certainly have a positive effect on “hot” horses, helping to settle them down, but for long-term friendship, a calm horse gets along well with the same type of person. Although pairing a high energy person with a high energy horse may not be the safest combination, these matches usually do well too, especially if they are competitors.
4. How comfortable are you around horses?
Are you ever intimidated or afraid? What situation would make you feel unsafe, if any?
If you feel unsafe around horses, the best match is usually a horse that likes to take care of people and is very confident of her own ability. It always surprises me when a horse that has been donated to a handicap riding program because of bad behavior ends up as the “best horse”. Why does this happen? Because the horse was smart and confident and didn’t tolerate bad trainers who tried to make her do something she did not want to do. The same horse excelled at being able to take care of humans who value her intelligence.
Just because a horse has more training, this does not necessarily make him a better partner for a novice. Often, horses are trained to be “bomb proof” so as not to react to scary stimuli. But they can be time bombs waiting to happen. They will not look people in the eye and have turned their awareness inward in an attempt to not show fear. They continue to hide their fear until something comes along that tips them over the edge – and then, without warning, they explode.
5. What qualities are you seeking in the horse – conformation, gait, breed, color, education, experience?
Prioritize these qualities from most to least important. You may not be able to find the perfect horse to meet your budget, so highlighting the top three qualities is helpful.
6. What physical limitations can you accept?
There are no perfect horses, just as there are no perfect people. Physical handicaps can be the result of poor conformation, injury and/or stress, lack of proper conditioning, poor rider balance or bad training.

We all have heard the stereotype: All horse people are crazy people. From experience, I would be surprised if anyone who has been involved in the horse industry could say anything to refute the complete accuracy of this stereotype.
I am sure a lot of competetive industries breed a culture of wackos, but the equine seems to attract all different brands. There is the somewhat expected: narcissistic, hyper competetive types who try and step on others’ reputations to ease their own insecurities. The rampant gossip and rumor mill of the equine industry is a direct result of these types feeling threatened by the success of others in the industry, regardless of the fact there are plenty of horses to ride, ribons to win, and people out there to teach.
However, despite the competetive “make it or break it” atmosphere of the equine world, I have personally found an abundance of fellow riders with depression, anxiety, crippling self doubt, OCD, and the like. Every new horse person I meet has something they are dealing with that seems in stark contrast with how difficult it is to float in a fast paced ruthless sport. Either they are very open about their struggles and tend to over share about their doseage (I fall into this category, because I find my issues nothing to be ashamed of), or you hope they are in therapy or on meds and don’t advertise it, or they are so obviously messed up that you make a mental note to keep yourself and your horses far away from them because they are clearly in denial that they should be institutionalized asap.
I can’t be the only one who is at a horse clinic and find themselves consistently surrounded by crazy. I am not complaining at all, because it makes me feel right at home. Have any of you noticed the same trend when you think on the individuals in your piece of the horse world?
What is it about these enormous creatures that attracts personalities so riddled with emotional inadequacies? It’s more than just a birds of a feather phenom. An outsider might assume that a sport involving a 1200 pound animal who sometimes tries to kill you would attract only the very bravest of adrenaline junkies. Certainly no place for someone who is far from secure about their own self.
I am clearly no expert on the matter, but I have been reading a lot about equine assisted therapy and how partnering with a non-judgemental animal such as the horse can heal.

When this is going well, ease into a few steps of soft feel, then holding the soft feel at one gait, then through transitions.
Behind the bit. The horse that travels “behind the bit” can be traveling freely forward without being truly “forward” in the dressage sense. For this kind of horse, I go easy on exercises that squelch forwardness, such as the soft feel exercise and one-rein stops. Instead, I focus on upward transitions with energy, perhaps going uphill, if the warm-up area is hilly. I’d also pay close attention to my hands to make sure I’m providing a reliable, soft connection for him to trust–not a waffling, flimsy contact that the horse can’t find.
Fussy, fretful. This horse benefits from 10 minutes in the Virtual Round Pen before tacking up, then a gradual opportunity to migrate to the warm-up area from a quieter area of the showgrounds. I rely on one-rein stops and modified one-rein stops to create safe zones for a fretful mount. Careful though; it’s easy to overdo this exercise and end up badgering or overconfining the horse when he might just need to stride out on a loose rein for a while.
If the horse is fearful, I’ll offer lots of quiet stroking encouragement. Verbal encouragement “Eassssy, eassssy, easssy” –seems to have the opposite effect, so I just keep quiet, try to have a sense of humor about it, and ride as confidently as an electric horse will allow.
Stiff through the body. A few minutes of halter-rope work, breaking the hindquarter over in several different ways, sets the stage for success under saddle. You won’t see many straight lines in my warm-up with this horse. We’ll ride 10-foot-diameter circles on loose reins and change the bend through the center of the circle. We’ll ride deep wiggly lines on leg aids, looking for a clear lateral step of the hindquarters. We’ll do turns on the forehand with the reins dropped. We’ll back in circles.

I'm talking about horses, but its funny how relevant this all is too humans!
Carmen said that any horsenality can be a nightmare or a dream. And, like humans, horsenalities change. Our overall goal as horsemen, is to produce confident horses (and humans!) that are not limited by excuses such as 'Its in my nature to be scared/controlling/unmotivated/unfocused...' Horsenality is not meant to categorize, limit, or box the horse. Carmen spoke about how our belief in our horses determines what they'll be. We need to believe that our horses are capable of being who they're meant to be.
She also spoke about focusing on the goal or end result in your horse. A right brained horse needs to become more calm and confident, whereas a left brained horse may need to become more willing and motivated. She said that instead of focusing on what horsenality the horse is, we should focus on which one of these four aspects is missing. If we're asking ourselves "Does my horse need to be more willing? More confident? Motivated?" we can adjust to fit each moment, and won't be limited by their innate horsenality.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
John Baar gave us a demo about playing with our horses online. There are 3 reasons that we play with our horses online:
1. To prepare the horse or rider
2. To establish communication
3. To teach something new
Its amazing how knowing why we do something enables us to find a new quality. All too often I find myself purposelessly doing things with my horse, and then I wonder why I haven't got anywhere in that session?! Establishing leadership with a horse is very important, and one of the things that defines a leader is that they have a PLAN! Now if I'm aware that I'm playing with my horse online for one of the above reasons, it will help me to have a plan... hmmm.... how interesting!
Monday, September 6, 2010
1.Heart & Desire
One could extend on any one of these qualities, but I'm going to focus on the first 4. Pat Parelli regularly talks about having your horse fit in 3 different ways, and in the following order:
Mental fitness is respect. Emotional fitness is also impulsion.

Perfectionism drives human performance to elite levels, often helping a person achieve unequaled accomplishments. However, the push to be great can also have a deleterious effect on a person’s mood, and certainly, relationships. Often those around the perfectionist feel disregarded or inadequate. But what if the relationship with the perfectionist involves a horse?
Horses have a unique way of telling us the truth about ourselves, at times revealing parts of our character that are hidden or overlooked. For a perfectionist, a person who spends a great deal of time insuring that character deficits are avoided, this can often be a little disconcerting. On the other hand, the horse’s response to a perfectionist can also be relieving.
When a person imposes this need to be perfect on a horse, the animal often responds with tension. The horse may appear tense, hypervigilant, and essentially on edge, and may resist the handler in a number of ways. The horse may overtly object to the person by balking, acting stubborn, or attempting to flee. On the other hand, the horse may simply shut down, tuning the person out.
There could also be another response that the horse gives. In a natural environment with a horse, where the horse is loose, and allowed to approach the person in any way he wants, often he will vacillate between protective behavior — circling around the person, nudging him/her gently — and herding behavior — moving the person around the arena.
What the horse’s behavior is reflecting is the underlying inadequacy that every perfectionist experiences. Often in human relationships, the expression of inadequacy by a perfectionist is received with question, or even judgement, he/she can struggle with feeling as though it is unacceptable to be anything but perfect, now or ever. Of course, this only perpetuates the fear of failing and anger about the rigidity required to prevent it.
But the horse never questions what is presented to him. Whatever feeling, behavior, or thought surfaces, just is, right or wrong. So while the perfectionist may screen his/her inadequacy from others and from himself, and fear the judgement that comes with it, the horse only encourages the expression of it, as a part of the person becoming more whole, more readable to the horse.
What the horse does with a perfectionist really benefits not just the perfectionist, but the horse as well.

It will make maybe 150
mistakes before it chooses the square. Then you reverse it again."
The results were impressive. Each time they reversed the test,
the horse made fewer and fewer mistakes, until it got down to just
one mistake. It would choose the circle, get the reward, choose it again,
not get the reward -- then immediately choose the square. In other words,
they learned very quickly.
Vinur is being asked to "touch" the color "blue".
Do horses enjoy jumping? We may never know
But how intelligent is that � relative to other animals, or even humans.
Hanggi is reticent to make such comparisons, saying it's like apples and oranges,
animal species have different strengths depending on what they need to survive.
But she does say that horses who are not given enough mental challenge, horses
kept in stalls all day, or given such similar show tasks every day that they
become mind-numbingly bored, develop problem behaviours.
"When you compare horses that have an open range or even an
acre for grazing, to those that are always in stalls, you see all sorts
of bad behaviours popping up in the horses that are stall-bound," Hanggi notes.
"They develop stereotypic behaviour, like pacing around in the stall, chewing
on the walls, kicking, biting, to cope with the stress. Horses were meant to
be out on the open range, not locked up in little boxes all the time."
Hanggi advocates something called "natural horsemanship" to avoid these
"It's a way of training and working with horses so that you fit yourself
into their understanding of the world," Hanggi explains. "The normal way of
training is to say, "do what I want or I'll force it on you." We
use understanding and communication instead of fear and intimidation."
Can horses ever enjoy the work we put them to?
"You hear people say, "my horse really enjoys this or that"," says Hanggi, "but
that gets kind of tricky. It gets into animal emotions, and there's no real
way we know what their emotions are. But some horses do exhibit behaviours
that look like they're enjoying what they're doing."
Hanggi's study, "Categorization Learning in Horses" appears in the 1999,
volume 13, no.3 issue of the Journal of Comparative Psychology.

I meet people who label a behavior of a horse as dominant but find that it is often a lack of manners. Many people do not know how to teach their horses and children to be polite, willing, respectful and have good focus and work ethics.
Dominance is not a personality trait – it is a relationship state between two animals to decide who is going to control resources like food, water and mates.
Horses cannot dominate people, they learn what works and what does not work in their efforts to get what they need or want.
Aggression and dominance is not the same.
Horses can be aggressive in certain situations and it can be many reasons for that. It can be complex but aggression towards humans and dominance towards humans are different.
If a horse is aggressive towards you, dealing with it by being aggressive back may stop the behavior or it may not.
Aggressive behavior can be suppressed – that means it does not appear anymore. You will have suppressed the behavior. But suppressed behavior does not mean changed behavior. The aggressive behavior is still in there. Depending on what caused the aggression, and given the right conditions, it may even come back.
I think it is important to take the time and learn complexities of horses social life, life in the horse herd and how roles change in the herd. We need to keep in mind that the behavior in a wild herd with a lot of space to roam vs domesticated horses with limited spaces is very different.
Here are some videos that I have taken of different behavior I have observed in my herd;
Video 1 – My lead mare Darling schooling new ones
Video 2 – Introducing a new herd member (in a small space)
Video 3 – Gaia likes Jack …..
What do you see?
Let me know in the comment field and let’s talk about herd behavior.
Kind regards Stina and Jonna
Yurumein, St. Vincent, West Indies

These animals can potentially injure themselves or their handlers.
There are numerous stressful routine events that cattlemen may not consider stressful–weaning, transportation, social mixing, and vaccination. These routine management practices have been shown to increase the secretion of cortisol and epinephrine. Cortisol and epinephrine are stress-related hormones.
The concern with increasing stress in livestock is that stress can negatively affect growth, reproduction, welfare, and immune function–predisposing cattle to infectious intestinal and respiratory diseases that cost U.S. cattle producers an estimated $500 million per year. Reducing adverse consequences of stressful incidents and identifying animals that may react differently to stressors may benefit cattle's growth and health.
Researchers are studying interrelationships of stress and cattle temperament with transportation, immune challenges, and production traits. They have found that, depending on temperament, cattle respond differently.
The scientists looked at exit velocity from the chute (The rate at which an animal exits a squeeze chute or scale box where it's been restrained or held after transport. A fast exit indicates the animal is showing fear and is stressed by handling and human activity.) and pen scoring (A subjective measurement in which small groups of cattle are scored based on their reactions to a human observer. Scores range from 1–calm, docile, and approachable, to 5–aggressive and volatile). The exit velocity and pen score for each animal were then averaged together to come up with a temperament score.
In the study, Brahman calves were classified by temperament and transported 478 miles from Overton to Lubbock. After the trip, blood samples and body temperatures were taken before, during, and after administration of an endotoxin to simulate illness. Sickness behavior was scored on a 1-to-5 scale that measured the severity of calves' behavioral responses to the challenge. A score of 1 indicated normal maintenance behaviors, and 5 indicated the greatest amount of sickness behaviors, such as head distension, increased respiration, and labored breathing.
Scientist could immediately tell that the calm animals had been given an immune challenge, because they showed visual signs and became ill. The more temperamental animals continued to act high-strung and flighty after the endotoxin challenge. If a temperamental animal doesn't show signs of illness, managers might not realize that the animal is sick and needs treatment.

Animals, equestrian sports, equine massage, equine rescue, horses, Pets.
I spoke at a fundraiser for a local equine rescue today. It was a discussion about horses that ‘misbehave’, and how to methodically eliminate triggers. I put together a handout with a number of possible causes for conflict behaviours. It’s not comprehensive, and I don’t think any checklist ever could be. But it at least gives a number of common triggers to check a horse for when there are problems. I thought I’d post it here on the blog in case anyone else is interested. I’d welcome additions to the list as well, so feel free to comment.
Horses do not like conflict. They don’t like it with other horses and they like it even less with predatory species like humans. Conflict behaviours during handling or riding (rearing, bucking, bolting, propping, balking, biting, striking, kicking, etc.) indicate that the horse is unable to cope with the training situation. When assessing…
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Available in an easy liquid dose, EquioPathics Pre-Performance Stress promotes relief from fear of performing, change of stables or environment, the introduction of new animals and other stressful situations causing signs of anxiety or fear to be exhibited.
Whilst you cannot completely eliminate stress from your horse’s life, taking steps to reduce the impact of potential stressors and help promote calmness can help mitigate the challenges of different situations, and keep those stress levels to a healthy minimum.
Lisa Elliott, MSc Equine Science, Bsc Biology

Don’t just try to walk calmly around, because it usually doesn’t work. Make him work to force him to pay attention to you, using circles and leg yields, to get his mind off his friends heading toward the barn. Then, when he’s settled and answering your aids correctly, walk, reward him with a pat or two, and walk to rejoin the other horses or to the barn. But be prepared to go back to work, right away.
Barn- and buddy-sour horses usually balk or refuse to move forward, away from their friends or home. Balking can evolve into the extremely dangerous behavior of rearing and is not to be tolerated. When you ask the horse to go, he must GO. If your horse balks, you must IMMEDIATELY become far scarier to him than the cause of his initial anxiety.
Use your legs, spurs, whips and voice (growl and scold, don’t scream) and GO FORWARD. Having to gallop out of the barnyard for a week to get past this problem is worth it, if it prevents the horse from eventually rearing.
Noise anxiety is extremely tough to school. How do you prepare a horse to stay calm in the midst of a backfiring engine or gunshots until it happens? The most useful advice is to hang on and stay calm. And immediately return to whatever work you were doing, so that the horse sees that you weren’t fazed by the sound. He should learn from your example.
But if your horse is unusually anxious about noise, you can condition him with a sensory-overload type of training, like they use in police-horse training. Shake, rattle and bang pots and pan, bells, rattles, plastic bags or other common items around him while you reassure him (with your voice, stroking or food) until he accepts the sounds.
It’s rare that you can’t convince a horse who’s afraid of clipping or other care requirements to relax. But it can take considerable time and repetition, repetition, repetition. There’s nothing wrong with using some Acepromazine or other mild tranquilizer to settle his mind, if you don’t have the time or the situation is too urgent to take a slow, proper training route.
For most horses, 1 to 3 ccs of Ace (depending on his size and temperament) will do the trick.

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Different behaviour as a horse ages
Transcript of Different behaviour as a horse ages
Behaviour refers to the actions or reactions of an animal. In this prezi we will examine how the behaviour of a horse can, or will change with age. Take into account that every horse is different, and different breeds will all have different beviours. "Some behaviour does depend on age, but there are also other characteristics that come into play, along with that." (Mel) An animals behaviour is influenced by many factors; environment, physiology, genetic predisposition, experince and learning, and age.
Weaning happens around four to six months of age, and is one of the most traumatic events in the horse's life. Weanlings are in the process of overcoming much of their awkwardness, and need just as much guidance as they learn about how to interact with other horses and humans. By brief dialy workouts with a trainer and careful handling the weanling learns what is expected of it and begins to adapt to the requirements it will need to meet as it grows older. A young horses bones and joints are fragile, so the intense work doesn't start until they are at least two years old. During this period of growth too much food can be as bad as not enough..
Yearlings are over the age of one year, and they spend more time standing rather than lying down. They are very curious and enjoy mouthing anything they can find in their stalls or pastures. During this phase adult characteristics and behaviours begin to emerge. These young horses will test the boundaries with both herd mates and human handlers. They do lots of play fighting, galloping, bucking, and running with bursts of speed.

Many times all three of these will be different and before you know it, you are saying my horse kicked me for no reason......
Horses always do better if they are together with other horses. A horse's instincts prevent him from being equal to another horse. They must be higher or lower, so when people try to treat a horse like a pet, the horse will see this weakness and the horse will then think they have to be in charge, it is what horses do, the strongest has to take charge. When putting new horses together they may have some issues at first, but they will work them out in a few days and once it is done, it is done, except for minor ear pinning and squeals. The bigger the herd the safer horses feel. More horses equal more eyes and ears to spot danger. In larger herds you may have smaller sub-herds where strong leaders have branched off and took a few mares with them. A lead horse and stud can only keep control of so many horses, so as the herd grows, it is easier for a few mares to be taken by another leader.
If you ever watch horses in a pasture, most will be eating, but one or two will have their head up looking around for danger. Even while eating they are all aware and looking for danger. Horses move slowly, eat slow and look around slowly. However, the second one horse spots danger or something unknown, his head will shoot up in the air fast and high to focus on the threat. This quick movement is a warning to all others. Within a second, all horses will raise their heads to check out the danger and will look in the direction that the horse who warned is looking. Sometime a Stud or head horse will snort loud or blow to warn the herd and to warn the threat. When horses spot something new, they always conclude that it is danger until they prove otherwise. So when you hear someone call a horse spooky or scared all the time, that shows they do not understand horses. All horses are spooky, it is how they stay alive. Why do wild horses have such good feet? Because the horses with bad feet are never leaders, don't last as long, can't keep up with the herd, are usually eaten first by predators and don't get to reproduce.

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The application of many natural horsemanship methods operates on the foundation that the horse is being naughty, bossy or spoiled. They teach that if the horse isn’t returning the desired reaction, use more energy, get bigger, push/pull harder, etc. until the horse does return the desired reaction. This seems to work well with horses that ARE being naughty, bossy or spoiled and horses that are mentally and emotionally able to make the connection between reacting quickly how they think the human wants them to and being left alone more. However, I’ve found that it creates what I call “hop to it horses.” These are horses that react, rather than thinking and returning a thoughtful response. What about other horses? What about horses that are responding out of fear, misunderstanding, confusion, playfulness, etc.? How do these horses cope with the application of most natural horsemanship methods? In my experience, not well, and in the best cases, they become horses that develop coping methods that hinder them from becoming the best horse they can be. These are the horses that end up coming to someone like me, someone on the fringes of the horse world that is seen as weird, off beat and “too soft.”
I specialize in positive reinforcement training, specifically, clicker training. I believe that the foundation of ANY good training is monitoring the horse’s mental and emotional state. If you treat a horse that is being naughty like it is scared or confused, your communication won’t work. However, similarly, if you treat a horse that is scared or confused like they’re being naughty, you’re going to create a lot of problems for that horse, and therefore, for yourself or someone like me. When you ask your horse bigger and harder when they are not in a mental or emotional place to be able to listen and understand, it’s the equivalent of yelling at someone in Spanish who only speaks German thinking that yelling louder will make them understand. If you yell louder, and get angry or frustrated that they don’t understand, odds are, they will just yell back. I see this play out metaphorically between horse and rider all the time. When I am having challenge with a horse, much of the time, this is the source. It is our job to do our best to understand and empathize with how our horse feels and to speak in a way that our horse can best understand, yelling louder usually isn’t the answer.

The competitive Wood horse temperament loves to play rough, even if it means he hurts himself. Most horses will back off when in pain but the Wood horse’s instinct is to power through. In the case of the horse with the torn shoulder he did not slow down when he snagged his skin on an exposed gate latch. Instead he pushed on through the partially open gate, collapsing it and several posts.
My Wood mule did similar harm to himself when he refused to slow down when galloping over sharp rocks. The result was a broken coffin bone. The competition Wood temperament horse will continue to run of jump even when injured. They feel the pain but love competing so much they keep going. Think Barbaro and the injuries he sustained racing because he could not be pulled up.
So what to do to protect the Wood horse temperament from himself:
Scan stalls and pastures for any possible danger
Avoid overfeeding and underworking
Consider relaxing herbs such as Relax Blend before turning out
Turnout with more sedate horses
Provide safe toys like giant rubber balls(expect to replace these regularly)
Keep free choice hay available to keep your Wood horse occupied
The other side of the self destructive behavior of the Wood horse temperament is what makes him so fun to compete on. For the Wood horse there is no race too long or jump too high. He loves the challenge. Madalyn

I have received some really great feedback about the various types of therapeutic horsemanship programs available. I have also received some great questions. This week, I will take the opportunity to answer one of the recurring questions: How do horses communicate?
When thinking about the way horses communicate, it is important to keep in mind certain equine characteristics:
• Horses are prey animals.
• Horses create strong social bonds. They prefer to live together in herds.
• Young horses learn by imitating older horses’ behavior.
• Horses possess the five basic senses: Vision; Hearing; Smell; Taste; Touch. They utilize these senses when they communicate.
Horses communicate primarily through body language, but also use eye contact, voice and smell to get their point across. Observing the horse can often provide clues to his emotional state or temperament, whether he is in a state of conflict, aggression or dominance or if he perceives a threat in his environment.
A good way to begin recognizing the way horses communicate is to observe specific body parts of the horse and identify what they could be telling us. The following list is in no way exhaustive, but provides some good examples of communication that I have observed in my own horses.
The position of the horse’s ears can be a very good clue to what is going on inside his head. I refer to them as the antennae. They give me an idea of what has captured the horse’s attention.
• Held Forward – The horse is alert, listening to something ahead of him. He may be simply paying attention or it could be a sign of concern.
• Held to the Side – The horse is relaxed. He may be dozing or asleep.
• Turned back, but not flat to head – The horse is listening to something behind him.
• Pinned back, flat to head – The horse is angry and in an aggressive state. This could be in response to a perceived threat or a pain response.
With large eyes located on each side of the head, horses have nearly 360 degree monocular vision, meaning each eye is used separately. Remember, the horse is a prey animal and this wide range of vision makes him very difficult to sneak up on. The horse has two blind spots, however. One is located directly in front of him and the other is directly behind him. The eyes of a horse can be great source of information about the horse’s state of mind and where he is focusing attention.

If your horse doesn’t learn as fast as everybody else’s, maybe you’re training him slowly. Or maybe he’s not a fast learner. Some horses are smarter than others, some are more willing than others, some are lazier than others, and some are moodier than others. Some horses have a more active flight response than others. Some have a greater tendency towards aggression. Some are more sensitive, some are more stubborn. There’s a reason why sport horse breeders select horses for temperament; not all horses are created equal in terms of trainability. Things go a lot better once I can admit to myself that the horse has weak points, and then learn to work around those weak points instead of butting my head against them.
What about the abused horse that wants to run a mile when you go near him? Or the horse that had a gentle groom and a rough rider, who is perfect until you get on and then randomly throws you into next week? Is it your fault that somebody else beat him half to death? Of course not. His problems are not always your problems. The horse is not merely a mirror of his rider; he is a flesh-and-blood creature, unique, responding differently to any other horse. Only a great rider who has worked with a group of horses for a long time will stamp each horse with his trademark, and even then each of those horses will be different.
Maybe that horse that leans on his rider’s hands until his jaw gapes open is 100 times better than he was six months ago. Maybe that horse that just threw his rider a mile doesn’t have a sore back; maybe he had a bad hair day and didn’t feel like carting people around today. Maybe that rider with the one heel in the air has ripped a ligament and can’t put that heel down no matter how much they want to. I try to view every problem in my own training objectively (with varied success, I admit), with the goal to solve the problem, not to lay the blame. Blaming anyone achieves nothing in the end.

But, remember, tranquilizers are not training substitutes, and some horses won’t learn anything while under their influence. Plan a proper training session in the near future. Note: If you use tranquilizers to facilitate care, be sure it’s under veterinary guidance and far enough ahead of competition to avoid breaking the show or event’s rules for using performance-enhancing substances.
Convincing horses to not be afraid of other animals is usually an uphill struggle. If they’re afraid of cows, pigs, goats, dogs or wildlife, often there isn’t much you can do, except try to avoid them and hang on if you can’t.
The anxiety you have the best chance of changing is that caused by horses who are worried about the work they’re doing or the ride they’re getting. Everyone who’s trained more than a few horses has come across horses who don’t like to do certain things (such as jumping) but love to do certain other things (such as herding cattle).
Your job as rider or trainer is to determine if they can be convinced to do the job you want them to do or if the horse (and you) would be better off by selling him to someone who wants to do the same job. Almost always, both horse and rider are far, far less anxious if they’re both doing a job they like.
From a training perspective, it’s often extremely challenging to meld a partnership between a horse and rider who aren’t suited. Perhaps it’s a mismatch in style-the horse is hot-blooded and his rider is so busy in the tack that the rider is, in effect, shouting at him all the time. Or perhaps the horse and rider are too similar-each is green, nervous or unambitious.
One, or both, has to change, and sometimes that’s not possible. And, although it’s always far preferable for riders to truly work to improve their skills and suppleness and to expand their experience, sometimes trainers just have to admit that a change needs to be made. Sometimes, though, riders can’t bear to make the change.
As trainers, it’s our job to tell our students when things are going wrong. Make riders aware of the tremendous challenges they’ll face with their current mount given their respective personalities. Honestly explain what changes will have to take place to achieve harmony. But, ultimately, it’s up to the student to decide.

Understanding Your Stress Levels
In order to understand stress better, it is a good idea to understand that there are different stress levels. These levels vary in the form of stress they take and they can often provide an indication of how to treat the stress. Furthermore, there are tests available that can help people understand their own, particular brand of stress and, with this knowledge, they can also understand themselves better. Then, with this information, a complete stress management method can be constructed. So, when you examine your own stress, keep these stress levels in mind so that you can come to grips with yourself and learn the proper methods for keeping your mind balanced.
These stress levels were found and characterized by Dr. Hans Selye and Dr. Richard Earle of the Canadian Institute of Stress. Thus, the names and types are theirs.
Type 1 - The Speed Freak
This stress level is characterized by an incessant need to be giving 110% at all times. They are often perfectionists, they tend to speak quickly, and they are very impatient. Generally, Speed Freaks have learned that it is necessary to work hard in order to succeed, so they figure that, if they are working hard all the time, they are certain to succeed. This, of course, is not necessarily the case, since running full-bore all the time will only lead to stress over minor issues.
Speed Freaks need to learn how to relax and they need to clarify their goals so that they will work hard on things that really matter, while relaxing while they are working on more mundane tasks. By doing this, they can get up to speed when they need to put in the effort and conserve energy the rest of the time.
Type 2 - The Worry Wart
The Worry Wart stress level is characterized by an inability to stop thoughts, but an equal inability to put thoughts into action. They tend to overanalyze things to the point that they paralyze themselves. Thus, they simply end up spinning their wheels as they get nowhere. True to the name, Worry Warts tend to spend a lot of their time worrying and this only leaves them even more incapable of action.
Worry Warts need to think very specifically about the problems they are facing, write down every possible thing that can go wrong, then think about just how likely these events are.

Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
Horse training refers to a variety of practices that teach horses to perform certain behaviors when asked to do so by humans. Horses are trained to be manageable by humans for everyday care as well as for equestrian activities from horse racing to therapeutic horseback riding for people with disabilities.
Historically, horses were trained for warfare, farm work, sport and transport. Today, most horse training is geared toward making horses useful for a variety of recreational and sporting equestrian pursuits. Horses are also trained for specialized jobs from movie stunt work to police and crowd control activities, circus entertainment, and equine-assisted psychotherapy.
There is tremendous controversy over various methods of horse training and even some of the words used to describe these methods. Some techniques are considered cruel, other methods are considered gentler and more humane. However, it is beyond the scope of this article to go into the details of various training methodology, so general, basic principles are described below. The see also section of this article provides links to more specific information about various schools and techniques of horse training.
Basic goals of horse trainingEdit
The range of training techniques and training goals is large, but basic animal training concepts apply to all forms of horse training. The initial goal of most types of training is to create a horse that is safe for humans to handle (under most circumstances) and able to perform a useful task for the benefit of humans
A few specific considerations and some basic knowledge of horse behavior helps a horse trainer be effective no matter what school or discipline is chosen:
- Safety is paramount: Horses are much larger and stronger than humans, so must be taught behavior that will not injure people.
- Horses, like other animals, differ in brain structure from humans and thus do not have the same type of thinking and reasoning ability as human beings. Thus, the human has the responsibility to think about how to use the psychology of the horse to lead the animal into an understanding of the goals of the human trainer.
- Horses are social herd animals and, when properly handled, can learn to follow and respect a human leader.
- Horses, as prey animals, have an inborn fight or flight instinct that has to be adapted to human needs. Horses need to be taught to rely upon humans to determine when fear or flight is an appropriate response to new stimuli and not to react by instinct alone.