Strange as it may seem, horses don't wake up one day and decide they are not going to do something or plot against their riders and handlers to undermine training efforts. The small frontal lobe of a horse's brain does not encourage a vast amount of ability, if any, to reason.
Horses learn by conditioning and experience. For every horse owner that blames a horse for poor behavior, it says much about them and little about the horse. If a horse won't do the 'thing' you want it to do, there will be a very good reason.
Most of the time it is simply that the horse doesn't understand your request. If it perceives anger emanating from their rider/handler they will become tense and eventually they will run on their instinct of flight not fight. If that exit is blocked, then they have no choice but to instinctively defend themselves with hooves and teeth, though first, they will back up, rear or try to intimidate the threat.
A common reason for a horse not doing what it has been asked to do, even if it knows the task at hand, is a fear of pain. Physical pain experienced by the horse can come from a range of sources; bad saddle or bit fit; poor riding techniques, especially push and pull; soundness issues; chiropractic misalignment; poor dental care. A horse has no way to communicate other than by its actions.
When a horse becomes overwhelmed by too much input that it doesn't comprehend, it will become reactive. A very smart horse will most likely be more sensitive to external stimuli than a less smart one. A mare similarly will require more tact than most geldings or even stallions. Horses do lose their tempers and they do lose focus and switch off when they become frightened.
A horse with its head held high is ready for flight. Tension is already present and it is up to the rider/trainer to recognize the telltale signs and review what they are doing and how they are doing it.
The age of the horse has no bearing on its training level. If you have an older horse who is less educated in the ways of our riding world, tightly spaced tin transport boxes and generally has not seen much of life, then you have to take the time and patience to train it to trust you and not be afraid. There will always something that the horse will be more afraid of than the whip or the spur. You cannot force a horse to learn or force a horse not to be fearful, except with trust. This takes time and technique and importantly, consistency, to achieve.
Once a horse trusts you it will do its level best to do as asked.
When given a specific task, the horse will usually choose the path of least resistance. For example, a horse will choose to jump the lowest part of a fence so cross poles encourage their confidence and teach them to stay in the center of the fence.
A double win. To say a horse cannot reason does not mean it has no intelligence, and just like us, some are more intelligent than others. Some are more resourceful, some seemingly have a better developed sense of humor.
Yes, there is an occasional horse that poses more difficulty in the training process but often these are more highly bred horses with more athleticism that intimidates the rider. Or perhaps is too much gait for the rider to manage.
In short, always look to yourself before blaming the horse. As Olympic gold medal dressage winner, Gabriella Grillo once said to me during my training in Germany,
" This horse did not ask to be here in my yard. It is my job to make him happy and confident."
My recent trip to Europe yielded some disturbing news - there is a sincere anti-horse owning trend taking hold. As a horse owner on this side of the pond I took particular note of the issue. I was aghast at TV reports, and comments among friends and acquaintances when I inquired further as to what they had heard on the topic. It seems that the general public, pushed along by organizations' spread of propaganda ( the notable P.E.T.A. being a key player), are listening to these so called humane societies advocating that riding horses is cruel and should be reviewed and stopped.
The iconic Olympian Isabell Werth, touches on this topic in the last chapter of her recent book, Four Legs Move Me. To paraphrase, she remarks that if this attitude against horse ownership takes hold, we will be visiting horses as exhibitions of the species in a zoo and all horse ownership as we know it will cease.
Armed with ridiculously biased reporting, these organizations are already 'credited' with causing the banning of horse sales on Facebook. Whether that is true or fake news I cannot ascertain. However, their activities in Europe are most likely to be encouraged here by the ever present equine deaths at sporting events.
To single out horse racing as a culprit for bad press would be easy to do, but all types of riding disciplines and horse shows are under fire. The Ocala Equestrian Center was quickly targeted for not having turnout for every stall space on social media. In Europe there are suggestions of putting into law the notion that every horse must have access to free turnout at all times. Eventing shows sadly see a fair number of human and equine injuries and death, even our local HITS Saugerties showground has experienced a death at the main arena of an accomplished young female equestrian.
The fellowship and history of the horse in our society is well documented and our partnership with the horse, care and concern for its well-being should always be foremost in our ownership and riding/driving of our equine buddy.But we must also regard our position within the entire community with diligence.
We must educate the non-horsey public about the benefits that horses provide to everyone: the therapeutic benefits for humans, the Wounded Warrior project, the PATH programs, the para-programs. When a neighbor complains about the smell of manure we should take note and make an effort not to be antagonistic or inflame the situation, but seek to resolve the matter equitably.
When industry experts attempt to mitigate cruel practices such as long haul transportation for slaughter and social media posts of live horses being crowded onto planes to Japan pop up we should take note. Black market horse meat, horses being apparently randomly shot in fields, stolen from paddocks, and discussions of best methods to euthanize horses by implementing ownership fees to cover veterinary administration of euthanasia for the horse, are all topics we should listen to carefully. When the Chinese slaughter donkeys for supposed 'medicine' and fairs in Spain exhibit abuse of donkeys and horses we should pay attention and do something concrete to stop it now.
It is wise not to take this attack on our beloved horses and their ownership by us for granted. If we do not take methods to self-regulate the horse industry others will be all too happy to seize the chance to do it their way. Speak up!
