Pat, Cat & Dog

The association relating man and horse is an enduring one. But dealing with animals is normally easier and more enjoyable when you both have empathy and appreciation. In order to interact with horses, you need to comprehend their mindset, in order to anticipate horses’ decisions you have to understand how their mind works and why they perform in certain manners. A clear knowledge also develops confidence on each side-human and equine.

When they are placed in a a threatening position, a horse’s reaction is one of flight, and consequently its perspective on the world is one of defenselessness rather than attack. As people, how we react and handle in different situations depends on our previous upbringing and knowledge. It is the same with your horse, so meticulous early handling and schooling are vitally important.

We shouldn’t ever count on a horse to go against its natural instincts, that is, never to be cautious or wary – but with decent enough training we can contain these natural instincts and present to the horse, in a more productive manner, that a particular set of circumstances or thing needn’t be feared.

Horses by nature are sociable herd animals, who are welcoming to the inclusion of other horses, and also differing companions even including human beings. You will even find broken stable horses establish their own ‘pecking order’.

It might be that the older stallion down the bottom of the stable row calls more loudly at the time of feed or, as many different riders report, the retired horse kicks the stable door trying to get attention first when someone walks into the stables in the morning.

It is a well known fact that horses will react better to positive encouragement from you or your trainer when trying to overcome their natural flight intincts. ‘Breaking-in’, the phrase formerly associated with a younger horses initial conditioning to take a rider, is now swapped with terms such as ‘starting’, which infer far less the idea of dominance.

From therapeutic sessions with horses and children to the most famous of event riders, a common bond – that of trustfulness and compassion between horse and rider – is blossoming.

The horse looks at its human contacts as another of its ‘herd’ in the herd order of command, It is both the rider and trainer’s joint intellectual capacities which give him or her the advantage. Because of this the the man/horse connection has worked incredibly well for several thousand years, and is the reason why human beings can control an animal that are much more powerful than themselves.

All horse riders when starting will usually be told ‘Don’t be nervous’. However at the beginning the beginner rider should be learning from a more experienced horse and should therefore be able to relax more easily, the fact that horses need comfort and protection is something to bear in mind and cultivate from the start of a riding career.

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