Equine Article

Simple ways to bond with your new horse ...

Wanting to bond with your new horse is a natural inclination. However, forming a good relationship with your horse takes time, so don't rush it, and don't expect it to happen overnight. Below are some simple suggestions on how you can create a healthy bond (and a trusting relationship) with your new horse.

First of all, remember to be firm. This means being firm in your leadership and communicating your expectations regarding your horses manner and behaviour firmly and clearly. For example, if you ask your horse to step over five steps, and your horse knows how to do that, don't let him get away with five steps over and three steps back.

Be fair, realistic and consistent. Don't expect your horse to do anything that it has not been trained to do, or you know is not physically able to do. Don't set up your new horse for failure! Also be consistent. When you ask your horse to back up—ask him to do it in the same way every time. Also feed your new horse at the same time and use the same aids and cues each time you work with your horse. Horses are creatures of habit and the seem to like predictability.

Visit your horse for reasons other than riding. Stop by to give him a pat, rub or a handful of grass. Chat to your horse, smile at him and just hang out with him whenever you can. If you don't mind giving your horse a (safe) treat, do so! These simple things will help you and your horse to bond.

Understanding your horse's body language, and how your own body language affects your horse, will help you to communicate with your horse in a healthy way and create a closer bond. However, this must be done with consistency. For example, something like "join up" or other behaviours you have taught your horse won't be lasting if your horse does not know what to expect next from you. Learn to understand what your horse is thinking by observing their facial expressions and body movements, e.g., ears, tail, and posture.

Grooming your horse is a good way to bond with your horse. Horses appreciate it when you brush areas it can't get to, like the chest, belly and between the legs.

Give your horse a companion. While your horse will learn to enjoy spending time with you, it will also need the companionship of other horses. Horses don't care about the same things we do: winning prizes, the best gear, or perfectly kept stalls. They want shelter from bad weather, good pasture, water, companionship, and leadership from someone they can trust.

Learning the basics of equine massage and other therapeutic interventions can help you to bond with your horse. If your horse knows he can rely on you for relaxation, he will enjoy time with you. And, it may also enhance his or her performance. Many horses learn to lean into the pressure of massage or even chiropractic work, indicating where they need work.

Just like a shared experience between people can bring them closer together, so can sharing experiences with your horse. The more you train, ride or drive your horse, the more you and your horse will learn to understand each other. You may have heard of competitors who claim their horse looked after them during a competition, even though they didn't feel at the top of their game. Their experiences show the power of what mutual trust can do in difficult conditions.

Equine Article

Clicker Training Horses ...

In short, clicker training is a horse training method based on behavioural  psychology that relies on marking desirable behaviour and rewarding it. Desirable  behaviour is usually marked by using a "clicker": a mechanical device that makes a short, distinct "click" sound which tells the horse exactly when they're doing the right thing. This clear form of communication, combined with positive reinforcement, is an effective,  safe, and humane way to teach the horse (or any animal) any behaviour that it's physically and mentally capable of doing. Clicker training is based on the science of how animals learn, and it's used in zoos and marine parks around the world because it is the most gentle and effective method for training all types of animals.

Using the clicker method to train horses allows the horse trainer to gradually and progressively raise the standard of behaviour required to earn a click and reward. The process of gradually raising the standard of behaviour is called “shaping a behaviour”.  The trainer begins with rewarding the smallest movement or slightest effort— gradually teaching the horse more advanced behaviours or behaviour chains.

Clicker training is useful when the trainer wants to teach the horse a new behaviour or improve a response. Once the desired behaviour is established, reliable, and on cue—and can be performed in any environment even with distractions—the trainer can then phase out both the click and rewards by switching to a variable reinforcement schedule so they don’t have to reward the behaviour every time. This helps to keep the horse keen in their efforts, and it also means the rider won’t need to be giving clicks and treats while competing!       

The clicker training method can be used to teach the horse numerous behaviours such as leading, handling, worming, injections, hosing, hoof care, preparation for vet care, float loading and trailering, desensitising, long reining, in-hand training, lunging, preparation for riding, starting the young horse under saddle, foundation training under saddle, obstacle training, preparation for trail riding, dressage, jumping, working equitation, eventing, sporting events, showing in hand and under saddle, western events, and reining. It's also a safe and effective way to solve behaviour problems such as: tension, spooking, shying, bucking, rearing, bolting, biting, kicking, striking, hard-to-catch, and head-shy issues.

Clicker training is an effective horse training method because it's relatively easy to understand and apply (when given some guidance). It's a suitable training method for horses of all ages and breeds, and fits in with most classical horse training systems.  Overall, this training method is useful for enhancing the results you get by improving the horse’s understanding, motivation and willingness.

Equine Article

Do Horses Understand Human Emotions?

A new study shows they do.

If you have ever owned or spent a lot of time riding with one particular horse, you have most likely felt some sort of special connection with them—and wondered if horses even like humans. Maybe you've felt like they were actually your friend, or a small part of your family, and wanted to know if the feeling was mutual. A new study shows that horses can actually understand and remember human emotions, which is something that makes them seem even more special than they already are.

This is not the first time scientists have discovered something like this about horses—as previous studies have found that horses can recognise expressions. This new research, however, has found that horses can recognise expressions and remember them, as well as link them to a specific face. In other words, horses can recognise human faces and their emotional expressions—something that they then use to discern whether the person is a threat or not.

This study was carried out by researchers at the universities of Sussex and Portsmouth and published in the journal Current Biology. While it's not the first study done on horse behaviour, it's the first study to find something like this. Portsmouth researcher Leanne Proops said, "We know that horses are socially intelligent animals, but this is the first time any mammal has been shown to have this particular ability. What's very striking is that this happened after just briefly viewing a photograph of the person with a particular emotional expression—they did not have a strongly positive or negative experience with this person."

The researchers came to this conclusion after a series of experiments where they showed domestic horses photographs of humans with either a happy or angry facial expression. Later, they showed the horses the people in the photographs, making neutral expressions. During the real life meeting, researchers watched the eye movements of the horses. They found that the horses saw those who had been photographed with angry faces to be more threatening (previous research has shown that horses look at negative or threatening things with their left eye). It's important to note that the humans did not know which photographs the horses had seen before, which was done to eliminate the risk of the humans behaving differently.

Karen McComb, a professor at the University of Sussex, said in a news release, "What we have found, is that horses can not only read human facial expressions, but they can also remember a person's previous emotional state when they meet them later that day—and, crucially, that they adapt their behaviour accordingly."

This research is incredibly interesting for so many reasons. For one thing, it proves exactly how intelligent and emotional horses really are—the connection that you might feel with one of these magnificent creatures is a real thing. For another, it's an important step towards learning more about these important animals, and maybe even animals in general. We still know so little about what goes on in the minds of some of our favourite animals, and this is one way to understand a little bit more about at least one of them.

In fact, this is more proof that horses may have more human-like behaviour than you thought. Previous research has found that horses can deal with chronic stress, experience allergies, and even get the flu. Anyone who has spent a lot of time around horses may not find this type of research particularly surprising.

Reference

Booth, J. (2018. May 3). Do Horses Like Humans? Retrieved from https://www.bustle.com/p/how-you-read-emotions-changes-as-you-get-older-a-new-study-says-16781280

Equine Article

How do horses communicate with each other?

Experience and research has shown that horses primarily communicate with each other through overt, and covert, body language. Initially, a herd of horses will establish group order through obvious behaviours such as biting and kicking. Thereafter, they tend to rely on more subtle gestures of communication such as small movements of the ears, tail, feet and body, and some verbal noises.

The horse’s ability to communicate with each other verbally, and non-verbally, to create a more harmonious and functional group, has helped horses to survive by enabling them to stay together and travel in the safety of large herds. Their ability to practice the necessary social skills of acceptance, tolerance, kindness, honesty, patience, understanding, forgiveness and compassion is what allows them to live more harmoniously with each other.

How does the horse's communication abilities affect us?

Research studies have shown that the horse’s extraordinary ability to understand their own body language translates to humans as well. For example, the horse can sense when you are happy, calm, angry, stressed, upset, intolerant, anxious or sad, and will respond accordingly—even when you think you are hiding your true emotional state and acting ‘normal’.

After a lifetime of experience with horses, I have learned that the horse’s capacity to read and understand human emotions goes beyond the mere communications we witness happening between them. The horse’s ability to demonstrate qualities like acceptance and compassion can also help people to heal from a variety of psychological, emotional and physical wounds.

I have witnessed this time and time again in my own life, especially years ago when I facilitated a therapeutic equine programme designed to help individuals gain healing from grief and loss. The transformations I witnessed in these adults and children as they formed deep connections with the horses was truly extraordinary. Spending time with, and learning how to connect with the horses, helped these emotionally wounded individuals work through the grieving process, better connect with themselves—and ultimately gain healing from their grief. Interacting with the horses also helped them to reconnect with other people and once again participate in the varying recreational and sporting activities they previously enjoyed. There are several equine supported therapy programmes in NZ that are available to adults and children, with or without equine experience, to help them to gain healing from varying psychological, emotional and psychical problems. Our very own Northland Sales Representative, Lynnette Watson, provides equine supported therapy at her Omega Equestrian Facility in Kerikeri. You can contact Lynnette on 027 559 3009 for more information about the equine services she provides.

Knowledge Base

Horse facts for beginners

Horses are ungulates — mammals with hooves. They also have long tails, short hair, muscular torsos, long thick necks and elongated heads. Due to domestication, they are found all over the world. 

Horses have lived on Earth for more than 50 million years, according the American Museum of Natural History. Scientific American claim that the first horses originated in North America and then spread to Asia and Europe. The horses left in North America became extinct about 10,000 years ago and were re-introduced by colonizing Europeans.

It is believed that horses were first domesticated in Asia between 3000 and 4000 B.C., according to Oklahoma State University. Back then, horses were used mostly for milk and meat. Eventually, horses joined oxen as a form of animal transportation.  

Size

There are more than 400 different breeds of horses. Horses can be as big as 69 inches (175 centimeters) from hoof to shoulder and weigh as much as 2,200 lbs. (998 kilograms). Tiny horses exist, too. The smallest breeds of horses can be as small as 30 inches (76 centimeters) from hoof to shoulder and weigh only 120 lbs. (54 kg), according to National Geographic. 

Habitat

Horses are found in almost every country in the world and every continent except Antarctica. For example, the Abyssinian is found in Ethiopia, the Budyonny comes from Russia, Deliboz is from Georgia and Armenia, the Egyptian came from Egypt and the Colorado Rangerbred comes from the Colorado plains, according to Oklahoma State University.  

Habits

Horses are very social animals. They live in groups called herds. In the wild, horses will live in herds that consist of three to 20 animals and are lead by a mature male, which is called a stallion, according to National Geographic. The rest of the herd is made up of females and their young.  

Diet

Horses are herbivores. This means they only eat vegetation. Typically, horses eat grass, but domesticated horses are often fed bran, rolled oats, barley and hay, as well. A well-fed horse eats 1 to 2 percent of its body weight in roughage, such as grass or hay, every day, according to The Humane Society. Domesticated horses are also given blocks of salt and mineral blocks to lick. This is to supplement the nutrition that the horses get from their food.

Horses only have one stomach, unlike cows, and it is small. So to get enough food, a horse must graze throughout the day.

Offspring

Horses have live births after around 11 months of gestation. Some people mistakenly call baby horses ponies. Actually, horse offspring are called foals. Ponies are adult horses that are shorter than 56 inches (147 cm), according to Encyclopedia Britannica. Shetland and Welsh horses are common pony breeds.

The foal is able to stand soon after birth and becomes mature at 3 to 5 years of age. At 2 years old, male foals are driven away from the herd by the stallion. The young males ban together in a herd until they find a herd of females that they can lead. 

Classification/taxonomy

According to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System, the horse's taxonomy is as follows:

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Subkingdom: Bilateria 
• Infrakingdom: Deuterostomia 
• Phylum: Chordata
• Subphylum: Vertebrata
• Infraphylum: Gnathostomata 
• Superclass: Tetrapoda 
• Class: Mammalia 
• Subclass: Theria 
• Infraclass: Eutheria
• Order: Perissodactyla 
• Family: Equidae
  
• Genus: Equus 
• Species: Equus caballus

Conservation status

The only truly wild horse is the Przewalski's horse. This horse once roamed from Manchuria to Spain. Populations have been reintroduced to China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan, according to the San Diego Zoo. Currently, the Przewalski's horse is listed as critically endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. The population is increasing, though. At last count, in 2008, there were close to 2,000 Przewalski's Horse alive.

Other facts

Many people think that mustangs are wild horses, but they are descendants of Spanish horses that are called Iberian horses. As descendants from domesticated horses, technically mustangs are feral horses and not wild horses. 

Horses have four speeds called gaits. They walk (slow speed), trot (a little faster than walking), canter (faster than a trot) and gallop (a horse's fastest gait). 

The Faeroes Pony Horse is found on the Faeroe Islands in the North Atlantic. It is one of the oldest breeds of horses. This breed is very rare, to the point of almost being extinct. 

The Hungarian Warmblood was bred to be a sport horse breed. They are used for dressage, eventing, show jumping and combined driving events, according to Oklahoma State University.

The word Equus comes from an ancient Greek word that means "quickness," according to Oklahoma State University.

Reference

Bradford, A. (2015). Horse Facts. Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/50714-horse-facts.html