Alternative Horsemanship™ Blog & Articles

 Horse Behavior and Herd Dynamics 

In the summer there is a continuous rotation of horses on the farm as equines arrive from all parts of the country. They stay various lengths of time, depending on their individual needs in their re-education and often rehabilitation. 

 One of they key aspects is herd dynamics. To be blunt, humans have "taken" the horse out of so many horses. 

 They are fed processed feed, live in contained areas, have limited herd interactions, are weened super young, often have no variety in the terrain they are exposed to, and I won't even get into what indiscriminate and fad breeding has done to their genetics. 

 So with that all in mind, we cannot assume horses will be socially capable or functional in a herd. Often even just being offered open space for the horse who has only lived in a stall can be overwhelming for him. 

 I'm 100% intentional in how and when I deem a horse is ready to interact with others, and what pasture I keep them in (each has their own natural challenges.) 

I always try to set up a "buddy system" with a confident, reasonable herd member who can offer support to the new horse. 

 I have witnessed things like horses who didn't know how to walk up a hill- despite having won $90,000 at the track. Ones that won't drink because they were unsure how to use the automatic water and didn't have the confidence to try. Equines that were too fearful to eat because of the trees making noise. Horses that didn't have the physical coordination to walk down the hill from the water, which is at the top, in a balanced manner. Horses that have no socialization skills whatsoever or ones despite their older age act similar to yearlings.

Often, with the aggressive, socially dysfunctional horses that are experiencing pain and fear from human experiences, there is a trickle down effect displayed by their dysfunction when in the herd. 

 I never cease to be amazed seeing the slow re-emergence of the horse's instinct "reawakened" and the once socially inept grow into respectful herd participants. 

This shift is a two-way occurence. With the mental and emotional rehab from time with the human helping diminish the horse's initially hyper-alert, defensive, or fearful behaviors, flows over into how they interact with other horses. And the more socially sound they become, the more mentally available to the human they become. 

 Taking time and observing the horse herd without adding the human dynamic can reflect and teach so much about what the equine is experiencing if the person doesn't filter what they are observing with their own emotional triggers or judgments.

It is an opportunity to gather information, and to recognize areas where the horse may need more support in being able to learn how to think through scenarios, how to try, search, and how to let things go.

When was that last time you spent time observing the horse?