Horse Behaviors and Instincts

Natural behavior and instinct - Babies cry, children play, horses kick , horses flee etc.....When you think of it, horses live in a bit of conflict between their domestication and natural instincts. No wonder there is confusion on their part and on ours! If we understand why a horse is using their (defensive) natural instincts, we can direct them to focus more on what we are asking of them. For the most part, horses are not "bad" on their own. We tend to bring out their defensive traits when we ask them to (in their sense) put themselves potentially in the way of physical or emotional discomfort or harm. Last year in Ocala, I witnessed a professional transport company loading a farm's horses to return after circuit. No one representing the farm was in attendance. The carrier's drivers barely took 5 minutes to try to get the horse on the truck. (This was a full load with air ride etc...). They whipped it onto the truck. That took them one half hour. Great. So now at home when the trainer or owner tries to load this horse and it STARTS by kicking back at them, they may assume the horse is just being bad on its own. So unless you start a horse completely from the beginning yourself or buy a horse from a breeder who also has a reputation for turning out horses that have good basics and handling, you must always be ready for your horse's instinct to arise from a previous experience. Identifying this behavior which can be anything from kicking to resistance in riding (such as going behing the bit, stopping at a jump etc...) as the horse's instinct to protect himself is the first step. How you work with your horse after that makes the difference.

Your Horse/Your Instincts

I have been on both sides of the fence. As a young adult and amateur, I believed (and wanted to) everything my trainer(s) told me I should do from care, to handling, to riding. Yet I would find myself having feelings of doubt and on too many occasions wish I had trusted my guts and done things differently. Who paid the price for me not heeding those nagging feelings? Why my horse did of course. To begin, let's wipe the slate clean. Start over. Learn to listen to your horse, and observe more objectively anyone who is involved with your horse and having you do things "their" way. This includes well intentioned and high level trainers and riders. Every choice you make regarding your horse is as individual as you are and no one except you is as motivated to have a happy partnership with their horse as you are. If you own, ride, and or participate in the care of your horse, you know your horse better than anyone else. For parents of children who ride, this becomes a challenge. Parents for the most part will put all decisions in the hands of the professional trainer, without ever learning about horses or the variety of riding disciplines that are available. To you I suggest first, begin to learn and start asking questions.