Understanding Horses from Head to Hoof

In This Chapter

• Describing horses’ physical traits accurately
• Understanding equine instincts, senses, and language
• Keeping horses happy and trusting

For some reason, horses attract human beings like magnets attract steel. This human infatuation has been going on for thousands of years. The fascination began when primitive man saw horses as food. As cavemen became more civilized, horses became valuable as beasts of burden. Basically, for most of the horse’s history with humans, he has helped humans survive in a hostile world.

Nowadays, however, humans have few practical reasons for keeping horses around. Whereas humans used to use horses to provide transportation and sustenance, we now have much speedier ways of getting to the grocery store. So why do humans still want to keep big, unwieldy creatures that cost a lot to house, take a lot of time to care for, eat a great deal, and produce significant amounts of poop? What could horses possibly offer modern humans that would make keeping equines — that is, members of the horse family — worth all the trouble?

You get different answers to these questions depending on whom you ask. But because we’re the ones writing this book, you’re going to get ours:

Horses are amazing, incredible creatures. They’re as breathtakingly beautiful as they are powerful and fast. They’re wild in their souls yet gladly give us their hearts. Horses offer us beauty, a connection to nature, and a quiet and dignified companionship that no other animal can provide in the same way. If you don’t believe us, it’s only because you really haven’t gotten to know a horse yet. After you do, the equine mystique will reveal itself to you.

If you want to be around horses, you need to acquire some horse sense. By that, we mean that you need to understand some basics about horses, such as how they’re put together physically and how to improve your relationship with your horse by getting into his head — doing a little horse psychology, if you will. This chapter covers these things and more.

Horse Talk: Describing Horses Correctly

If you hang around a stable for any length of time, you’ll notice that horse people have a language all their own. This language — which sounds like a foreign tongue to the uninitiated — is what horse people use to describe the intricate details of the horse’s body.

If you want to fit in with the horsy set, you need to know the lingo and the basic knowledge of horses that goes along with it. The horse’s anatomy, and the horse’s height measurements, colorations, markings, and movements all are essential details that real horse lovers know.

Checking out the horse’s parts

Horses are really put together. Nature made them to be virtual running machines that can reach speeds of nearly 40 miles per hour. The equine body is an impeccably designed combination of muscle and bone in an elegant and graceful package.

People who spend time around horses not only begin to appreciate equine anatomy but also come to understand it. Horse people talk about their horses’ bodies the way mechanics talk about cars. In the equine world, if you want to keep up with such conversations, you must know the lingo and the blueprint. Here are some parts of the horse you need to know (see Figure 2-1 for more):

• Withers: The area on the horse’s back just after the neck but above the shoulders
• Fetlock: The horse’s ankle
• Forelock: The hair between the horse’s ears that falls onto the forehead
• Hocks: The elbow-like joint of the horse’s back legs.
• Muzzle: The area of the horse’s head includes the mouth and nostrils

Figure 2-1: The parts of the horse work together to build a virtual running machine.

Tip

Heard the expression, No hoof, no horse? Well, it’s true. Without healthy hooves, horses can’t function well. Becoming familiar with the parts of the horse’s hoof gives you intimate knowledge of this most important part of the equine body. This knowledge helps you take better care of your horse’s tootsies, too (see Figure 2-2).

Figure 2-2: Knowing the parts of the hoof is essential in caring for horses.

Measuring a horse correctly

The average horse weighs anywhere from 1,000 to 1,200 pounds. But horse people rarely refer to a horse’s weight when describing the animal’s size. Instead, the horse’s height, measured in something called hands, is the appraisal of choice.

Protocol

One hand equals four inches, and horses are measured from the ground to the top of the withers (see Figure 2-3), or the area of the back behind the neck and above the shoulder. So, if a horse stands 60 inches from the ground to its withers, the horse is 15 hands high. If the horse stands 63 inches from the ground, the horse is 15.3 hands. Because a hand is an increment of 4 inches, a horse that is 64 inches from the ground to the withers would not be 15.4 hands high but instead is considered 16 hands. Height in hands is sometimes written as h.h., which stands for hands high.

Figure 2-3: Measure the horse from the ground to the top of the withers to determine its height in hands.

A horse’s height is important only if you plan to ride it — which, of course, is what most people do. Generally speaking, an average-sized woman can comfortably ride a horse that is anywhere from 14.2 hands to 16.1 hands in height. If you’re a rather tall woman, or are a man of average male height, you’ll probably want to lean toward a horse on the taller side of the range.

All this is mostly aesthetics, of course. If you’re a tall person, you look better on a taller horse. Of course, if you’re above average in weight, a larger horse can carry you more comfortably. If you plan to show your horse or perform particular events with it, height may also be a consideration.

Tip

You can use a regular measuring tape to determine a horse’s height, as long as you’re good at division, because you need to divide the number of inches you come up with by four. If you’d rather not bring your calculator to the stable, you can buy a special horse measuring tape or a measuring stick (even more accurate) at your local tack store. These devices are labeled in hands, so you don’t have to do any calculating of your own.

Horse measuring tapes also are useful in determining your horse’s weight, because the tapes usually have pound increments on one side and hand measurements on the other. To determine your horse’s weight, wrap the tape around the horse’s girth, just behind the elbow, and up behind the withers.

Seeing horses of many colors

Nature made horses to blend in with their surroundings, so the colors you typically see in horses are meant to camouflage. Based on this definition, you may think that horse colors should be dull, but the exact opposite is true. The many different shades and variations of coat color that you find in the equine world is amazing, and knowing the different horse colors helps you describe and identify individual horses you may come across in your equine travels. Having this knowledge also permits you to converse intelligently with other horse lovers. You may even end up finding a favorite coloration that you’d like to see on your own future horse!

The best way to learn horse colors is to see them. In the color section of this book, you can find color photographs of 16 of the most common horse colorations, along with names and descriptions of each. Some of the colors you’ll see in the horse world include bay (reddish brown with black mane, tail, and legs), black, chestnut (reddish body with red or blonde mane and tail), gray (anything from nearly white to dappled gray), and palomino (gold with lighter mane and tail).

Looking at different horse markings

Leg and facial markings are great for helping to identify individual horses. Each marking has a name, and each name is universal among equine aficionados. Figure 2-4 shows the most common horse facial markings. Keep in mind that the following patterns often have subtle variations.

- Bald: White that starts above the forehead, goes to the muzzle, and extends beyond the bridge of the nose to the side of the face

- Blaze: Wide white area that runs along the bridge of the nose

- Snip: White spot located on the muzzle, between or just below the nostrils

- Star: White spot on the forehead

- Stripe: Narrow white stripe down the center of the face, on the bridge of the nose

Figure 2-4: Facial markings can help you identify individual horses.

Figure 2-5 shows typical white leg markings on horses. They include

- Coronet: A small white band just above the hoof

- Half cannon: A white marking that extends from the edge of the hoof halfway up the middle of the leg

- Half pastern: A white marking that extends from the edge of the hoof halfway up the pastern

- Sock: A white marking that extends from edge of the hoof two-thirds of the way up the leg

- Stocking: A white marking that extends from edge of the hoof to the knee or hock

Figure 2-5: You can find a variety of white leg markings on horses.

Figuring out horse movements

If you’ve ever seen a Hollywood western, you know that horses gallop. In fact, in the movies, all horses seem to do is gallop. In real life, however, most horses have several other gaits besides the gallop.

The gaits are considerably different from one another. One difference is speed: The walk is the slowest of the three. The trot is faster than the walk, and the canter is faster than the trot. The gallop is the fastest gait of them all.

A big difference in the gaits is in the way the horse positions his legs while he’s moving.

- In the walk, the horse puts each foot down one at a time, creating a four-beat rhythm.

- In the trot, one front foot and its opposite hind foot come down at the same time, making a two-beat rhythm.

- In the canter, one hind leg strikes the ground first, and then the other hind leg and one foreleg come down together, then the other foreleg. This movement creates a three-beat rhythm.

- In the gallop, the basic canter movement is sped up so that all four feet are off the ground for a suspended moment. Then, each hind foot hits the ground individually, followed by each front foot individually. To the rider, the gallop feels very much like the canter, only faster.

When you’re riding a horse, you can feel each of these different rhythms. (See Figure 2-6 for a visual sense of how this all works.)

Depending on the discipline or type of riding you’re doing, you may hear other terms to describe these gaits. For example, western riders use the term jog to describe a slow trot and lope for a slow gallop.

Figure 2-6: The leg positions of the walk, trot, and canter (which is slower than a gallop).

Just to confuse matters, the horse world has something called gaited horses, which are horses that naturally possess one or more gaits in addition to or instead of one or more of the basic gaits. Only horses of particular gaited breeds have these peculiarities. Chapter Perusing Popular Horse Breeds has info on various horse breeds, including gaited breeds.

Mind Games: Getting into the Horse Psyche

You need to comprehend the world that the horse lives in to be able to understand the horse. Think about it: The world of horses is not composed of fast-food joints, unbalanced checkbooks, and vacations to far away countries. Instead, horses live in a world made up of hay and grass, buzzing insects, and assorted horsy politics.

Looking at the world through a horse’s eyes can open up all sorts of avenues for communication between you and the horse. When you finally connect with your horse, you’ll find that suddenly, this huge, four-legged alien is very special.

Examining equine instincts

Horses have a way of thinking about and viewing things that is uniquely their own. The evolution of horses as prey animals gives them a special viewpoint that helps them survive.

The components of this perspective (such as viewing the world as a series of threats, finding safety in numbers, and looking to an authority figure for guidance) make up the essence of the horse’s being. The human who understands and sympathizes with these sometimes unhumanlike ways of looking at the world is the person who becomes most adept at conversations with the horse.

Prey, not predator

The first thing you need to know about horses to really get into their heads is that horses are prey animals, not predators. (The one interesting exception to this fact is in Iceland, where Icelandic Horses have been seen catching and eating fish from the ocean.) In the wild, horses are at the top of most large predators’ dinner menus. Dogs and cats, on the other hand, evolved to be hunters. Consequently, the horse looks at the world differently than the domesticated dog and cat.

Nowadays, horses live in domestic situations where their biggest worries are horsefly bites, but try telling that to a horse. Long before humans ever considered building barns, haylofts, paddocks, and arenas, bolting from a potential threat is what literally saved the horse’s hide. This instinct to flee first and ask questions later is at the core of every equine personality.

You don’t need to spend much time around horses to witness the equine instinct to flee: In a nutshell, horses scare easily. They often spook at what humans view as the most benign of things: a plastic bag blowing in the wind, a low-flying plane passing overhead, or a car backfiring nearby. To humans, these distractions are minor, but to the ever-watchful horse, they are potentially life-threatening hazards.

Remember

The ease with which horses spook may seem ridiculous, but the instinct to flee from trouble is at the center of a horse’s psyche. Although most domestic horses don’t have predators chasing them, they nevertheless have a powerful instinct to be on guard. Their brains are telling them that horse-eating monsters are out there, so they need to be on the lookout. If a real predator can’t be found, then, by golly, the horse will conjure up a hunter to run from.

Let’s stay together

Closely associated with the get-the-heck-out-of-Dodge-now instinct is the herd instinct, which is represented by the horse’s burning desire always to be with other horses. This need stems from the fact that in the wild large numbers mean safety. It works like this: Pretend for a moment that you’re a horse, and a huge, terrifying saber-toothed tiger has selected horsemeat for his next meal. When a big cat starts chasing your herd looking for prey to take down, the chances of you being the horse that gets nailed are less when a whole herd of other horses surrounds you.

In addition to decreasing your odds of being the unlucky item on the big cat’s menu, being in a herd also means that you can find out about impending danger much sooner than you would if you were alone. After all, a herdful of eyes is better than one measly pair.

Yet the horse’s love for other horses is not completely mercenary, however. You only need to watch a group of horses out in a field to discover that they genuinely enjoy each other’s company. Although each horse is an individual with his own distinct personality, horses nonetheless thrive on companionship and bond strongly with their herdmates. They groom each other with their teeth, take turns tail swishing flies from each other’s faces, and even play horsy games together, such as tag and I-dare-you-to-try-and-bite-me.

Follow the leader

Horses are social creatures, and they even have their own societal rules. In any given herd of horses, some horses are dominant and others are submissive. Horses follow a precise pecking order, with one big kahuna at the top of the heap who lords over all the other horses. The individual personalities of various herd members, along with factors such as age and physical ability, determine which horses take on different roles within the herd. All in all, horse society doesn’t operate that much differently than human society.

Human beings, on the other hand, have benefited greatly from the horse’s intrinsic need for leadership. The horse’s penchant for dutifully submitting to authority is what ultimately enabled humankind to domesticate the horse thousands of years ago. After a human earns a horse’s respect (the same way a leader horse must earn the respect of his fellow horses), the horse views the human as an authority figure to be respected and followed in much the same way as he views the leader horse.

Tip

When a human fails to gain a horse’s respect early on in their relationship, the horse automatically takes charge. From the horse’s perspective, every herd — even one made up of only two members — must have a leader. Although first impressions are important to horses, overrun humans can make up lost ground by becoming more assertive and telling the horse (in so many words), “I’m the one in charge now.”

Remember

In the same way that horses test the leader horses in a herd, they also periodically test their human companions to make sure that the humans still are worthy of leadership. Horses that misbehave often do so to challenge the authority of whoever is handling them, and they’re incredibly astute at determining the qualifications of those giving them orders. For a horse to feel secure, he must have strong leadership. If you don’t measure up in this department, or if the horse has a history of dealing with humans that don’t measure up as leaders, the horse will take the leadership position from you — and we promise you won’t like the results!

For example, in horse/human relationships where the horse has taken charge, you often see horses leading humans around the stable instead of vice versa. Leader horses that are being ridden make the decisions about where and when to go, despite their riders’ pleas.

Equine followers feel safest when they have a strong leader making decisions for them and helping them determine what is and isn’t dangerous. Human leadership accounts for why many horses find comfort in their associations with human beings. If we humans do things right, they see us as leaders. And if we say things are okay, then they must be okay.

The role of leader places a great responsibility on human shoulders, of course. We must convince the horse that we are confident and knowledgeable and worthy of their invaluable equine trust.

Surveying equine senses

From the horse’s perspective, you need to know — or literally see — how the horse takes in the world. Humans evolved to be hunters and gatherers, chasing down prey and finding appropriate plants to eat. Horses, on the other hand, are built to avoid hunters and eat nearly everything that grows around them. Given these fundamental distinctions, the horse’s senses are bound to have nuances that are somewhat different from those of a human.

Sight

Sight is the most important equine sense. For a prey animal like the horse, in the wild, good eyesight means the difference between life and death. Literally seeing trouble coming is the best way the horse has to make it to safety before a predator gets too close.

Because horses have long, narrow heads with eyes on either side, they have the ability to take in more of the view than do humans. When their heads are facing forward, horses have a nearly 180-degree field of vision in each eye (as shown in Figure 2-7). They can see in front of and almost all the way around their bodies, although they do have some blind spots.

Figure 2-7: A horse can see this much when facing straight ahead.

Warning!

One of a horse’s blind spots is directly behind, so you should never approach a horse from the back unless the horse already knows you’re there. If you’re already next to the horse and move toward his blind spot, keep one hand on him at all times so he is aware of your presence.

No one knows for sure how far horses can see, mainly because horses have trouble pronouncing the letters on eye tests. Scientists who have done experiments in this field have made some educated guesses that horses can see pretty darn far, in the realm of at least hundreds of yards away. Horses can distinguish patterns, which means they’re able to take in fine details. They also perceive depth well.

Horses also have much better night vision than humans. Many a rider has been out on a dark, moonless trail, dumbfounded by his or her horses’ ability to see where the pair are going despite the incredibly dim light.

Scientists know far less about horses’ color vision than they do about other areas of equine sight, but they’re certain that horses can see some colors. Red and blue seem to be particularly distinct to the equine eye, but beyond those colors, we don’t know. Researchers need to do more tests to find out whether horses can see the full spectrum of the rainbow.

Hearing

A species that survives by getting a head start on marauding predators needs a pretty good sense of hearing. The fact that horses have survived all the way to modern times is testimony to their incredible hearing, which is considerably better than a human’s.

If you look at the shape of the horse’s ear, you can see that it’s built sort of like a funnel. With this design, the ear can capture sound in its outer part and channel it down into the ear canal. The broad outer part of the horse’s ear very adequately takes in the slightest sound in the horse’s environment.

The horse’s ear also has an amazing ability to swivel. Just watch a horse’s ears sometime while the horse is busy eating or just hanging out. You’ll see one ear turn forward, while the other swings to the back. Sometimes both ears go forward at the same time, while at other times, both are poised to the rear. The purpose of all this twisting is simple — to take in as much information as possible at one time.

Using their extremely mobile ears, horses constantly monitor the world around them. Just imagine trying to pay complete attention to different sounds coming in to either ear at the same time. Impossible for a human, yet the horse does this on a steady basis. A horse can take in the sounds of a car driving by, children playing, a bird chirping, and a human approaching, all at once, from different places in the environment. The horse then processes that information and makes split-second decisions about whether to react — all the while picking out the best blades of pasture grass or meandering down a rocky trail. The process really is mind-blowing.

Tip

Loud, unfamiliar noises can send a relaxed horse into a tizzy. On the other hand, a placid, reassuring sound can ease a horse’s worries. It’s amazing to see how a frightened horse can be comforted by a soft, gentle voice from a calm and confident human. Keep this fact in mind when handling your horse in a particularly noisy or frightening environment.

Smell

Like most nonhuman animals, horses have an acute sense of smell that they regularly employ to provide them with information on what is going on around them. Horses use their sense of smell in a number of different and important ways.

People talk about smelling danger, but when it comes to the horse, this metaphor is literally the case. Nature equipped the equine with a strong olfactory sense that can tell the animal whether a predator is near. All it takes is a strong upwind breeze to bring a dangerous scent to the attention of a wild herd. After getting a whiff of the predator, the herd literally high-tails — their tails stick way up in the air as they flee — it out of there in a flash.

Horses also use smell as part of their complicated social structure. Horses typically greet each other nose to nose, each taking in the odor of the other. Horses also come to recognize each other by scent and by sight. Mares and foals quickly memorize each other’s scents and use this information to help locate each other in a crowd of horses.

Tip

Most horses also greet humans in the same way. When you introduce yourself to a horse for the first time, notice how the horse reaches out his muzzle to sniff you. Given this olfactory penchant, the most polite way to approach a horse is with the back of your hand extended so the horse may take in your personal scent. Letting a horse breathe in your scent tells the animal that you are a fellow herdmate (not a predator), and usually makes the horse more agreeable to being handled.

The equine sense of smell also comes in handy when it’s time to eat. Although horses also use their eyes and muzzles to ferret out the tastiest morsels in a pasture, sense of smell plays a part as well. One plant may look just like another to you, but a horse can get a sense of whether foliage tastes good by first getting a whiff of it.

Touch

The equine sense of touch is an important (although often overlooked) element to the horse. Although many people think that horses have tough hides, they really don’t. Their skin obviously is tougher than human epidermis, but it still is rich with nerve endings. If it weren’t, how else could a horse possibly feel a tiny little fly landing on his body? Trust us, he can!

If you sit on a pasture fence and watch a herd of horses for a few hours, you’ll see plenty of evidence of how horses use touch to communicate with each other. Mothers reassure their babies with a brush of the muzzle; comrades scratch each other’s itches with their teeth. Whenever a message needs to be sent from one horse to another, visual cues and touch — or the threat of it — nearly always are used.

Tip

Humans also use touch to convey messages to the horse. A gentle rubdown, a pat on the shoulder, a vigorous massage in just the right place — these all are ways of saying, “I’m your friend,” to a horse. Sometimes, if you’re lucky, you get a similar tactile message in return.

Understanding equine language

Because horses are such highly social creatures, they do quite a bit of talking to one another. Of course the equine way of communicating is nothing like what Mr. Ed did. Horses have their own exclusive language, and traditional nouns and verbs aren’t part of the picture.

The phenomenon of imprinting In 1991, a California veterinarian by the name of Robert M. Miller, DVM, authored a book called Imprint Training of the Newborn Foal, which highlighted a method for getting deep into the equine mind. Called imprinting, this procedure involves intense handling of newborn foals, even before they have bonded with their mothers. The theory behind imprinting is that foals, as herd animals, will bond closely to whomever they make physical contact with shortly after birth. In the wild, this instinct to bond helps the foal stay close to its mother and the herd, and helps him understand that he is a horse. By spending time ritualistically handling a newborn foal before it has even had a chance to rise to its feet, a human being can make an impression that will last the horse its entire lifetime. Advocates of imprinting say it produces horses that have a strong connection to their human handlers, making them easy to train and willing to work. However, if not performed correctly, imprinting can result in a horse that has no respect for humans and can be difficult to deal with. Regardless of any pitfalls in the technique, a great many horse breeders have incorporated imprinting into their foal management programs. The result: Any horse you meet born after 1991 may well have been imprinted.

Humans primarily use verbal language to express thoughts and emotions to one another. Horses do the same thing within their species, only they mostly use their bodies to get their points across. This clear way of expressing a variety of attitudes, intents, and emotions is universal among all members of the equine family.

Remember

To truly understand horses, you absolutely have to know how to read equine body language. Trying to get by without this crucial skill is like trying to conduct business in a foreign country without comprehending the native tongue. You just can’t do it.

Focusing on facial expressions

One of the most obvious ways that horses talk to each other — and to humans — is by using facial expressions. Horses send out at least four distinct messages by using their faces (as shown in Figure 2-8). Each message has a distinct look.

- I’m afraid, and I’m about to bolt. Horses that are on the verge of panic often warn you with this expression before they take off (although they may act in a matter of seconds). The ears are pointed toward whatever is the source of fear. The head is held high and the whites of the eye are showing. You sometimes can actually see the muscles in the neck tense up.

- I’m alert and wondering what’s next. This welcome expression indicates that the horse is content and curious about his surroundings. The ears are pricked forward; the eyes are focused on the object of wonder. The head is held at medium height.

- Get away or else! This expression immediately precedes a bite or a kick. The horse usually directs the aggression at other horses, but occasionally, ill-tempered horses direct this aggression at humans. The ears are laid back flat against the head, the nostrils take on an oblong shape and the mouth is open with teeth exposed. (Don’t confuse flattened ears with ears that are simply cocked back for listening.)

- I’m relaxed and secure. The sign of a happy, healthy horse, you may see this expression while you’re grooming, while your horse is dozing in the pasture, or even while you’re riding together along a familiar trail. The ears are in a relaxed state, usually pointing backward. The eye has a calm look, and the head is at medium height.

Tip

Individual horses exhibit these expressions with subtle variations, so getting to know the individual expressions of your particular horse helps you understand him even better.

Figure 2-8: Horses use these four basic facial expressions to communicate.

Listening to the equine voice

Although body language is the primary means of equine communication, horses also use a range of sounds to talk to each other. The most prominent among these are the neigh, nicker, snort, and squeal. Each sound serves a particular purpose in a herd situation, and horses often use the sounds as a way of communicating with human beings, too. Although scientists aren’t completely sure what each of these vocalizations means in a literal sense, each one seems to take place under certain circumstances, giving us a clue as to its intent.

- Neigh: A neigh, or whinny, is the loud call that most people associate with the horse. You hear it as a sound effect in Hollywood westerns all the time (usually used incorrectly — see Chapter Ten Horse Myths for more details). The neigh seems to be used most often by horses that have been separated from their herd or from a very close companion. Neighs have a sense of urgency to them that seem to be saying, “Hey, I’m over here!”

- Nicker: The nicker is a soft, gentle call that is usually heard when horses with a close bond greet one another. Mares nicker to their foals, and herdmates nicker to each other. Horses that are attached to their human caretakers sometimes nicker to them. You can also hear nickering at feeding time as the person delivering the food approaches.

- Snort: The snort, made by a rapid blowing of air from the nostrils, is most often heard when a horse is alarmed in some way. If a horse comes upon something that scares him, he may bolt, then spin around and snort at the offending object.

- Squeal: One of the more amusing equine vocalizations is the squeal. The squeal is usually reserved for other horses, and seems to be a message of controlled aggression. Strange horses often approach one another with heads up and necks arched. After a short muzzle sniffing session, one horse squeals to show dominance. The other horse often reacts with an aggressive facial expression or a return squeal. The horses almost seem to be testing each other to see who backs down first. A mare that isn’t quite ready to breed may squeal to tell a frisky stallion to back off.

Another type of squeal comes from horses that are really frightened. These fear squeals are higher pitched and shorter in length than their more assertive cousins.

Do You Trust Me? Developing Bonds Between Horses and Humans

The very instincts that have served the horse well in dealing with life as a prey animal often are in direct conflict with life in the human world. Domesticated horses need no longer fear ferocious carnivores because the horse’s safety is guarded by his human companions, and his needs are (it is hoped) always met. This new way of being, however, conflicts with everything the horse has become throughout its long history.

Making things even odder for the horse is the fact that humankind itself was one of the very predators that preyed upon horses thousands of years ago. Scientists are certain that primitive man actively hunted horses for food. In fact, many believe that human overhunting may be partially to blame for the horse’s extinction in North America some 10,000 years ago.

This reality creates a conundrum for both horse and human. The human creature that horses once feared is now the very same one asking the horse for trust and companionship. These same human beings have also placed the horse in a human world where much of its natural survival behaviors are unnecessary. This paradox creates a weird scenario for both the horse and human, no matter how you look at it.

The dilemma that humans and horses face boils down to a couple of questions:

- How do humans deal with the horse’s penchant for fear and flight?

- How do horses deal with this strange world so alien to anything they would have ever encountered in the wild?

Remember

Because of mankind’s greater brain capacity, the burden of bridging the gap between the reality of the domesticated horse’s world and what a horse’s instincts tell it falls on the human. Communicating to the horse that everything’s really okay, however, requires the human to understand the equine mind and to pay close attention to the horse’s modes of communication.

Developing a trusting relationship between horse and human can achieve miraculous results. Many, many horses trust their human caretakers so much that they tolerate all kinds of bizarre situations with minimal fear. Go to any horse show and you can see what we mean. The constant commotion and chaos that is a regular part of many horse shows would otherwise make every horse at the show go nuts. But that rarely happens. Instead, you see scores of horses calmly lounging around, quietly munching their hay, and performing beautifully in the show ring when it’s their time in the spotlight. These horses have grown accustomed to the human-dominated world in which they live and have developed a basic trust in the humans who guide their lives.

Other examples of how horse-loving humans have helped horses transcend the gap between primitive equine instinct and the modern human world can be seen everyday in stables and pastures around the globe. There you find horses that greet their caretakers with an obvious joy. Some horses become incredibly attached to just one special person. Even more horses truly love their jobs and are eager to come out of their stalls or pastures and do whatever work is asked of them.

Tip

If you want to achieve a profound bond with your horse, always put yourself in your horse’s place and try to comprehend the equine experience. Not only will you come to understand and appreciate your horse, but your horse also will come to view you as a protector and ultimately will grow to trust you with his very life.

The sections that follow cover just a few of the tasks that humans can undertake to develop trust with their horses.

Providing companionship

Horses are herd animals, and you can’t get around that fact (see “Let’s stay together” earlier in this chapter for more details). Just like humans, horses need to have regular interaction with members of their own species to maintain a healthy sense of well-being. For a horse, being alone means being vulnerable — so vulnerable that it can be a matter of life or death.

Remember

Depriving a horse of regular companionship is inhumane and tantamount to keeping a person in solitary confinement. Some horses can tolerate the situation better than others, depending on the individual personality of the horse. But none enjoy isolation. In fact, a horse deprived of companionship often becomes neurotic and develops stable vices, the equine equivalent to human nail-biting (see the section “Taking some stable vice advice” later in this chapter). Every horse needs to have some company, whether it’s on two or four legs. 

One or more horses for a friend is the best scenario, but many horses can also find solace in the companionship of a goat, sheep, donkey, or other hoofed animal. Human companionship also means a great deal to horses. Some horses — usually ones that were imprinted on humans at birth (see the sidebar on imprinting earlier in this chapter) — actually prefer human companionship to that of other horses. But with most horses, human companionship alone doesn’t fit the bill. Human companionship is better than nothing, however, and needs to be provided often to a horse that has no other comrades.

Chowing down

Horses evolved on grassy plains, and in nature, horses spend most of their time grazing. The equine digestive system supports almost constant consumption of low-grade grasses.

The equine brain also is designed for plenty of foraging and chewing. Grazing for a horse is the human equivalent to working, reading, or watching TV. For a horse, grazing provides not only nutrition, but also mental stimulation.

The ideal situation for a horse is to be in a pasture, where he can munch on grass for nearly 18 hours a day. A horse that can do just that is going to be a happy, well-adjusted critter that can give in to the natural urge to chew, chew, chew.

Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, providing a horse with pasture isn’t always possible. Many horses — especially those in more urban areas — live in small dirt paddocks or tidy box stalls, without access to grass. Sometimes, these grazing-deprived horses develop stable vices because they are bored and frustrated by their inability to express their natural urge to graze (see the section “Taking some stable vice advice” later in this chapter).

Remember

For horses that can’t graze in a field of grass, the next best thing is frequent feeding of roughage, like hay. You must feed horses a minimum of twice a day for basic nutrition. More frequent feedings are even better for their brains and help keep their digestive tracts working properly. (See Chapter Establishing an Everyday Routine for more details on feeding horses.)

Don’t forget to cut back a little on your horse’s feed if he must be laid up and can’t exercise for some reason. Talk to your veterinarian about how much to reduce his ration under these circumstances.

Stretching out

Just as Mother Nature designed the horse to eat on a nearly constant basis, she also built the horse for nearly constant movement.

If you watch a horse grazing out in a pasture, you’ll see that with just about every bite of grass, the horse takes a step. In a 15-minute period, the horse moves quite a few feet from where he originally started nibbling.

This regular movement provides exercise for both the horse’s body and mind. Energy is slowly released as the horse moves steadily around the pasture. Take this same horse and put him in a box stall or small paddock, and you have a horse that feels cooped up.

Remember

For the horse that must live in small quarters without the freedom to move about and graze, daily exercise is of vital importance (see Chapter Establishing an Everyday Routine for the full scoop). Every day, your confined equine needs to be taken out of the stall and walked for at least half an hour, turned out into a larger paddock to run around, or be ridden at least 45 minutes. If the horse doesn’t receive adequate exercise, not only will he be prone to developing leg problems, but he’ll also have plenty of pent-up energy. The horse often expresses his overabundance of energy through stable vices (see the next section) or through misbehavior when he finally does get out of his stall.

Taking some stable vice advice

Remember

Horses that are kept by humans in a way that is very unnatural to how they evolved (cooped up, unable to eat with frequency, lacking mental stimulation) sometimes develop neurotic behaviors. These stable vices, as they are known, are the equine equivalent to nail-biting and hair-twisting. Horses with theses problems need more stimulation in the forms of more frequent feeding, more exercise, more companionship with other horses, and/or more room to move around (see the previous sections). After a horse develops one of these habits, it’s hard to break, even with a change in environment, so prevention is key:

- Cribbing: Cribbing is a bizarre but all-too-common habit, and seems to be the equine version of obsessive-compulsive disorder. The cribbing horse grabs a fence post or barn door in between his teeth, arches his neck, and sucks air into his stomach. This air sucking creates a head rush that becomes addictive. Cribbing is not only a sign of extreme boredom, it can be harmful to the horse’s digestive system. Devices exist that are meant to curb this behavior, but in our opinion, you’re better off addressing the source of the problem, which is a lack of stimulation. When it comes to cribbing, prevention is more effective than a cure. Provide your horse with enough exercise and stimulation so that he doesn’t get into the cribbing habit.

- Wind-sucking: Similar to cribbing, wind-sucking involves the horse taking hold of a horizontal surface between his teeth and sucking air into his stomach. Sometimes the horse doesn’t take hold of anything but just sucks air into his windpipe. Usually the result of boredom, wind-sucking is a hard habit to break. Providing a horse with plenty of roughage (hay or pasture) to eat and daily exercise can discourage the habit.

- Weaving: A horse that weaves stands in one place, shifting weight from one foot to the other in a rhythmic motion, back and forth, his head swaying from side to side. Weaving horses are pitiful to watch. Weaving is not only a sign of extreme boredom, but can also be a symptom of anxiety. Weaving is almost always a stall problem that usually goes away when the horse is moved to a pasture or a bigger stall.

- Pacing: A pacing horse walks endlessly around his stall. Horses that exhibit this behavior usually are showing discomfort with confinement. In most cases, horses that pace are the ones kept in box stalls. Horses in paddocks occasionally pace, too, especially if they have a neighboring horse they don’t get along with. Pacing is a horse’s way of saying “Get me out of here!” Move the horse to a more open environment if possible.

- Bolting feed: Bolting feed means eating too quickly, something that horses sometimes do when they are feeling overly hungry, anxious about the security of their food, or simply anxious in general. It’s not healthy for a horse to bolt his feed, because the food isn’t thoroughly chewed or moistened. This situation can cause a blockage in the esophagus, or in the intestines where it can lead to colic. Feed the horse more often, put medium-sized stones in the feeder along with the feed to slow down his eating (he’ll have to pick around the stones), and create a more secure environment for the horse.

by Audrey Pavia with Janice Posnikoff,DVM