Understanding the way a horse thinks

 

To me one of the surest signs of a lack of understanding of equine psychology, or the way a horse thinks, is “He will do as I tell him“, a sure sign of arrogance, but not of horsemanship, unless it is said by a true professional, who knows why he says it, and what to do. It is amazing that this attitude will mostly be found among amateurs with little or no experience, and who normally ruin most of the horses they get involved with.

It is just logical that a young horse which comes in for the first time, will be suspicious of EVERYTHING. EVERYTHING is new and strange to him. Even being stabled is a foreign experience. So what does the inexperienced horseman do?

Instead of realizing the fear and uncertainty of this young horse, they try to overpower him, thereby causing more doubt and uncertainty. They (stupidly) expect him to accept and to familiarize himself with anything new within seconds. ANYTHING is a threat to this young horse. EVERYTHING is unfamiliar. He doesn’t know WHATEVER to expect from even the most common things. It is almost unthinkable that so many people will try to overcome this problem by trying to dominate the horse, instead of giving it time to investigate the object unfamiliar to him.

IT IS NO USE DOING EVERYTHING IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING

Does he know what a harness, a saddle, a curry comb, a towel, a bridle, is, or, more importantly, what (harm) it can do to him? Can we expect him to know that we intend no harm? What goes on in his mind? In his natural state he has to either flee or defend himself against danger. To him these things are as scary as a ghost to us at midnight.

Common sense – but is sense always so common? So what does the ignorant, inexperienced (sometimes after involvement with horses for most of their lives, still “ignorant“), arrogant horseman do when the horse shies or gets uncomfortable? Shouting, even as bad as beating, even kicking. Such people are too stupid to realize that the horse is trying to defend himself against a danger which, in HIS mind, might injure or even kill him. So they prove his fears well grounded!!! And cause PERMANENT doubt and mistrust. It is about as sensible as, when a small boy has difficulty carrying a packet of flour, to add a packet of sugar to his load, instead of making the load lighter. Just as stupid!!!!

Someone once said: “All horses are horses; all men are not horsemen“. How true!!!!

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