The other day I was talking
with a student about her horse’s behavior, which she
found mystifying. The horses had been in the barn
for several days, due to cold rainy weather, and
today she had come to get her horse out for
exercise. “I took Isadora out to the round pen and
longed her for a little while and she was very laid
back” she said. “you know, she just kind of trotted
around la-de-da, so after a few minutes I went ahead
and took her to the covered arena and rode. She was
ok until she saw a horse out in one of the round
pens. Then she began to act like she wanted to buck
and act crazy. I tried to ride her through it, but
she just kept on acting like rodeo was on her mind,
so I finally got off, took her back to the round pen
and longed her.” She went on “Well, she just
exploded and bucked and bucked and cantered around.
What do you think made her do that after she was so
laid back when I gave her an opportunity to play in
the beginning.?”
It’s a good question isn’t it? Why do horses DO
that? I think it is an accumulation of factors.
Horses, as you know, are herd animals and prey
animals. They have survived as a species by
responding to stimulants and reacting according to
their anxiety level, after checking in with the herd
to see if every body else thinks it’s dangerous too.
Horses have a physical and psychological need for
movement. Lack of movement builds this need to an
explosion point.
These factors and how they create the horses’ need
for movement can be compared to a bucket that can
overflow, causing a flood, when too much stimulus
accumulates in the bucket. I define stimulants as
things which cause the horse to feel agitated, (not
necessarily afraid) and therefore push it towards
acting from instinct or emotion rather than thought.
Factors that may increase the level of stimulants in
the bucket are the horse’s character and breed type,
weather, the horse’s happiness in its work, poor
fitting tack…. I’m sure there are more, and if you
think about it you can think of a few which affect
your horse and increase the level in the bucket.
For instance, every horse’s bucket has some level of
stimulants in it all the time. A horse with a
nervous character has a higher level of stimulants
in his bucket to begin with, so it doesn’t take as
many added stimulants to “send him over the top”. A
hot-blooded breed of horse has a higher level of
stimulants in her bucket than a cold-blooded breed.
Horses stalled regularly have a higher level of
“need to move” stimulant than horses turned out all
the time. Horses fed high protein or high
concentrated carbohydrate diets have a higher level
of stimulants in their bucket all the time.
Add to this the environmental stimulants. The horse
that is not happy in it’s work has a higher level of
agitation. Cold weather can cause agitation in the
form of “need to move”. Poor fitting tack can
definitely be a stimulant, causing the horse to want
to buck or “run out from under it”. Remember, to
your horse, on an instinctual level, a saddle that
stabs him in the back with a predator (you) perched
on it is not all that different than a big cat. This
is not to say that horses can’t tell the difference.
They are incredibly more intelligent than most of us
imagine. But agitation can short circuit thought,
and then your horse acts from instinct.
So back to Isadora, the perplexing horsey Queen in
question. Lets see if we can add up the stimulants
in her bucket to understand the “overflow” and why
such a small thing as seeing another horse in the
round pen might send her “over the edge”.
Isadora is a wamblood of the generally laid back
type, so she doesn’t have as much in her bucket of
stimulants all the time as say, a typical Arabian.
She is still a horse, a hunted animal in instinctual
terms, so her bucket has a certain level of “high
awareness” type of stimulation in it all the time.
In this case she had been stalled for several days
with minimal exercise. Add a half-bucket. She is fed
a diet with a moderate amount of concentrates. These
were not eliminated during stall confinement. Add
another quarter of a bucket. The weather had been
cold for several days. Add another big dollop. She
originally went out to the round pen and the arena
alone. Add a some more for leaving the sameness of
the stall, getting circulation and movement going,
and stimulation of sights and sounds of the area.
Poor fitting tack? Don’t know—could be a stimulation
factor. We are getting close to the top of the
bucket now. So here comes a herd member moving
around freely in the round pen. On another day, or
even this day with fewer stimulants filling the
bucket, shouldn’t be an issue. But this day, the
bucket of stimulation is already full and this last
bit causes the overflow. Once Isadora erupts, she
needs to move in order to lower the level of
stimulation back to the level where she can think,
rather than react.
If you learn to notice all of the stimulation or
agitation factors filling your horse’s bucket, you
will be more able to predict when they will have an
“overflow” situation brewing. Give them a chance to
move and dispel some of that agitation and
stimulation.
If , like Isadora, you have reason to believe that
they are “on the verge” you may want to add
stimulation to push them into movement mode, or you
may want to do some anxiety lowering movement
exercises like TTEAM groundwork which will help them
think and not react. Either of these strategies may
help them be better able to think and respond to
your partnership requests in a cooperative manner.
Which one you choose depends on your horse’s
character.
Penny Stone has been a horse
professional for over 24 years. Her experience
includes teaching, training, stable and farm
management. A graduate of Merideth Manor
International School of Horsemanship, she is also
certified as a Practitioner II by Linda Tellington-Jones.
She currently offers horse training, lessons, equine
bodywork, low level laser therapy, and horse
property planning and management.