A Free Roaming Herd Is  The "Natural" Social Setting For Horses

Although very few groups of horses live in a totally natural setting, observations of feral groups of horses and of zebras suggest that the natural setting for the horse is as part of a free roaming herd. Horses should stay as part of this group for life avoiding constant changes of environment and social group.

Whilst it is impossible for most horse owners to replicate this environment, we believe that horses should live as part of a social group and should not be isolated in stables except where confinement is required as a consequence of  veterinary treatment. However, where stabling is unavoidable for whatever reason, horse owners need to do everything in their power to ensure that their horses have as much social time as possible with other horses so that they can be taught how to behave with others of their species and can play, explore, learn, eat and drink in a psychologically safe setting.

Horses in their feral settings do not show the stereotypic behaviours such as cribbing, wind sucking and weaving that are too common in stabled horses. Returning horses to more natural settings allows for their psychological needs to be met and except where these behaviours have been well established, it is likely to lead to a reduction in their incidence.

Natural herds range in size from  around 2 to 20 horses. Sizes between 3 and 7 are common with higher levels of aggression being found in larger groups. This may be due to difficulties in recognizing group members in larger groups and also the need to maintain rank in the hierarchical herd structure. Competition for limited resources may also impact on aggression levels.

Two types of herd seem to exist.

The first type of herd I will call the harem herd. It contains one stallion with his mares and their foals. Stallions protect their mares from other stallions but do not lead as such. There is usually a mare who leads the herd to grazing and drinking areas with the stallion driving the herd from behind.

The second type of herd I will call the bachelor herd. It contains bachelor stallions and colts who do not have a harem of mares. These groups are created by the stallion in the standard herd driving out colts who are lively, playful and keen to learn to skills that may one day lead to them establishing their own harem group.

This occurs when a young stallion challenges an existing stallion for his group or alternatively by mares joining the bachelor group and one of the stallions taking control, driving out the others.

Both types of herd allow for the basic needs to be met. However, it is easier and safer to reproduce for both stallions and mares as part of the standard group.

Within herds, horses will form pair bonds; that is a close relationship with one other member of the group. This bond can last a lifetime and tends to be with a horse of similar size and sex. However, they will pair bond with opposite sex animals of differing sizes.

For the psychological wellbeing of individual horses and the herd as a whole, it is not good to separate horses from their pair bond or the herd to which they belong.

Horses Have Their Own System Of Communication Within Their Social Structures Which We Need To Learn And Use

Horses, just like human beings, have their own system of communication which is vital to the functioning and safety of the herd. Although it is different to our own, it is in fact made up up of the same sensory forms of communication.

In other words, horses like humans use sounds, touch, sight, smell and taste to make sense of their surroundings and interact within their environment.

Humans rely to a great deal on verbal communication (sound) whilst horses rely much more on the other senses. Nevertheless, because we share the same basic sensory inputs, it is possible to communicate with horses.

Observation of horse interaction is a good place to start since although our bodies are different to theirs, we can mimic some of their movements.

Once you have established a relationship with a horse, it will very likely trot when you jog, canter when you mimic this action and stop when you stop and lean slightly back.

You can also drive horses away with a lowering of your head like a stallion does when he herds his mares.

Additionally, you  can share in mutual grooming and sniffing which horses do to each other as seen in this picture. If you use your hand to perform the same action as a horses mouth and tongue, you will find yourself stroking rather than patting your horse.

Try it on yourself and you will soon realise that both horses and humans prefer strokes to pats.

Horses also respond to sounds which mimic their own such as the nickering to show acceptance and friendship or the higher pitched neigh used to alert other horses to potential dangers.

A New Language Can Be Learned To Facilitate Horse Human Communication

Since the building blocks for both horse and human communication are the same, a new language can be developed. Obviously, it is the human who facilitates and teaches this but this can benefit both horse and human.

Learning a new communication system can be based one three different options.

Sadly, some horses learn that each time they do something, they get smacked, kicked or beaten. If the punishment happens close enough in time to the action, then it is likely this behaviour will be associated with the punishment and reduce the frequency of the behaviour. If the flight response of the horse is not triggered , the behaviour may temporarily stop as the horse has to focus on the punishment inflicted upon it. However, where the flight response is triggered, you may simply find that you have triggered another unwanted behaviour.

Generally, punishments will damage the sense of safety needed by prey animals . Also they do not help the horse to co-operate since their is no guidance in punishment as to what you want your horse to do.

Imagine a horse stood held on a lead line by its owner. The owner wants to put a bridle or rug on the horse but the horse is  unsure of this and tries to move its body or head to avoid the item. The horse owner then smacks the horse and shouts at it telling it to "stand". The horse does not understand the word but can feel pain and will probably have its flight response increased by the shouting. If this pattern continues, very soon you have a horse which associates rugs, bridles, lead lines and human beings with pain and suffering. In short, punishment creates horses with problems, horses with high levels of anxiety, horses that do not know what is wanted and horses who can't work in co-operation due to their natural flight response from danger.

Punishment as a method of training should be avoided because it does not give the horse a predictable better alternative and does nothing for his sense of safety. However, to say never use punishment is unwise.

Where your horse is actually engaged in an act which is life threatening to humans or the horse itself, the behaviour must be stopped immediately and in that circumstance it may be necessarily to punish using your whip. These situations are not common and alternatives in all non-life threatening situations can definitely be found. If you do use punishment, make sure you are not doing it because you are angry and make sure there is absolutely no alternative since you do run  the risk of creating another unwanted behaviour.

Negative reinforcement works by the removal of a stimulus when the horse does what it is asked to do. This works to a degree since animals will try to avoid unpleasant experiences.

For example, when you want your horse to stop, you may pull back on the reins . The horse experiences this and over time learns that if he stops when you do this, you will stop pulling. Negative reinforcement therefore works by the horse doing something to stop something which is already happening to him.

However, negative reinforcement has some disadvantages. Over time, horses may tolerate increased levels of discomfort and so you have to increase the level of discomfort to make the horse comply. Also, as the horses co-operation is based on the avoidance of discomfort, he may choose to avoid you potentially causing catching problems and also, where he gets spooked and his flight response kicks in, he will act in whatever way he needs to flee from perceived danger regardless of yours or his safety.

In short, negative reinforcement does work but is not based on co-operation, understanding or partnership and therefore when stressful situations arise, you are likely to have problems controlling an animal whose strength is far greater than yours and whose natural instinct is to escape from danger.

Negative reinforcement tends to produce a change in your horse which is just enough  but not of a highly enthusiastic nature. Where you use negative reinforcement, make sure you remove the negative reinforcer the second your horse does what you ask. Also, if you have to use a large amount of pressure such as when you ask for a trot to canter transition, make sure you repeat the transition using a minimal amount of force so that you do not continue to increase the amount of force needed.

Finally, remember that you can combine a very mild gentle pressure using your leg or rein with a positive reinforcer.

Positive reinforcement methods link rewards with both natural and learned behaviours. Since animals are likely to repeat anything that they have learned gets them a reward, it is possible to build understanding between horses and humans very quickly. In skilled hands, positive reinforcement can be used to teach almost anything you can imagine wanting your horse to do.

One of the simplest applications of positive reinforcement being applied to animal training is the user of the clicker. Basically, by linking the sound of a  click to a reward, the horse learns to anticipate that the click means that a reward, usually food, is about to be given. Horses soon learn they need to do something to get a reward and so, soon stop trying to mug you for food.

For example, you have a bag of food and the horse tries to pester you to get at it. No reward is given and this behaviour is ignored. But,  as soon as the horse turns his head slightly, even if by accident, you click and reward. Within minutes, the horse will be turning his head away until he hears the click when he is likely to turn back towards you to get his reward. In a very short space of time, the horse that was pushy and in danger of knocking you over, has become patient and willing to do something. As there was no punishment, no avoidance of discomfort and the horse got a reward, lots of behaviours can quickly be taught with benefits to horses and their humans.

Positive reinforcement and clicker training have been developed from established principles from the behaviourist school of psychology. They go far beyond this simple description with the application of variable reinforcement schedules, attaching behaviours to visual, verbal and kinaesthetic cues and the fading of the use of the clicker itself. Also, behaviours can be chained together so that sequences of behaviour can be put together either in a set order or according to different linked cues.

Positive reinforcement leads to clear communication, willing participation by horses and enhanced levels of trust because no punishment has been employed and often none or minimal negative reinforcement is needed.. The horse has been rewarded for its behaviour.

Positive reinforcement can be used both on the ground and when riding a horse. Horses become safer and easier to handle with these approaches. In the case of the clicker, the click tells the horse that what it is doing is good and will be rewarded.

For more information on positive reinforcement and clicker training, go to the "Clicker Training" page or order our DVD from the "Products" page.

Feeding

Horses are trickle feeders spending most of their time moving and grazing as they move. Therefore, although horses may be fed concentrate feeds for a number of reasons, the main component in their diet should be a high fibre forage and where possible, this should be scattered over their entire grazing area so that they can roam around as they feed, mimicking the process that would occur in natural settings.