Horse Health
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Louise Napthine is an Equine Behaviour Coach . She has over 20 years experience with horses , supported by a strong theoretical foundation . Qualified to Postgraduate level , Louise has a Bachelors Degree in Equine Studies and a Masters in Equine Health and Welfare . With her business ‘ Why Do Horses ’, she delivers horse behaviour workshops in Berkshire and surrounding counties . To learn more about Louise , visit www . whydohorses . com
Equestrians often report that horses
can play up or be difficult to handle . Whilst , anecdotally , handlers remark that horses are being naughty , leading equine behaviour research suggests otherwise . So , can horses truly be naughty or is there another explanation ?
Horses display a wide range of behaviours as part of their normal behavioural repertoire . Domestic horses often have a limited range of behaviours due to the confines of the domestic environment . Inability to practice the full range of behaviours can often lead to horses displaying unwanted conduct which can be interpreted as the horse being ‘ naughty ’.
The dictionary definition of naughty is ‘ guilty of disobedience or misbehaviour ’. For a horse to be guilty of disobedience , it must have an understanding of the task or the rules governing the task . For example , a horse which breaks out of its field when the electric fence is not working is not breaking out to be naughty - it simply has no concept of the rule that it should remain in the field or why . When the electric fence is working , it remains in
the field because receiving an electric shock is painful . When the fence is not working properly , the grass that the horse gains access to outside of the field is more rewarding than the grass in its own field , so the horse continues to escape from the field .
When horses behave in a difficult way , it is sometimes thought that they are ' having someone on ' or ' trying to get away with it '. This promotes the idea that the horse might be trying to mislead a person by not carrying out the desired actions . However , the ability to behave in this manner is quite complex . For a horse to be deceptive would require it to perceive a situation not only from its own perspective , but also from the perspective of another individual , seeing how the situation might look from that individual ' s point of view . It would also require the horse to want to mislead the individual for some reason . This awareness of the thoughts and feelings of others is known as “ theory of mind ”. The animal or human mind enables a subject to have awareness of the world and their own experiences ; it allows them to think and feel in a conscious way .
Whilst research shows there is evidence of elements of the ‘ theory of mind ’ in some animals , such as apes , dogs and crows , there is no evidence that horses possess this degree of insight .
Whilst theory of mind is a psychological construct , it is relevant to horse training and handling as equestrians often over-estimate a horse ' s understanding of human goals and intentions .
Recent research findings suggest that equestrians can struggle to interpret behavioural signs of pain and fear , also confounding the ability to correctly attribute the reasons behind a horse ’ s actions .
Research into Understanding the Emotional State
Researchers from the Equine Behaviour and Training Association ( EBTA ) carried out a study of 185 participants , looking at the ability of individuals to interpret behavioural signs of the equine emotional state . Participants were asked to watch a collection of videos showing horses engaging in different activities . For the purposes of the study , the videos were deliberately chosen to show horses in a negative emotional state . Participants were asked to select which emotion they thought the horse was experiencing . Responders were given options such as “ angry , anxious , conflicted , enjoying it , excited , fearful , frustrated , playful , relaxed , stressed , stubborn , submissive , switched-off or resigned ”. The participant ’ s interpretations were then compared to the responses of behavioural experts , consisting of 6 Equine Behaviourists registered with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council ( ABTC ).
The study found that participant age and experience level had little effect on their ability to correctly interpret the behavioural signs . Whilst participants were able to
A good mental exercise is to practice avoiding the use of anthropomorphic labels to describe horse behaviour and to start to consider the underlying causes instead .
EVERYTHING HORSE : MARCH 2021 • 27