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Re: [RC] Question about fear - Dyane SmithI certainly agree with Lif to a point. Horses are herd animals and the significance of a herd is that when a mountain lion shows up looking for lunch all the horses in the herd can gamble that the mountain lion will catch someone else. Certainly, in that case, no horse will stick around to try to protect the other, weaker horse. On the other hand, stallions can and do protect their mares from being stolen by another stallion. My oldest horse has always considered me a prized possession (food, shelter, carrot-giver, etc). When he was young, we used to play a game I called "mare escaping the herd". He would wander off, pretending not to notice me. Then I would run like a madwoman to try to "escape". I could hear him galloping behind me as he hustled over to herd me back. Much later, I stupidly turned a bunch of horses (including mine) out in a dusty arena at night. I was trapped in the middle and, because of the dust, couldn't see well enough to get out. Sun stood in front of me and jumped up and down when the rest of the horses galloped toward us. I always figured he was protecting his possession... In the same way, both my younger horses protected my oldest horse when they were in pasture with a lot of young, spook and spin geldings. Dyane ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lif Strand" <lif@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, October 05, 2004 9:14 AM Subject: Re: [RC] Question about fear At 11:29 AM 10/4/2004, Ridecamp Guest wrote:I have a 14 year old NSH mare whom I've owned for several years,to this day she will spook at any possible threat on the trail. I thought that sence we've been together for so long she would trust me and feel safe enough not to do this.Kind of like the trust a small child has in a parent. A human child trusts a parent to keep the child safe. A horse trusts another horse (or by extension, a human) to make good decisions that the horse can follow - *not* to keep it safe. Example: A human child might run to it's mother for protection from danger, but a foal will run away from the source of danger in whatever direction it needs to go - it doesn't think of running to it's mother for protection. Horses don't work like humans! Thus it's important not to fall into the trap of dealing with horses as if they were human children in horse bodies. In a natural herd, the lead animals are followed not because the other horses feel that the lead horses will protect them, but because the lead horses have demonstrated that they can reliably find food and water and reliably avoid danger. The other horses follow lead horses around because it makes sense to follow those that demonstrate good survival skills! If the lead horses say it's safe to go down a trail to water, then the other horses will accept that it's safe to go down that trail. If the lead horses haven't spooked at any rocks or logs along the trail, then the following horses are less likely to spook. But believe me, if the lead horses say there's a danger - the whole herd is gone. No horse is staying behind to protect another horse. A domesticated horse comes to "trust" a human the same way: They go along with the human program because there is reliable food, water and freedom from danger. However - and this is an important point, as mentioned above - they are not expecting a human to *protect* them from danger. In your relationship with a horse, "trust" develops when your horse comes to feel that you are a good example to follow. So the only way a horse can become less spooky is to feel that it can rely on you to not get *yourself* into trouble. This allows the horse to relax and go along with the program. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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