Conditioning in horses crucial

Social animals condemned to any form of isolation are bound to develop behaviour disorders to cope with their stress if this natural concept of group existence is not respected. Horses are regarded as prey creatures and respond collectively differently to predators. Horses use flight and speed for survival.

Flight animals are, therefore, more easily startled and more prone to traumatisation when they detect a new rapid movement in the environment. Vision is, therefore, tantamount to survival in all grazing animals.

Wild horses live in relatively small groups usually comprising a stallion with a half-dozen mares. Since they rely on flight to survive they do not require large numbers to protect themselves. Newly born foals can run and flee very soon after birth and can easily keep up with the adults in speed, agility and manoeuvrability. Horses are not born tame and, inherently, have a high fear system. Tameness comes from socialisation with humans from the neonatal stage. This is known as imprinting of the foal to accept a wider circle of tolerance.

If the mare is intensively handled daily, in the presence of the foal, the handling becomes easier than just stressing the young animal with too much forced restraint. Foal imprinting cannot be rough, so short sessions without any panic are required for any long-term success. Successful training comes through gradually habituating young horses to strange sensations, objects, sounds, people, animals and any other inevitability in life.

If people are impatient, they will create a panicky adult horse prone to rearing, kicking, biting or bucking. Genetically, some breeds and individuals from certain family lines may be more nervous than expected so the techniques applied to them must be even slower, more confident and with calculated, gentle firmness.

All the stimuli a foal must be exposed to have to be positively correlated to the desired end objective. Once it has been decided what the long-term purpose of a young horse will be then the pertinent stimuli can be applied so that the horse can be accustomed to it in a positive way. Important stimuli include loud bangs, people shouting, dogs yapping, all forms of vehicles and people running – to mention a few.

Some of the best horse trainers use a “following” method. As an example: if it is important to prevent a fear of motorcycles, the horse must first observe the vehicle often enough to trust its presence in an inactive state such as being parked nearby. Then the motorcycle is wheeled by the rider while the young horse is guided to follow it around, through a process of successive approximation, until the time when the rider gets on the motorcycle and allows the engine to idle and rev.

The horse is continuously following this activity, being conditioned to accept all the sensations in a nonthreatening imprinting and training programme. While the positive conditioning process is being implemented, a competent trainer will have the acumen to observe all the horse’s senses and responses to determine which behaviour may be most likely triggered, then know how to deal with it in a beneficial way.

It is very important for the educated horse to be able to apply all its senses. While all these senses must obviously be considered, sight is most important for the horse to visualise items at different angles, at varying distances, both stationary and mobile.

> Read more on this topic next week.