Sadly, most tasks we want a working horse to perform are alien to its nature. We work behind it in its blind zone. We do not let it go when it is startled. We confine it and, even worse, tie up its head. Yet we can make a horse do most tasks if we approach the problem in the correct manner. We just have to remember that they are big and strong, but are also sensitive. We also must bear in mind that they are social herbivores.

An equine has very good, almost total, all-round vision. Vision is marginal very close to the rump and absent right behind the tail. They are bifocal in that they can see very well grazing near to the ground but they also have a wide field of view for movement on the horizon. However, they rely on head movement for accurate focusing and judgement of distances. This is very relevant for head carriage when pulling a cart. They have good night vision, but this takes longer for adaptation than for a human. Therefore they should not be turned out suddenly from a well-lit area in darkness.

They can hear much lower-frequency sound waves than can humans, e.g. they are aware of imminent earthquakes. Their most sensitive range is the same as in the human, so they are quite capable of hearing and distinguishing words. They can hear much higher-pitched sounds than can humans. Sixteen muscles control the equine ear. However, when their ears are back their hearing is impaired. Horse calls are within the human hearing range. The pitch increases as the horse becomes more frightened or aroused.

A horse has a much more sensitive sense of smell than does a human. Applying strong, volatile, non-irritating substances around the nostrils can mask this strong sense of smell. It is their strong sense of smell rather than taste that makes them refuse medicines in the food. Normally, the keeping of these medicines in the refrigerator will lessen their smell.

Horses have a more sensitive sense of taste than do humans. However, they are similar in that they reject acids (pH <3) but like sugar (10 g sucrose/100 ml water). Although they like salt they will reject solutions containing >60 g salt/100ml water.

Humans who are said to ‘have a way with horses’ are not magicians, but naturally understand a horse’s body language and respond accordingly.

Looking at a horse’s ears, we can easily pick up signals. If they are lying flat backwards it indicates either anger or fear; a lesser angle will indicate less fear or even submission. It is obviously possible that the horse has its attention focused backwards. And this is more likely to be true if the ears are only partially back, a position that can indicate submission but, more likely, drowsiness. Extreme drowsiness is shown when the ears are really drooping laterally. If the ears are pricked the horse is paying attention to the front. If highly pricked it is likely that the horse is startled. Constantly changing ear movements will indicate confusion.

The tail can give us more useful information. If it is tucked between the legs, the horse is definitely unhappy. This may indicate submission to fear or a defensive attack. A backward kick is a possibility. If the tail is just hanging down sleep is possible, or even illness; slightly raised indicates some alertness – the horse may be about to move or urinate. If it is already moving it will accelerate. If the tail is raised up to halfway then it is excited or about to defecate. It may be greeting another horse or starting to show courtship display, but there may also be an element of fear. If the tail is held high up, then the horse is definitely excited. It may challenge another horse or run away. Violent swishing of the tail can be confusing: it may mean pain or annoyance – the more violent the more annoyed. Obviously, flying insects will annoy all horses. A horse needs a good, long tail, which should not be trimmed unless it is rubbing on the ground. It goes without saying that it should never be docked, except on extremely strong clinical grounds.

The nostrils if dilated can indicate fear or alarm. If they are wrinkled that is normally because the horse does not like what it smells, but it can also indicate mild anger. If the horse is drowsy its lower lip will drop. This can also mean submission. If the mouth is open then this indicates anger and likelihood of biting. If only the lips are parted then this is submission. If the upper lip is curled back, this is the flehmen signal. Classically, stallions smelling mares exhibit this, but it may also be made if a horse does not like a particular smell. Yawning can be confusing, as it may mean either mild abdominal pain or drowsiness.

The horse will naturally eat 18 h per day and be constantly moving, except for one or possibly two periods of rest. Normally, only one of these periods involves actually lying down in sternal recumbency or, much more commonly, lateral recumbency. If a horse is physically restricted, particularly if it is isolated, its behaviour will be adversely affected. These effects are increased if the feeding is altered. Ideally, the horse should be eating long-fibre food for 18 h out of the 24 h in a day. If this is replaced by short-fibre feed then adverse behaviour may be increased. In consequence, the animal will become frustrated and increasingly aroused. This will lead to a decrease in the threshold for stimulation and increased energy. This is a vicious circle, as increased energy will once again lead to increased frustration and so on. The spin-off from this cycle is handling difficulties, aggression and stereotypies. Research has indicated that horses at pasture and feral horses spend similar times in their daily activities of feeding, standing, lying, walking and socially interacting. To some extent horses in a stall, on an ad lib long-fibre diet, mimic this. However, for obvious reasons horses in stalls spend less time moving and reacting socially. The occasional horse will exhibit abnormal behaviour patterns in this situation. The majority of our problems arise when concentrates are fed.

Obviously, considerably less time is spent on eating. We have already stated that less time is spent on locomotion and reacting with other horses. This leaves almost half of the time free, so to speak. It is during this time that horses behave abnormally. And thus we cause an adverse effect if we do not feed long fibre. These detrimental effects are made worse the higher the percentage of protein in the diet. There is a direct correlation between protein levels and abnormal behaviour.

There is some confusion with these terms. There is some cross-over but also there are some problems, e.g. head shaking, which are neither. The classical stereotypies are crib-biting, wind-sucking, weaving, box-walking, rug-tearing and head-banging. These are also stable vices. However, some stable vices such as pawing, kicking, wood-chewing and hay dipping are not stereotypies. The traditional methods of control are usually physical, using tack and gadgetry. Sometimes surgery is resorted to. Others favour limiting the damage by environmental manipulation, while more recent control methods use counter-conditioning. All these methods have varying success rates. However, they normally fail because there is increased frustration and a decrease in the level of arousal.

Most success has been accomplished by changing the husbandry to decrease frustration and increase the level of arousal. Ideally, the stable environment should be changed to provide a more suitable social environment. Exercise should be increased and, most important of all, more long fibre should be fed to increase eating time; making it more difficult for the horse to obtain its food can increase eating time. Small-mesh hay nets can also be used. High-fibre nuts can be put in plastic balls with small holes so that the ball has to be moved before a nut drops out. Horses can be fitted with electronic devices so that they have to move round an area and can obtain food only at preselected intervals.

The horse will receive both conditioned and unconditioned stimuli, and will then show a response. An example of an unconditioned stimulus is a painful injection. An example of a conditioned stimulus is the sight of the vet approaching. The horse’s response to both stimuli is to attempt to escape.

This is a common method by which horses can learn to intimidate their owners. The chance action or trial might be for the horse to move quickly towards the owner or towards the vet. The owner or vet quickly moves back. The horse learns this very quickly! Extinction learning is required to stop this behaviour. The following sequence is common: calling the horse (conditional stimulus), it comes towards you (the reaction) and is given food (the reward). However, such a sequence is not actually desired. What is wanted is to call the horse and it comes. Therefore, what is needed is to remove the reward by extinction. Sadly, horses learn bad behaviour quickly but extinction takes time. Another example would be door-banging. This starts as a chance action. The owner with a yell inadvertently rewards the action. It is vital that the banging is ignored. Worst of all is to feed the horse that is banging. Rewards for good behaviour should be random.

This is a process whereby the horse learns to ignore stimuli that are normally frightening or painful. The First Nations employed this form of training to good effect when then used to ‘sack’ a horse. The handler takes the young horse on a halter into a box, then holds the end of the halter lead rope loosely in one hand and a blanket in the other. The blanket is flicked at the horse (the unconditional stimulus), and the horse reacts by moving away. The horse calms down again and the blanket is again flicked. With most horses the learning curve is very steep. They very soon realize that the blanket is not frightening, so that it can be flicked all over and under the horse without it moving. This procedure is very like extinction where, instead of a reward not following the stimulus, the expected punishment does not follow. The ‘sacking’ is actually termed saturation therapy, and obviously with other stimuli is dangerous and stressful.

This therapy uses a reward for a preliminary response to a desired action or a reward for an action that is similar to the desired action. Rewards have to be given in a careful sequence. An example would be the horse that does not like loading and in fact positively backs away from the trailer. Initially the reward, which can be a small morsel of food or even a soft voice, is given when the horse stands still. When the horse has understood this response the next phase is the reward, which is given when the horse looks toward the trailer. It must be remembered that the reward is given only when the horse looks towards the trailer and not when it just stands still, i.e. when the horse achieves the second response. When this is fully appreciated by the horse, the third phase is begun, i.e. the horse steps towards the trailer. It must be remembered from then on that the reward is given only when the horse carries out this third response. This procedure is carried out with each phase until the horse is loaded.

Punishment has to be used with great care, for welfare reasons. In addition, punishment may be associated by the horse with the handler, and this is to be avoided. Also, it takes very careful timing so that the horse associates the punishment only with the bad behaviour. However, if the punishment can be removed from the handler and the timing is right, then this method can be very effective. If we use punishment in the previous scenario, i.e. difficulty in loading, we need a long cane with a noisy piece of polythene attached to the far end. The horse is walked towards the trailer, and immediately it stops the polythene is rustled. As soon as the horse continues the rustling is stopped. Timing is everything. It is important when loading not to ‘reward’ the horse that goes to the side of the trailer, by turning it around and walking away to align it straight again. This sends the wrong message to the horse, i.e. bad behaviour results in the reward of turning away from the trailer. Horses are quite capable of turning in very small circles. You do not need to walk the horse away to turn it.

Fundamentals of this type of training

It is important to identify the reward that the horse is actually giving to itself for bad behaviour. In the previous example it is gaining his freedom. Another example is the horse that is difficult to catch. It is so easy to endorse this bad behaviour with food: the horse comes to the handler and gets a little food, the reward, and immediately moves away before he can be caught. He is rewarding himself. The handler can inadvertently reward the horse when trying to catch it. It moves away and the handler says ‘good boy’ in a soft voice, again the reward. Remember that the reward may be to avoid discomfort or pain, e.g. the inner tube. The handler has to manipulate the environment so that reward comes only with the desired behaviour.

Thought has to go into training. It is important to differentiate between an unwelcome response due to fear or anxiety and a learnt response. This is particularly important when studying the horse’s response to a piece of tack: is the horse genuinely fearful or even hurt by a piece of tack, or is this a learned response? Has the horse learned through a certain type of behaviour that the tack will be removed?

The fundamental rules in handling can be summarized as:

• Speak softly before approaching.

• Approach from the side towards the shoulder.

• Move slowly, steadily and consistently.

• Carefully read the postural signs given by the horse.

• Be aware of the limits of the horse’s perception.

• Avoid entanglement with tack.

• Be confident.

We have said that most bad behaviour carried out by a horse is through fear. However, a very few acts of bad behaviour are of an aggressive nature. The horse that tries to barge the handler in the stable is one of these. The trick to train a horse to stop this behaviour is very simple. The handler should obtain a short, stout piece of wood that cannot be broken. The length needs to be about 6 inches (15 cm) longer than the width of the handler’s pelvis. Wearing a pair of good strong boots and a belt, the handler enters the stable, with the stout stick in the belt pointing upwards. The horse is caught. When it then tries to barge the handler against the wall of the stable the stick is turned in the belt so that one end of the stick is pointing into the horse and the other end of the stick is pointing into the wall of the stable. Then the harder the horse pushes the more severe will be his punishment i.e. the stick sticking into the horses ribs. The handler is unaffected, as his pelvis cannot be crushed.

Hobbling