“Whack!” You could hear it yards away. Something was terribly wrong. That sound just wasn’t usual. Several riders went running in the direction of the sound. “Did that come from the indoor” someone said, “or did it come from the paddock beyond”? “It sounded like someone kicked the fence.” They discussed in breathless voices as they ran. It didn’t take them but a second once they arrived to see the loose horse running around the indoor and the still body lying in the sand. “Oh no” everyone gasped. “Quick, call 911” shouted one lady. One went to make the phone call as two of the ladies rushed to the body now stirring in the sand. The fourth lady went to catch the horse.
Mary was dazed and confused so the paramedics rushed her off to the hospital for a thorough checkup. Some followed behind the ambulance while others stayed to settle the horse. Of course, the conversations were wild. Mostly talk of how they all hoped Mary was ok. But that darn horse…
Mary had been hand walking her horse (on layup) in the indoor for rehab. He was an unusually rank horse to begin with and the time locked up in the stall didn’t do his attitude any good. He had started jumping around and kicked Mary square in the head. The sharp crack they heard was the blow to Mary’s helmet. Luckily she had been smart in wearing it.
Everyone agreed that the horse has some serious behavioral issues. No one had ever handled the horse them self so they couldn’t really attest to the real problem. Some were adamant that the horse needed some serious remedial work to teach him who was boss, to make him respect and fear his handler. He needed to know who was the dominant herd leader.
This comment made me think. Why are horse trainers still using dominance. My opinion…that horse did need some serious retraining and he needed to be handed over to someone who could deal with a dangerous horse. Maybe he was a bad egg. Maybe he was spoiled. Maybe he was not trained or trained poorly. I don’t know. I do know that when horses act out in such violent ways with the appearance of wanting to hurt people, the solution is never as easy as it seems. It’s not about dominating that horse and teaching him respect. The retraining may look a lot like that but it is plain and simple, retraining.
Leader of the Pack
Let’s be clear, the old ideas of a dominance in members of a herd are antiquated. While there seems to be some hierarchy in wild horse herds and even domestic herds, it is not as static as once believed nor is it as linear as once believed. This is also true in other species that were once thought to behave in a true linear hierarchy, like wolves.
What is important in both wild and domestic herds is the leader. There are leaders and that concept is not synonymous with dominance. So what is a leader? Webster defines a leader as something that leads. Webster defines to lead as to guide along a way especially in advance. Horses look to leaders to show them water and food resources. Leaders keep the look out (along with other members of the herd) to keep everyone safe from predators. A true leader looks out for the welfare of those he/she leads. Leaders do not lead with dominance. If they did, who would want to follow?
So why then is everyone talking about dominance and respect?
Everything that trainers want to teach in the name of dominance is more about training than it is about dominating. Teaching a horse not to be in our space is more about a learned behavior than it is about a horse thinking we are top of the herd. So what we consider respect is just teaching a horse how to interact with us, not that they understand respect per se. We are just teaching them behaviors that we interpret as respectful. We are teaching parameters and in teaching them they stop acting out with behaviors like striking, kicking, biting and running over people.
Which brings me to the use of rewards in training. Some trainers are strongly against using food rewards in their training because they believe that (1) it teaches horses to be nippy and (2) it does not teach horses to respect them. First there are ways to properly give a horse a food reward that does not teach them to be nippy. Second, respect is just a set of behaviors we want the horse to exhibit when in our presence.
Giving horses treats indiscriminately does teach them to search you for food and can involve nipping or biting. Yes, I said that. They key word is indiscriminately. Allowing horses to come to you and take the food from you creates a monster. Horses need to be taught how to appropriately take a treat and that usually involves teaching the handler how to properly give a treat. Keep in mind that everything (even if you use a marker/clicker) that you do before the horse receives the food is being rewarded and shaped. So you (1) teach a horse to look away while standing quietly in their own space before they get a treat and (2) teach them to wait for your “ok” before they can actually use their lips to receive the treat.
To me having a horse thoroughly trained means the following.
- The horse does not step into the space of the handler.
- The horse does not kick at, bite, strike or act aggressive in any way.
- The horse comes when summoned.
- The horse stands quietly for all grooming, bathing, mounting, tying etc.
- The horse does not mug the handler for any reason.
- The horse attempts to comply to it’s best ability everything that is asked of it.
I do not see these as respect. I see these as clearly labeled behaviors that can be taught with cues and aids by pressure and release (negative reinforcement) and reward based training (positive reinforcement). These are not necessarily behaviors that would be linked to dominance or respect by horses. They are just behaviors we would interpret as such. This is an important distinction. We cannot truly know what the horse is thinking but we can influence how the horse is acting. We can teach the horse to allow us to have benevolent control over every aspect of their body and life.
More importantly, I think we should concentrate on being good leaders. Being the type of trainer the horse wants to follow, wants to learn from and wants to interact with. Dominant bullies do not become true leaders. Horses only obey them because they fear them. Truthfully, I want my horses to work with me not for me. I want them to be a partner not a fearful follower.