Anyone who has been around horses for any length of time has experienced one of the elevator, shy, spin, or freeze stances when a horse is suddenly frightened by something. In fact, I often see people on trail rides, where their horse spots a scary object on the trail and won’t go past it. How we help a horse through these fears is rooted in how they process new objects.
We know they process new objects, as a prey animal, in a very specific set of steps using eyes, then ears, then nose, and finally touch.
Think about how horses survive as a prey animal….their first line of defense is their eyes. In fact, the way their eyes are designed they have a heightened ability to see movement miles away. What do predators do? Think about stalking cats. They stay very still for extended periods of time and only move when they feel they won’t be detected and then are very slow. If a horse spots movement early, it is their best chance at survival, so their eyes are very important in how they process information. Let’s not forget that we are the weirdest predators ever because we are noisy and move a TON. Humans are notoriously unaware of their uncontrolled body movements and then use tools that are ‘shouting’ at horses like lunge whips with plastic bags. It is healthier for horses to be tuned into subtle queues, so the more we desensitize them to subtle movement, the less aware they become on the trail which can be a huge benefit when wild animals are around. My advice is pay attention to how ‘noisy’ you are. My other advice is, if your horse alerts to something, it is most likely because they sensed a movement they did not understand. By the way, have you ever had a horse shy away from a white or light rock on the trail? You guessed it – crouching predators often are lighter than their surroundings. Many horses are suspicious of anomalies in nature since their color vision is not as refined.
What happens after they spot something that seems dangerous? Turn those ears and flare those nostrils! Are there any dangerous sounds? Cats stay quiet, right? If a cyclist comes up behind a horse on the trail with no warning, why is that so frightening? Crouched predator being quiet rushing up to jump on the haunch! Ask the cyclist to talk to you and make sounds so that they don’t seem like an attacking predator.
Next horses will use their large nasal passages to understand if there is a smell they associate with danger. Why do they smell you so intently when you meet them? Much of their differentiating good from bad comes from smell. Firefighters often report horses are scared of them because they smell like smoke. They have large nostrils for a reason. It is the next input into their processing.
Let’s just say we get to the final step of touch. This is critical to overcoming fear. My favorite story about this is when I was at a horse park warming up my horse for an event. She spotted a horse in another arena pulling a cart. She stopped and then proceeded to prance and panic. She had never seen this strange object and it was chasing one of her friends! She was sure she was next! I dismounted and walked her over to the driver of the cart, much to her wild-eyed dismay. I asked the driver if they would mind if I taught my horse about carts for a minute and the person kindly stopped and let us approach. Not popular for my amazingly smart Arabian mare who was dancing at the end of the reins behind me.
I calmly walked up to the back of the cart and started petting it. She looked at me and became curious. She came in nostrils flared and took as much scent as she could with tail high. She stood tall so she could show that cart she was big and threatening. It didn’t react and I was still petting it. She looked at me confused and walked up close. She slowly reached out her nose at as much distance as she could, quickly touched the back of the cart seat and jumped back snorting. Hmmmmm. You could see confusion in her eyes. This thing wasn’t responding. I smiled and continued petting it, but then she surprised all of us. She reached forward and bit the cart and jumped back giving it the stink eye. Hmmmm. No reaction. Her body relaxed and she came forward smelling it all over and then stood calmly at my side. New object was assessed as no threat. It is important to understand this mare was my alpha mare in the herd and her job was to protect from danger. Even though her herd was nowhere near us, she still performed her job of assessing danger. She never reacted to the carts the rest of the time we were at the park. I allowed her to process the new object and luckily she didn’t damage the seat! Assessment over. Fear over. Never to happen again.
Now let’s go back to the trail rider, calmly riding down the trail, when full stop, shy, and spin happens. What should you do? I often see riders urge their horses forward past the scary object and declare victory at ‘getting the horse over’ the fright. In my humble opinion this may or may not be the case. Because in the horse world a leader investigates danger first. By staying on the horse you are not only saying ‘You first!’ and the horse is saying ‘No You first!’ but you are also decreasing confidence in how to approach new objects. I suggest showing horses how to check it out properly so they increase their confidence. Get off your horse and walk to the object leading your horse behind you. Touch the object and calmly reassure your horse it should approach. Allow it to touch and smell until it decides there is no danger. Gently encourage inspection but don’t force. As the horse gains confidence each time, allow it to inspect new objects while still mounted. It now has tools to determine the nature of new objects. Over time even the most frightened horses will have a more calm approach if you allow them a chance to investigate. Remember that alerting is good, inspecting is good, but going into flight mode is where we have to show a different approach.
Happy Trails!
