Post by Calaminty Jane on May 22, 2014 7:38:08 GMT -5
Do you watch your horses to see what they could teach you ? I often watch the herd at hay time and observe their body posture and language between one another. It can be quite different on different days and between different herd members.A lot has been written about herd behaviour and how horses communicate with one another and as humans it serves us well to have very strong opinions about that and have rules when dealing with horses.
However I observe different rules on different days , so I work on the premise that the language is very fluid and whilst general hierarchy is observed, the need to enforce it will vary.
As I learn more and spend more time with horses I am learning that a set of rules is not enough.
Stay with me this is a long post but worth the read.
We have a new baby in the herd, Raphael only 7mths old and has been with us about 7 weeks. Watching him integrate into the herd has been fascinating.
The first thing I noticed is that although the big boys show dominant behaviour toward him, it is quite measured. They know he is a baby and he postures toward them with the foaly face.
They don't always insist with him ( that breaks some rules doesn't it )
They will change the rules to suit the situation ( sometimes you can share hay, sometimes not )
2 days in a row now I have watched Raphael use the strategies of "don't move my feet "and "find the threshold " to manipulate a situation to his advantage , and he is the BABY !
Yesterday he wandered up to No.1 horse and asked for hay. No. 1 pinned his ears , Raph didn't move but was especially passive, just hanging out a few feet away. No1 pinned ears again, Raph stood still. No. 1 ignored him and ate . Raph took one step and waited, No. 1 didn't pin ears, Raph moved quietly in and shared hay . WHAT .... how did that happen what was No.1 thinking ! Well it's all over now No.1. will never be able to lead this one... rubbish. he just chose to allow the baby in because the baby was passive and it wasn't important enough in that moment for No.1 to move him.
Today Raph approached No.4 and asked to share hay. Again he was met with pinned ears. Raph stood again on the threshold , then took one more step still pinned ears. So he walked completely around No.4 and back to the threshold no ears back this time and in he went to share hay.
I have no doubt that in either case if those adult horses had really wanted that baby away they would have followed through, but in that instance it wasn't important enough to them, they had plenty of hay , they aren't starving and the herd is comfortable.
So why the lenghty post ?
I wanted to get you all thinking about relationships with horses, how fluid they can be and in the same moment they need to follow the general leadership principles.
But do we need to be "onto the horses at all times' ?
The more you can communicate and not dictate, the more you can show leadership not authority and the more you act from love and empathy, the better your horse relationships will be.
Be like my herd leaders, show some leadership, communicate well but also be ready to share your hay
Do you watch your horses to see what they could teach you ? I often watch the herd at hay time and observe their body posture and language between one another. It can be quite different on different days and between different herd members.A lot has been written about herd behaviour and how horses communicate with one another and as humans it serves us well to have very strong opinions about that and have rules when dealing with horses. However I observe different rules on different days , so I work on the premise that the language is very fluid and whilst general hierarchy is observed, the need to enforce it will vary. As I learn more and spend more time with horses I am learning that a set of rules is not enough. Stay with me this is a long post but worth the read. We have a new baby in the herd, Raphael only 7mths old and has been with us about 7 weeks. Watching him integrate into the herd has been fascinating. The first thing I noticed is that although the big boys show dominant behaviour toward him, it is quite measured. They know he is a baby and he postures toward them with the foaly face. They don't always insist with him ( that breaks some rules doesn't it ) They will change the rules to suit the situation ( sometimes you can share hay, sometimes not ) 2 days in a row now I have watched Raphael use the strategies of "don't move my feet "and "find the threshold " to manipulate a situation to his advantage , and he is the BABY ! Yesterday he wandered up to No.1 horse and asked for hay. No. 1 pinned his ears , Raph didn't move but was especially passive, just hanging out a few feet away. No1 pinned ears again, Raph stood still. No. 1 ignored him and ate . Raph took one step and waited, No. 1 didn't pin ears, Raph moved quietly in and shared hay . WHAT .... how did that happen what was No.1 thinking ! Well it's all over now No.1. will never be able to lead this one... rubbish. he just chose to allow the baby in because the baby was passive and it wasn't important enough in that moment for No.1 to move him. Today Raph approached No.4 and asked to share hay. Again he was met with pinned ears. Raph stood again on the threshold , then took one more step still pinned ears. So he walked completely around No.4 and back to the threshold no ears back this time and in he went to share hay. I have no doubt that in either case if those adult horses had really wanted that baby away they would have followed through, but in that instance it wasn't important enough to them, they had plenty of hay , they aren't starving and the herd is comfortable. So why the lenghty post ? I wanted to get you all thinking about relationships with horses, how fluid they can be and in the same moment they need to follow the general leadership principles. But do we need to be "onto the horses at all times' ? The more you can communicate and not dictate, the more you can show leadership not authority and the more you act from love and empathy, the better your horse relationships will be. Be like my herd leaders, show some leadership, communicate well but also be ready to share your hay ;)Communication
From Fran at Hunter Natural Horsemanship
However I observe different rules on different days , so I work on the premise that the language is very fluid and whilst general hierarchy is observed, the need to enforce it will vary.
As I learn more and spend more time with horses I am learning that a set of rules is not enough.
Stay with me this is a long post but worth the read.
We have a new baby in the herd, Raphael only 7mths old and has been with us about 7 weeks. Watching him integrate into the herd has been fascinating.
The first thing I noticed is that although the big boys show dominant behaviour toward him, it is quite measured. They know he is a baby and he postures toward them with the foaly face.
They don't always insist with him ( that breaks some rules doesn't it )
They will change the rules to suit the situation ( sometimes you can share hay, sometimes not )
2 days in a row now I have watched Raphael use the strategies of "don't move my feet "and "find the threshold " to manipulate a situation to his advantage , and he is the BABY !
Yesterday he wandered up to No.1 horse and asked for hay. No. 1 pinned his ears , Raph didn't move but was especially passive, just hanging out a few feet away. No1 pinned ears again, Raph stood still. No. 1 ignored him and ate . Raph took one step and waited, No. 1 didn't pin ears, Raph moved quietly in and shared hay . WHAT .... how did that happen what was No.1 thinking ! Well it's all over now No.1. will never be able to lead this one... rubbish. he just chose to allow the baby in because the baby was passive and it wasn't important enough in that moment for No.1 to move him.
Today Raph approached No.4 and asked to share hay. Again he was met with pinned ears. Raph stood again on the threshold , then took one more step still pinned ears. So he walked completely around No.4 and back to the threshold no ears back this time and in he went to share hay.
I have no doubt that in either case if those adult horses had really wanted that baby away they would have followed through, but in that instance it wasn't important enough to them, they had plenty of hay , they aren't starving and the herd is comfortable.
So why the lenghty post ?
I wanted to get you all thinking about relationships with horses, how fluid they can be and in the same moment they need to follow the general leadership principles.
But do we need to be "onto the horses at all times' ?
The more you can communicate and not dictate, the more you can show leadership not authority and the more you act from love and empathy, the better your horse relationships will be.
Be like my herd leaders, show some leadership, communicate well but also be ready to share your hay
Do you watch your horses to see what they could teach you ? I often watch the herd at hay time and observe their body posture and language between one another. It can be quite different on different days and between different herd members.A lot has been written about herd behaviour and how horses communicate with one another and as humans it serves us well to have very strong opinions about that and have rules when dealing with horses. However I observe different rules on different days , so I work on the premise that the language is very fluid and whilst general hierarchy is observed, the need to enforce it will vary. As I learn more and spend more time with horses I am learning that a set of rules is not enough. Stay with me this is a long post but worth the read. We have a new baby in the herd, Raphael only 7mths old and has been with us about 7 weeks. Watching him integrate into the herd has been fascinating. The first thing I noticed is that although the big boys show dominant behaviour toward him, it is quite measured. They know he is a baby and he postures toward them with the foaly face. They don't always insist with him ( that breaks some rules doesn't it ) They will change the rules to suit the situation ( sometimes you can share hay, sometimes not ) 2 days in a row now I have watched Raphael use the strategies of "don't move my feet "and "find the threshold " to manipulate a situation to his advantage , and he is the BABY ! Yesterday he wandered up to No.1 horse and asked for hay. No. 1 pinned his ears , Raph didn't move but was especially passive, just hanging out a few feet away. No1 pinned ears again, Raph stood still. No. 1 ignored him and ate . Raph took one step and waited, No. 1 didn't pin ears, Raph moved quietly in and shared hay . WHAT .... how did that happen what was No.1 thinking ! Well it's all over now No.1. will never be able to lead this one... rubbish. he just chose to allow the baby in because the baby was passive and it wasn't important enough in that moment for No.1 to move him. Today Raph approached No.4 and asked to share hay. Again he was met with pinned ears. Raph stood again on the threshold , then took one more step still pinned ears. So he walked completely around No.4 and back to the threshold no ears back this time and in he went to share hay. I have no doubt that in either case if those adult horses had really wanted that baby away they would have followed through, but in that instance it wasn't important enough to them, they had plenty of hay , they aren't starving and the herd is comfortable. So why the lenghty post ? I wanted to get you all thinking about relationships with horses, how fluid they can be and in the same moment they need to follow the general leadership principles. But do we need to be "onto the horses at all times' ? The more you can communicate and not dictate, the more you can show leadership not authority and the more you act from love and empathy, the better your horse relationships will be. Be like my herd leaders, show some leadership, communicate well but also be ready to share your hay ;)Communication
From Fran at Hunter Natural Horsemanship