Horse Information - Aussie Horsemen

I get a lot of questions from people about how to help their unsettled horsesthat get anxious when taken away from home. Often they’ll tell me that the horse is finewhen asked to do any things at home, or near his mates, but as soon as he’s taken out ifsight or earshot, the anxiety increases and the displaced behaviour begins.

The behaviour can range from anything like calling out, to loss of concentration orattention, head tossing, trying to escape from the horse handler and back to his mates,bolting on the trail, to flat out screaming and obviously very distressed body language.

Separation anxiety is quite common and can be equally distressing and frightening for boththe horse involved as well as the handler or rider. So ... what causes it and what do you doabout it?

The Cause:
The best place to start is to understand why horses display such behaviours. Rather thanjust blaming the horse, try to understand things form his point of view. Horses are preyanimals ... meaning that they are preyed upon as a food source by other animals / predators.They know they taste good so their very day to day survival depends on their ability to outthink, out manoeuvre or out run their hunters. Their safety is very high on their list ofpriorities. A big part of safety for a horse is their need to live within a herd. Safety innumbers is a prey animal analogy and one that helps ensure their survival.

A herd can offer safety in a number of ways. For one they can help to provide protection foryounger or weaker members of the herd by keeping them in the center of the herd duringflight. The best defense they have as a herd though is the herd’s ability to confuse anddisorientate the predator by their very movement. As horse owners, you’ll know that a horsecan move in six directions ... forward, backward, left, right, up an down ... sometimes allat the same time! When a herd of horses moves at speed, running away from a predator, you’llnotice that they will run in all directions, zigging and zagging as they go with a lot ofsudden and quick maneuvers. This makes it very hard for a predator to focus on, and singleout, a particular herd member, therefore making it harder for him to zone in and attack.This very swirling or swerving action is used by many other prey animals also ... think of aschool of fish ... and is most effective with a herd of a reasonable size or number.

So ... it’s in all horses’ instincts to seek out and co-exist with others horses. A horse onits own can feel very unsafe and vulnerable ... many horses live their lives this way. Thiswill depend greatly on the mental and emotional fitness of the horse plus the environment hefinds himself in. A nervous horse in a familiar place may well come across as fairlyconfident. But take him away from home and see what happens. Alternately, even a confidenthorse may feel vulnerable if he feels pressured or threatened in anyway. The important thingto remember is that all horses, domestic or wild, have finely tuned instincts that liveclose to the surface and the right stimulus will soon have these surfacing under certaincircumstances.

If you have a horse who displays Separation Anxiety, you may find it confusing to understandwhy your horse seems okay in some places and on some days, but not in others. He may only beanxious every now and then. Or, you may have a horse who is always stressed as soon as heleaves home or his friends. Its important to remember here that horses are gregarious toplaces and things ... so it may not be when he leaves other horses that he gets unsettled... it may just be when he leaves home. It may never make sense to you why he gets soanxious at some times and not others, the important thing here though is that it makes senseto your horse. They have good days and bad days just like we do. Have you ever had a daywhere you feel like you can take on the world? Or a day where you’d really just rather notleave home? It’s the same for your horse. So don’t give yourself grey hairs trying to figureout the stimulus, just work on the cure and both you and your horse will be happier.

The Cure:
As mentioned above, the big problem here is a lack of emotional fitness or, in other words,confidence. This could be confidence in himself, or a lack of confidence in you as hisleader. This lack of confidence causes the horse to be fearful and feel unsafe andvulnerable so he will look for comfort by staying with his mates or somewhere familiar. Atruly confident horse won’t mind having a timid or nervous rider / handler as he hasconfidence in himself. This horse is terrific for a beginner rider or horse owner as he willcut them a lot of slack and not be too worried if the rider gets a bit nervous. Alternately,a nervous horse can gain much confidence from a strong and confident leader. Even if hefeels scared himself, if his rider or handler is confident and shows good leadership, he’llbe able to settle and go where and do what he is asked.

So ... the key here is to build the horse’s confidence in himself and also, even moreimportantly, in you as his leader. If you want him to go places where he is fearful or feelsunsure, then he must feel that he can trust you, that you will look out for his well beingand only ever ask him to go places and do things that won’t harm him.

How do we do this? The best place you can start is by working with your horse on the ground(so you can build some communication) at home … in a place that he knows. If he is reallyworried about leaving his friends, you can even just start doing things with him in hisyard. Programmes like the Quantum Savvy horsemanship programme will give you set tasks andassignments to do to build your horse’s confidence. Things like teaching him to accept beingtouched and rubbed all over, having a stick and string in his space and touching his body... even in sensitive areas like the legs and belly. You can even use a plastic bag,clippers, balls, jackets ... anything you can think of that may have been scary to him.Teaching him to yield in all directions, be able to go through narrow spots and over jumps... all of these things will build his confidence in himself and also in you as his leader.If he finds something frightening but you get him through it safely, his estimation of youwill sky rocket!!

Once you can do all this in his yard, you can begin to take him further and further awayuntil eventually you can take him any where, anytime without him getting worried ... becausehe takes his confidence with him plus he has his trusty leader ... you with him to lookafter him.

The same principle applies with riding. Do this after the ground work though, once you havesome communication in place. Before long you’ll be able to ride him anywhere, anytime withease and confidence.

Make sure that you work on your own skills though too. A good horseman who is confident canhelp a timid, nervous horse out in no time at all. My husband Shane is renowned for startingyoung horses under saddle in a way that they enjoy and gain much confidence from. He willhave the youngsters he starts out riding on the trail, moving cows around and all sorts ofthings after just 3 or 4 days. And they are confident, happy and looking like they’ve beendoing it for years! It’s wonderful to see.

Separation Anxiety is very common in horses, so if you have a problem with your horse withthis, you’re not alone. Try to see things from your horse’s point of view, build yourleadership and horsemanship skills and work on helping your horse to be more confident. Thetwo of you will be out and about and taking on the world in no time!

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