Horses are Sensitive Creatures Easily Kept Happy
Equine Tools Include Investigative Muzzles and Willingness to Adapt
May 2, 2009
Even though sensitized to obey man's desires for them, horses remain very social animals, desiring the company of their own kind, especially, while remaining easily adaptable to respond within the world of mankind. It has been observed, however, that horses with no particular "job" who are continuously excluded from the company of their own kind may sometimes display behavioral problems.
Fortunately, keeping horses happy is not a stretch for man's imagination. It is a simple matter, really, requiring only attention to detail and patience.
Horse Sense Facts
- A horse's muzzle is his most active investigative tool. If left to grow, extensive whiskers around his nose and lips help in a horse's discovery of his world.
- In domesticated settings, it is a gelding, or a mare who emerges as leader of the group.
- Horses never lose the instinct to play. As foals, their social skills are enhanced by play. As adults, they play to express their general well-being.
- Perhaps because of their size and high-strung natures, horses were the last of the domesticated animals to be tamed.
- A horse's skin is so sensitive that he can feel a fly land on it.
- Stabled, a horse will telegraph his sensitivities concerning traffic noise, the conduct of his next-stall neighbors, or other activities around him.
- In natural surroundings, horses feed little at a time, and often.
- Communication skills of horses are ruled by the position of their tails, and by touching, smelling, and listening to their peers and their surroundings.
- A horse generally moves musically, that is, seemingly as if he hears music and responds to it.
- All natural paces are used by a healthy horse in open field exercise.
Man Sense Adaptabilities
- A horse's good, or bad experience with humans will dictate his willing, or unwilling responses, respectively.
- A healthy horse will always be interested in his surroundings.
- Educating a horse to saddle and the weight of a rider is best done slowly and patiently for maximum desirable effect.
- A horse will react to the acts of his rider. A stiff rider with no confidence will transport those feelings to the animal beneath him in a cause-and-effect manner.
- Suspending apples, carrots, and other foods, or "play" toys from a horse's stable roof can distract him from his confinement and allow him to play at will.
- Choosing a bridle that fits a horse's personality will result in a more well-behaved horse.
- Fitting shoes correctly on a horse's hooves makes a happy stepper.
- A change in a horse's behavior usually means a horse is trying to convey a condition, or feeling that is negative.
- Habituation, or exposing a horse to the same routine and behavioral conditions, educates a horse as to what is not a threat to his existence.
- Human motion and emotion are easily picked up on by a horse, and he responds in kind.
Perhaps the most extensively trained, well-cared for, and well-traveled horse of all the world was Isham, the white mount of the showman William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody, who performed in his master's Cody's Wild West Show.
