Ethology

From the moment you so much as consider owning a horse, a series of ethical dilemmas ensue unrelentingly until the horse dies.

There follow a few dilemmas for you to consider…

• The horse’s need for company
• Rider needs vs horse’s needs – competition
• Time
• Breeding & unwanted horses
• Training method & coach selection
• Gear selection & use
• Horse choice

Lameness vs company

A horse requires being on flat ground for a chronic lameness, but his friends are in a large, hilly paddock and will disappear from his sight, this is a dilemma of the horse’s mental and physical health. Sometimes even the best plans are not so easy to implement. Should the other horses be confined closer (but it now reduces their feed/range, and increases the owner inputs), should a new friend be introduced (prehaps a goat or a pony – with its own set of dilemmas), should he instead have regular contact so as to appease his basic need, and if so is it enough? This is a difficult subject because for a horse, friendship appears to be a more pressing basic need than his physical health. He would rather (because evolution tells him to) be with the herd, even if it hurts and is ultimately to his detriment. Company is a more pressing need to a horse.

Rider needs vs horse needs – competition

Riders are trying to shape horses into things they were never bred to do, or have been bred to do – but the horse may not like his job. A horse, even if smartly bred, may have an accidental conformation that makes his job difficult or produces additional physical (or mental) stresses. For example: the too upright pastern in a jumper, too shorter neck in a dressage horse, predisposition to OCD. Sometimes horses are better matched to another ‘job’ than the one he was bred to do. He may be a terrific trail horse, he may be wonderful with kids, he may help rehabilitate people or other horses. Sometimes we have to be realistic about where in the natural life-cycle the horse sits – maybe he is not yet old enough to fulfil our desires, maybe now – purely as a factor of age, he can no longer be expected to the job he once loved or was skilled at. With age his job changes – when he is older, we cannot expect him to perform at the same level, but having kept him well-trained and of sound mind and body, he can be happy teaching a less confident rider in less demanding tasks, he may enjoy quiet hacking more, or a decreased workload, or even retirement. Typically competition riders at least have the finances to provide good feed, good therapists and good vets.

Financial considerations

The everyday dilemmas begin simply with the choice of where the horse is to live – and this is driven by individual financial considerations. Barns and grazing options can work out to be challenging to the budget, but they must also suit the horse. The best barn in the world is of no consequence if it stretches your finances to the point of not being able to pay for unexpected medical treatment or injury. These expenses need to be factored in before you even choose horse ownership. You need to factor in enough slack for the unexpected need for stabling for injury, for extra feed, for even a rise in feed prices during drought. These ensure the basic needs of the horse are met. If your horse gets an illness or a chronic injury, what is your plan, how will you cope?

Whilst on the subject of horse-keeping, expensive doesn’t necessarily mean appropriate to the horse’s needs – often making life easier for the owner than the horse, in a barn bringing confinement, less social interaction, with limited exercise, and more chance of developing stereotypies such as stall-walking, crib-biting, weaving.

Time

How much time do you need to have in a day to meet the horse’s daily needs and to undertake any training, or to meet your competition goals? How does this impact on your work, your family life and relationships? How does this impact your personal lifestyle balance? Does riding keep you sane, and therefore become a very important need to be personally fulfilled? If you have a young horse, or a more challenging horse – do you have the appropriate amount of time to give the horse that he will require? It may be a more difficult task for you if you work long hours, have to commute a long way to the horse, have a young family or a demanding job. Additionally, do you have the confidence and skills? Clinton Anderson got it right when he said that a horse is simply maintence on legs!

Breeding and unwanted horses

When and why do you choose to breed from your horse? There are many horses where a ‘back yard owner’ decides to breed from their mare – but sometimes it is to fulfil an owner want, rather than any sort of need. I have seen many situations where horses that should never have been bred from – poor conformation, unsuitability for the owner (who intends on keeping the foal), and here’s a prime one – the horse has behavioural problems… so what do you do… you guessed it… you breed from it! These sorts of owners lack the skill to handle a foal, typically lack suitable facilities, and lack the experience of running a broadmare. The foal is not going to have a good start… and may end up with health or behavioural issues, the first 18 months being so important to the social and physical development of a foal. These foals that do not have the opportunity to grow up in a herd environment, and with other foals, typically lack the learned social skills, important to him operating safely in a human world. These are the foals that become over familiar with humans (they have been overhandled, and under-disciplined for biting, kicking, pushing, even charging people and chasing them from the paddock). There are many horses that end up unloved, unwanted, that end up at the knacker’s yard, or are surrended to or saved by the brilliant equine welfare organisations, sanctuaries and individuals that have sadly become increasingly required because of humans making bad decisions.

Training method and coach selection

What training method suits the horse? What does the horse tell us? Listen to his subtle (and sometimes very unsubtle) signs. Constantly review and revisit evidence of these signs throughout your training and interaction with the horse. The fact is that whilst some competition-coaches place performance before welfare, there are others that have a better balance. Some of the best horse(wo)men never compete, but if a horse has a problem they are the first point of call. Why is this? This is because some of the training methods have become de-coupled from adequately addressing how the horse learns. There are some ‘cowboys’ who would not know what ‘habituation’ is, what ‘negative reinforcement’ is, but they sure know how to apply it – AND more importantly – the horse knows! Good training employs methods that whether you understand the terminology or not, lead to good horsemanship because of their
application of common principles. Sometimes trained ‘trainers’ become parrots of their mentor, rather than a thinking/evolving horseman in his/her own right. This too has happened many times, and is why I believe some end up moving away from doctrine-based training to something more holistic, open-minded and evolving.

Gear selection & use

We are willingly being  sold: (a) unneccessary and even damaging equipment every day, (b) trendy equipment given the current fashion, (c) ill-fitting gear, either cheap or expensive… saddles, bridles etc, etc (d) good gear that is then ill-used – even a cavesson noseband can become a weapon if over-tightened. So… every time you put a piece of equipment anywhere near your horse, you have an ethical dilemma – in choice, fit ,quality and maintenance.

Horses unsuitable for rider

Oftentimes, people are drawn to horses (like partners) that are not what they need – they unknowingly sacrifice years of fun, safety and wonderful learning and growing opportunities for a horse that is beautiful, that is of a fancy or trendy breed, that is young,  ‘rescued’ or inexperienced. It all depends where you are at as a rider as to where your (rational) choice should lie. Be realistic, and go into a new relationship with a horse with eyes wide open. Once you own a horse, he becomes your biggest problem or your greatest joy – choose wisely. Like partners, people often repeat the same mistakes – and even go as far as replacing an unsuitable horse inadvertently with a replica of the former!

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