DEALING WITH A DIFFICULT HORSE?

PART 3: THE ONGOING DEBATE OF WILD HORSE BEHAVIOUR vs. DOMESTIC HORSE
BEHAVIOUR.

By Wayne Nicol


First off, let's define the facts about the existence of wild horses.
"The only true wild horses today, Equus przewalski, were last seen free
at the beginning of the century in Mongolia. These horses now only exist
in zoos, except for a group of 12 individuals released into a remote
part of southern France in 1993 (Rees 1993). The present domesticated
horse, Equus caballus, is not classified as a wild animal because it had
been domesticated about 2 500 to 5 000 years ago". (Clutton-Brock 1981).

As quoted from the book "Domesticated Animals, from early times", and
published by the British Museum of Natural History, research clearly
shows us that the few herds of "wild" horses that exist around the world
today, are purely domestic horses gone feral!

"Studying the behavioral patterns of these feral horses, we find them
similar if not comparable to the recent research conducted on Equus
przewalski, however as a point of interest, they also compare favorably
with our mountain zebra (Equus zebra), but show marked differences in
certain aspects of their behavioral patterns to other zebra species, viz
Burchells zebra (Equus burchelli) "(Telane Greyling).
Let's start by questioning how and why two essentially similar species
of equid, the plains zebra and the mountain zebra behave in different
ways, and why the feral horse and wild horse and the mountain zebra
exhibit similar behavior? The fundamental differences to be considered
are essentially that the Burchell's zebra is migratory; gathering in
large groups, they travel extensive distances to new terrain, whereas
the mountain zebra, feral horses and the wild horses remain within their
distinctive habitat, and for the most part remain in small family
groups.

The answer is simple, their respective environments force them to behave
in different ways. The presence of parasites and predators and the
availability of grazing and water are all contributing factors to their
different reactions to their respective environments.

If I was to describe the behavioral patterns of feral and wild horses,
I should begin by noting that they do not ascribe to the classical
Hollywood depiction of "wild horses", thundering across the plains in
groups of 200 or more, led by a single dominant, prancing, rearing,
killer stallion. They live in small family groups usually comprising a
single mature stallion, maybe two or three mares, and their offspring.
These smaller family groups and bachelor groups form part of a larger
horse population within a certain habitat. The largest documented feral
family group is a group of 21 horses living in the greater Grand Canyon
area, which is co-incidentally serviced by two stallions living within
the group.

The typical stallion confrontation would entail lots of posturing and
strutting, usually resulting in one stallion backing down and moving out
of the other animal's herd space. Should the confrontation develop into
a fight, they are usually fast and furious, with both animals' survival
instincts forcing them to conserve their energy and avoid injury at all
costs. The feral/wild stallions never intentionally fight to the death,
they may however die as a result of their injuries, or as a result of
their environment.

The classical belief that when a wild horse has beaten the impostor into
submission, it submits totally to the senior horse by joining the herd
as an underling, is merely a fallacy. The only time that a horse will
truly submit to another is when his primary means of defense is denied
to him - His ability to flee!

As all wild and feral horses will avoid injury at all cost, they will
always flee the aggressor. Where he might be forced to submit would be
when his environment is restrictive, or a debilitating injury does not
allow him to escape. Let's put this into a context that we can all
relate to; lets take the potentially most aggressive animal that we all
interact with on a daily basis, the dog. If we were to unleash a trained
attack dog on to someone, well the result is pretty obvious: with the
dogs defense mechanism, his teeth, being brought to bear on his
vulnerable victim. However if we taped that same dogs muzzle closed, and
he found that he couldn't attack or defend himself with his teeth, he
would submit rather quickly. These tests have been conducted, and these
were the results obtained. Remove the animal's (carnivore or herbivore)
ability to defend itself, and it will submit!

Based on this research, and what I have seen amongst wild horses, and on
extensive research and documentation of wild horse behavior, we can all
clearly see that some of the theories being touted by some modern day
horse trainers about the relationship between wild horse behavior and
modern training methods are absolutely incorrect!

However, the act of submission is exhibited more strongly in domestic
horse behavior, and this is only more prevalent in our domestic horses
due to one simple fact; their different environments! Our horses are
restrained, and they cannot escape. From their stables and paddocks
right through to the tack we use on them, everything tells the horse
that he cannot escape, he cannot run away, he cannot avoid us.

This explains why we can obtain text book results from horses in round
pens. This also explains why a renowned horse trainer was able to back a
feral horse (mustang) in 3 days in the open wilderness. With the rider
changing tired horses for fresh, fit horses, and being able to slowly
erode away at the feral horse's single means of defense - his ability to
flee - he was able to convince the young colt that there was no means of
escape, and in the horse's instinctive drive for defensive survival,
realizing that continued flight would ultimately result in death, it was
forced to submit and accept the alternatives.

This is not belittling this achievement, nor is it downplaying the
benefits of round pen training and other "new age" training methods, it
is merely intended to point out why and how this works, and in
understanding the fundamentals of horse behavior and how the horses'
environment, be it realistic (as in the round pen) or perceived (as in
the wild colt) is the biggest factor concerning a horses behavior *
feral or domestic.

And so in the training of or interacting with our trusty steeds we need
to always consider how their immediate environment will affect their
response to our stimuli.
We need to understand how most stables are built on the lines of
solitary confinement cells in a max. security prison; how some of the
equipment and tack we use looks like an array of instruments that
belongs in a medieval torturer's tool bag. These are all factors of the
domestic horse's environment, an environment we have absolute control
over, and that we can change to both our and the animals' benefit!

Our motivation should always be to create a willing partner type
relationship, where the horse will try to do anything to please the
handler and not be re-acting only to the pain or abuse as inflicted by
its "environment".