2/26/2024 0 Comments Are horses prey animals![]() Being trapped is what happens to a horse just before he’s eaten. For a horse, force feels like being trapped. Horses know that it’s not healthy to be trapped by a predator. If we look at this from the horse’s point of view, unless he feels 100% safe, he never wants to be in a situation where he cannot escape to save his life. If they become naturally apprehensive, resistance is the only way they know how to tell us: “Hey, this is scary, it feels uncomfortable, so please don’t force me to do this.” The first time horses are asked to enter the human world of barns, stalls, and horse trailers, they need to be taught with compassion and great patience to feel safe and comfortable. The natural home for a human (predator) is indoors in a house (barn), an apartment (stall) or, thousands of years ago, a cave (horse trailer). Living outside enables horses to flee from and outrun its enemies. The natural home for a horse (prey animal) is living with other horses outside on open land with endless places to run. This is the reason that force is the “natural” enemy of the horse. All horses know this: Predators are aggressive-Predators use force-Predators eat prey. The horse’s natural enemies are predator animals: mountain lions, wolves and yes, humans! Predators kill prey animals and eat them. The implication is: “if you don’t comply with my request, I will continue and cause you even more discomfort.”Īt this point, because more discomfort usually implies a bite or a kick, the other horse or human respectfully complies. He does something that will cause the other to become uncomfortable such as pin his ears, turn his butt or lift his leg. When a horse is not getting his way he dominates either the other horse or his human. This often leads them to use some form of force and or intimidation (mental, emotional or physical) to get what they want. If they don’t get it, they can become impatient, frustrated or angry. When a human wants something, they usually begin by asking for what they want. If you asked them they would simply call it leadership. It’s the same method horses have always used to get what they want from each other. It replaces force with communication, psychology, and compassion. That way is referred to as Natural Horsemanship. ![]() In fact, there has been another way for thousands of years but only in the last 50 has it begun to gain noticeable recognition. Something inside me felt there had to be another way without using force. Since I’m not a professional, I assumed they knew what they were doing. Or “I watched my teacher/trainer _ the horse to get him to do what they wanted.
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