Human Views and Equine Behavior

What Reviewers are Saying about Human Views and Equine Behavior

What a wonderful book! Janice Ladendorf explains very clearly how horses think, and how they react to humans. I hope this book will open people's eyes and give horses a better chance of being treated fairly by the people who have to deal with them.

David DeWispeleare, Classical Dressage Clinician, Trainer, and Rider

A fascinating, eye-opening look at the structure of the human-equine bond.

Lyne Raff, Author of The Horse in the Civil War and Editor of the Art

Horse Magazine

This book contains more points of view than you can shake a stick at … The alternatives are by no means new, but they have been misunderstood in both scale and direction by all but a few … there is something here that needs to be faced.

Mark Stanton, Horsemanship Magazine, UK

Here is a book that gives many views on equine behavior and options of training to achieve the best relationship between horse and rider.

Feathered Quill

Human Views and Equine Behavior

Self Fulfilling Philosophies and Communicating with Horses

Janice M. Ladendorf

Copyright 2013

Smashwords Edition

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Cartoons by Candy Liddy

Drawings by Cele Schattauer and Candy Liddy

Table of Contents

Introduction

Pt. I - Theoretical Explanations of Animal Behavior

Chapter 1 - Historical Review of Viewpoints

Chapter 2 - Research on Feral Horses

Chapter 3 - Humanistic Psychology and Equine Behavior

Pt. II - The Language of the Aids

Chapter 4 - Theoretical Paradigms

Chapter 5 - Aids and Combinations

Chapter 6 - Combinations and Semantics

Chapter 7 - The Road to Understanding

Pt. III - Viewpoint Definitions

Chapter 8 - Introduction

Chapter 9 - Definitions

Chapter 10 - Black Beauty Revisited

Pt. IV - Viewpoint Applications

Chapter 11 - Introduction: Instincts

Chapter 12 - The Flight Instinct

Chapter 13 - The Herd Instinct

Chapter 14 - Introduction: Techniques and Tools

Chapter 15 - Lunging Versus Round Penning

Chapter 16 - Bits Versus Bitless Bridles

Pt. V - Viewpoint Evaluations

Chapter 17 - Comparison and Analysis

Pt. VI - Training Goals and Objectives

Chapter 18 - Stages, Goals, Objectives, and Relationship Levels

Chapter 19 - Qualities

Introduction

Straightness

Suppleness

Contact

Rhythm

Impulsion

Conclusion

Pt. VII - Conclusion

Chapter 20 - A Final Word

Author Information

Footnotes

Human Views and Equine Behavior

Self Fulfilling Philosophies and Communicating with Horses

Introduction

For over sixty years, I have spent my free time either with horses or studying horsemanship. Unlike most amateurs, I soon learned how to train my own horses. At first, I needed some professional guidance, but for many years now I have worked on my own with occasional help from friends.

My first book on horsemanship, Practical Dressage for Amateur Trainers, was published in 1974. At that time, dressage was not well known in the United States and little material was available in English. This book was based on what I had learned from my German instructor and my graduate studies in communication at the University of Minnesota. It divided training objectives into physical, mental, and emotional qualities.

My latest book, Human Views and Equine Behavior, focuses on our mental and emotional relationship with the horse. Except for Part II, each chapter can stand alone and need not be read sequentially. For hundreds of years, horsemen have argued over two different philosophies or views of equine behavior. The first one emphasizes usefulness, submission, and obedience. The second one emphasizes enjoyment, persuasion and cooperation. As an amateur rider and trainer, my personal preference has always been for the second philosophy.

Since my long ago college days, a great deal of research has been done on animal behavior, as well as on their emotional and cognitive abilities. At long last, scientific research has been done that supports the second view. Information on this research is summarized in chapter one and used throughout the book. New paradigms have been used to explain equine behavior, especially as they relate to their interaction with human beings.

In Practical Dressage, I described the equine view of life, and two kinds of management styles. The view information was mostly drawn from my own experience. In recent years, extensive research has been done on various feral herds. Studying it has increased my understanding of equine behavior and their social flexibility. This research is summarized in chapter two. The two management styles were first defined by Abraham Maslow and reflected the two views described above. His theories on motivation are described and applied in chapter three, as is an updated application of his concepts of his management style.

The language of the aids is taught and learned mostly through experience. In my opinion, none of the popular explanations adequately explain what actually happens between horse and rider. In Practical Dressage, I presented the results of my analysis of the language of the aids. It identified the linguistic paradigm as the best way to explain how it conveys meaningful commands to a horse. Once I understood the underlying logic behind this language, my communication with my horses improved.

My analysis focused on how the horse understands what we want him do. This is a mental or cognitive issue. In recent years, research has established that animals can not only understand words, but grasp the essentials of language. My original research has now been thoroughly revised and updated for Human Views. In chapter four, multiple paradigms are discussed and new information is presented on the cognitive abilities. Chapters five and six explain exactly how the language of the aids works while chapter seven details the steps that must be used in teaching it to the horse.

Since this language is neither discipline nor breed specific, it can be used by any horseman who wants to improve his communication with his horse. Human Views includes comments on the use of this language in western riding. The language of the aids is probably the most sophisticated system ever devised by humans to communicate with horses, but it is not the only one they have developed. In classical times, some African Barbs never wore a bridle, but were guided with light taps from a stick.

My current horse is a registered Spanish Mustang. He was a range colt who had never been handled by people. He tells his own story in A Marvelous Mustang: Tales from the Life of a Spanish Horse. Taming, gentling, and training him was an educational experience and much of what I learned from him is presented in chapter seven. His book describes how our relationship evolved into one of mutual trust, respect, and affection.

Even if the horse understands what we want him to do, we still may not have resolved the issue of convincing him to do it. This not a mental issue, but an emotional one. As my book, A Marvelous Mustang, illustrates, the relationship between a horse and a human does and will vary with each individual pair. The equestrian discipline or type of horse does not usually affect these relationships, but they will be affected by the human’s view of equine nature.

Horses have a unique ability to see through our social masks to the essential person below. They can sense our view of them and act accordingly. For example, if you think a horse is stupid, he will be stupid. In my experience, horses will treat every human exactly as he or she deserves. I have published a series of articles that defined four human views of horses and discussed how these views affect equine behavior. For Human Views, this material has been updated, revised, and greatly expanded in chapters eight through seventeen. Included are discussions of how each view will affect the definition and use of rewards, discipline, and punishments.

In chapter eighteen, goals and objectives are discussed as they relate to stages of training and relationship levels. Most of this material comes from my experience with my own horses, but especially from working with my Spanish Mustang.

In my opinion, dressage is the art of improving a horse beyond the point of plain usefulness. Usefulness focuses on what the horse does, but art focuses on how he does it. Multiple interlocked qualities will affect the quality of a horse’s performance. From 1998 to 2002, I wrote a series of articles on these articles for Sylvia Locke’s Classical Riding Club Newsletter. This material included information I had learned from studying other disciplines, including western riding and natural horsemanship. It has now been thoroughly revised and updated for this book and is presented in chapter nineteen. Some comparisons to western riding are included.

Footnotes are listed in an appendix. They are there not only to validate my ideas, but to provide the reader with sources of more information on the topics in this book. The English language does not yet have a pronoun that includes both male and female. Instead of him or her, he has been used throughout this book to include both sexes.

My Horses

Since photographs of three of my horses appear all through this book, they are introduced below. Practical Dressage featured Chief Reason and Gay Sprite. At that time, helmets had not come into use and hunt caps were used only for jumping. At a later time, I began wearing masks that allowed me to be outside with my horses during pollen season.

Chief came to me from Montana as a green broke four year old. He was by a Remount sire out of mustang mare. He was first trained as a show hunter and then up to fourth level in dressage, but cross country work is what he loved. He excelled as a fox hunter.

When I bought Gay, she was an unbroken three years old. She was by an Appaloosa from Oregon and out of a Thoroughbred Quarter Horse cross. She had a lot of talent for dressage and became a good hack who enjoyed trail rides.

I bought my Spanish Mustang, Skan, from a breeder in North Dakota as a suckling foal and got him after he had been weaned. When he arrived in Minnesota, he wouldn’t come within thirty feet of me. The picture from the cover of our book is shown below.

Part I

Theoretical Explanations of Animal Behavior

Chapter 1

Historical Review of Viewpoints

From the beginning of written history, one viewpoint has dominated the way humans think about animals. Those who share this viewpoint believe that humans are innately superior to animals and have a moral right to exploit them. Dale Peterson has summarized the implications of this belief in one simple statement.

In any significant conflict between the interests of humans and animals, humans have the moral right to win. This is so because it is so.¹

Human societies have always used animals who shared their environment. Primitive man hunted them for meat, skins, and other useful products. Historically, over hunting has extinguished many species and almost destroyed others. Domestic animals provide us with food, clothes, and labor, but what do we give them in return? Sometimes, it has been very little. In medieval times, some domestic animals were tried for crimes defined by humans and penalized by death. Domestic elephants have been hung or electrocuted for killing humans.¹

Descartes

Descartes’ philosophy has had a major impact on how western European civilization views animals. He believed that animals are machines controlled by instinct. Since they do not have minds, they cannot think nor can they feel pain or pleasure. Since they do not have speech, they cannot have individual awareness or learn moral behavior. Since they do not have souls, they cannot have religion. His theories started a debate over the true nature of animals that has lasted for over four hundred years and still continues.

Darwin’s theory of evolution introduced scientific concepts into this conflict. As each species evolved, he believed that it developed physical, mental, and emotional adaptations that allowed it to survive. In his opinion, animals had cognitive and emotional capabilities similar to those of humans, but to a lesser degree. Unfortunately, his belief was based on anecdotal evidence that scientists rejected.² If evolution has given human superior minds, then his theories can be used to maintain that humans are superior to all other species.

Behaviorism added classical and operant conditioning to instincts as an explanation for the behavior of Descartes’ animal machines. It also gave humans new conceptual tools for manipulating animal behavior. Classical conditioning works well when the reflexes to be established are natural to the animal and will contribute to its survival. Such responses may become automatic. In the laboratory, operant conditioning techniques are generally used to link one stimulus to one response. The animal uses trial and error learning to discover how to avoid pain and earn rewards. Operant reflexes only work in one environment and can easily be extinguished. When animals respond to either one of these techniques, their behavior can easily be used to define them as inferior to humans.

Many horsemen have searched for scientific terms and principles to explain equine behavior, but inappropriate paradigms have all too often been used. Conditioned reflexes have been used to describe communication between horses and humans.³ This paradigm does not work because we want unnatural behavior from our horses and expect our aids to work in any environment. Horses can and do choose to ignore or disobey them. Behaviorism will be discussed further in chapter four.

Ethology initially focused on studying instinctive behavior in non-mammals. They soon discovered imprinting. For example, when baby swans break out of the egg, they automatically follow and keep on following the first moving object they see. This is a good example of instinctive behavior that is born into an animal species. Unfortunately, imprinting has been used to describe the use of desensitization techniques with foals during the first ten days of life.⁴ Unlike true imprinting; desensitization is neither instinctive nor automatic behavior.

Alternate Viewpoint

So far, only theories that give humans the moral right to dominate and exploit their animal inferiors have been discussed. In recent years, theories and research that support the opposing viewpoint have been discovered. Since horses, like humans, are mammals, the discussion below will focus on this genus.

Descartes’ philosophy had to be limited by what was known at his time. Today, different answers have been found to the questions discussed below.

1) Do animals have minds?

A great deal of research has been done on the parts of the brain and their function. All mammals have hind brains, midbrains, and forebrains. Body functions are handled by the hind brain. Emotions and instincts reside in the midbrain. Cognitive functions may reside in either the midbrain or the forebrain. When Descartes spoke of mind he may have meant just the forebrain, but all mammals have them. The size of the forebrain does vary with the species, but all mammals have one and it presumably gives them some cognitive abilities. Animals can solve problems that are relevant to them. Some domestic horses become escape artists. For example, some of the photographs in a pony’s story show him studying and removing step by step the bars from his pasture gate.⁵

2) Do animals feel pleasure or pain?

If animals could not feel pleasure or pain, then operant conditioning would not be possible. It uses both rewards and punishments and is based on trial and error learning. If the animal could not feel both pleasure and pain, he would have no motivation to learn.

Pain does have several components. When nerve fibers carry pain sensations to the brain, they may just trigger a simple reflex reaction, such as jerking a finger away from a hot plate. A colicky horse that bites or kicks at his stomach is probably exhibiting the same type of reflex. Such reactions may occur before the animal is even aware of pain.

Since all mammals have midbrains and forebrains, they should be able to feel pain and not just react to it. More complicated responses could include emotional and/or cognitive components. A terrified horse may be able to temporarily ignore or suppress pain. Fighting stallions may not even feel the injuries they are inflicting on each other. A horse who deliberately soaks his inflamed feet in cold water has probably discovered that is a way to relieve his pain.

3) Do animals have emotions?

Considerable research has been done on the anatomy, neural pathways, and functions of the midbrain where the core and social emotions reside.⁶ Examples of core emotions are anger, fear, and curiosity. Both feral and domestic horses will exhibit these natural emotions. Examples of social emotion are separation anxiety, social attachment, and playfulness.⁷

We’re herd mates and can be friends.

Weaning upsets both dam and foal. Equine friends groom each other and strive to stay together. Horses play games with each other and invent new ones to keep themselves amused. Domestic horses sometimes amuse themselves with tools or use them in their games.⁸ Some even learn to enjoy human games.⁹

Classical conditioning deals with physical stimuli and responses and it fits well in Descartes’ conception of the animal machine, but operant conditioning does not. This type of conditioning usually links one stimulus to one response. Trick training, as is done in circuses, uses this principle. In clicker training, the clicks are associated with a reward to link the stimulus to the desired response in