Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
Heather Simpson explains that the best and kindest way to help horses overcome anxieties doesn’t involve forcing them to confront their phobias
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!Facing fears
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Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
Horses can become phobic about certain things, just as people can. For us, it might be spiders, for horses, pigs are often a particular fear.
Early experiments on the human brain revealed that phobias are actually fears that are learnt from personal experiences in life. But this may be surprising for those who might have previously thought that horses ( and people ) were born with phobias to certain stimuli.
However, horses can also develop a phobia to some things more easily than to others. Equine phobias to pigs and dogs are well-known, and these are animals that have presented age-old problems to horses. Wild dogs and boars can be dangerous to wild horses and, therefore, profound negative reactions to them by our domestic horses are understandable.
So what’s the best way to deal with equine phobias?
Early experiments on the human brain revealed that phobias are actually fears that are learnt from personal experiences in life. But this may be surprising for those who might have previously thought that horses ( and people ) were born with phobias to certain stimuli.
However, horses can also develop a phobia to some things more easily than to others. Equine phobias to pigs and dogs are well-known, and these are animals that have presented age-old problems to horses. Wild dogs and boars can be dangerous to wild horses and, therefore, profound negative reactions to them by our domestic horses are understandable.
So what’s the best way to deal with equine phobias?
Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
“ Flooding “ the phobia
For centuries, across the world, humans have trained horses in a way where, if they are nervous, they are forced to face their fears, and so learn to suppress them.
For example, if a horse is fearful of being tied up, some people think that the solution lies in tying him up even shorter – and maybe for a longer period than normal, too. They have discovered that handling the situation in this way always result in the horse giving up pulling against the rope. But why would a fearful horse give up? And is this result a long-lasting success?
In this case, the horse has been “ flooded “. Flooding is a psychological technique, originally developed by psychiatrists, with the objective of presenting a person with the object of their fear, with no escape. By having the person experience prolonged.
Unavoidable fear, he or she ultimately reaches such a level of fatigue that the brain can no longer sustain the flight response. They psychologically give up on the notion of wanting to run away, and this yielding represents a resolution of the fear. The problem is that, after decades of use of this technique on people, psychiatrists have discovered that successful results are rather patchy. While it’s true than in some instances, flooding has caused fears to resolve, in the vast majority of cases, people have reported that their fear was merely temporarily suppressed. And in a considerable percentage, the fear not only became worse, it escalated to the level of full-blown phobia.
Unfortunately, for many flooded horses, their fears are just suppressed. This is generally taken by the human to be a positive outcome – that the horse has resolved his fear. But, of course, mere suppression simply means the horse has learnt not to show his fears externally – in reality, the fear continues inside.
For centuries, across the world, humans have trained horses in a way where, if they are nervous, they are forced to face their fears, and so learn to suppress them.
For example, if a horse is fearful of being tied up, some people think that the solution lies in tying him up even shorter – and maybe for a longer period than normal, too. They have discovered that handling the situation in this way always result in the horse giving up pulling against the rope. But why would a fearful horse give up? And is this result a long-lasting success?
In this case, the horse has been “ flooded “. Flooding is a psychological technique, originally developed by psychiatrists, with the objective of presenting a person with the object of their fear, with no escape. By having the person experience prolonged.
Unavoidable fear, he or she ultimately reaches such a level of fatigue that the brain can no longer sustain the flight response. They psychologically give up on the notion of wanting to run away, and this yielding represents a resolution of the fear. The problem is that, after decades of use of this technique on people, psychiatrists have discovered that successful results are rather patchy. While it’s true than in some instances, flooding has caused fears to resolve, in the vast majority of cases, people have reported that their fear was merely temporarily suppressed. And in a considerable percentage, the fear not only became worse, it escalated to the level of full-blown phobia.
Unfortunately, for many flooded horses, their fears are just suppressed. This is generally taken by the human to be a positive outcome – that the horse has resolved his fear. But, of course, mere suppression simply means the horse has learnt not to show his fears externally – in reality, the fear continues inside.
Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
Walking with pigs! Horses at the Simpsons’ Natural Animal Center are completely relaxed with unusual animals
Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
The cure for phobias
Living with a phobia is considered to be a serious psychological situation in human beings. In a well-known case of a woman who was phobic of cats, the progression of her fears was charted as they got to the level where she became terrified if someone talked about cats – or if she was shown a picture of cats.
Eventually, as the fear transference continued, she became phobic of the sight of fur on gloves. And eventually, her life deteriorated to the point where she became too frightened to leave the house, in the event of her encountering a cat.
Unfortunately, some phobic horses – like this woman – become so apprehensive about what they may meet, that they are extremely spooky and increasingly difficult to handle and ride. Although this is undoubtedly frustrating for the owner, the first step is to maintain compassionate understanding of the horse’s point of view and recognize that his fears are spiraling out of control. A horse in this state has a poor quality of life and he needs assistance – these fears will not simply go away on their own. In some cases, professional behavioural intervention is needed from a qualified equine behaviourist.
At the very least, allowing the horse to achieve some level of normality in his life – for example, being allowed to form a pair-bond, to be part of a herd that enjoys regular turnout, etc – can play an enormous role in interrupting the phobic pattern. And it can even being the reversal process towards a calmer attitude.
With an enriched social life, healthy curiosity for unusual animals like pigs begins to re-emerge, and the motivation to explore new, interesting things returns.
Living with a phobia is considered to be a serious psychological situation in human beings. In a well-known case of a woman who was phobic of cats, the progression of her fears was charted as they got to the level where she became terrified if someone talked about cats – or if she was shown a picture of cats.
Eventually, as the fear transference continued, she became phobic of the sight of fur on gloves. And eventually, her life deteriorated to the point where she became too frightened to leave the house, in the event of her encountering a cat.
Unfortunately, some phobic horses – like this woman – become so apprehensive about what they may meet, that they are extremely spooky and increasingly difficult to handle and ride. Although this is undoubtedly frustrating for the owner, the first step is to maintain compassionate understanding of the horse’s point of view and recognize that his fears are spiraling out of control. A horse in this state has a poor quality of life and he needs assistance – these fears will not simply go away on their own. In some cases, professional behavioural intervention is needed from a qualified equine behaviourist.
At the very least, allowing the horse to achieve some level of normality in his life – for example, being allowed to form a pair-bond, to be part of a herd that enjoys regular turnout, etc – can play an enormous role in interrupting the phobic pattern. And it can even being the reversal process towards a calmer attitude.
With an enriched social life, healthy curiosity for unusual animals like pigs begins to re-emerge, and the motivation to explore new, interesting things returns.
Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
With a good social life, horses can have healthy curiosity about animals like pigs and dogs
Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
In the wild
To understand equine phobias of pigs in a different way, it’s worth looking at the behavior of wild equines – zebras. Zebras in Africa meet warthogs almost every day in the bush, but surprisingly they are not phobic of them.
In the wild, zebras just learn to be cautions around warthogs. This is not to say that the zebras would not give a large male warthog boar a wide berth if he was acting in an aggressive way! But zebras tend to learn about warthogs in a healthy – even holistic – manner.
Young zebra foals learn about the environment around them from their own private perceptions and from others in the herd. Most important of all, they attentively observe the behavior of their mothers and fathers in relation to all kinds of day-to-day events. And in this way, they learn what they parents deem as really dangerous, and what simply needs a watchful eye.
As they grow older, foals learn to pay attention to other members of the herd, too. Then they build up an increasingly reliable picture of how to behave in all kinds of situations.
To demonstrate just how resilient zebras can learn to be, consider this. Two years ago, at our Natural Animal Center in Africa, we released a herd of Oryx gazelle on to the reserve. Oryx have ancient evolutionary ties with zebras, but our zebras had never encountered Oryx before, so it was interesting to find out whether they were going to cope with the arrival of these unusual-looking antelope.
What we saw was that initially, the zebra bunched up close together as they tried to discern whether or not these were animals to be feared. Very quickly, however – in less than half-an-hour – they realized they could relax and that despite the enormous horns of the Oryx, no danger was likely. And this attitude rubbed off on their zebra foals – they all learnt to accept the Oryx, too.
This incident illustrates that emotionally healthy zebras can adjust and adapt quickly to something potentially fearful, when they realise that anxiety is not necessary. This is in strong contrast to many horses who live in social isolation – they, unfortunately, reel from one fear to another in ways that escalate quite easily into phobias.
To understand equine phobias of pigs in a different way, it’s worth looking at the behavior of wild equines – zebras. Zebras in Africa meet warthogs almost every day in the bush, but surprisingly they are not phobic of them.
In the wild, zebras just learn to be cautions around warthogs. This is not to say that the zebras would not give a large male warthog boar a wide berth if he was acting in an aggressive way! But zebras tend to learn about warthogs in a healthy – even holistic – manner.
Young zebra foals learn about the environment around them from their own private perceptions and from others in the herd. Most important of all, they attentively observe the behavior of their mothers and fathers in relation to all kinds of day-to-day events. And in this way, they learn what they parents deem as really dangerous, and what simply needs a watchful eye.
As they grow older, foals learn to pay attention to other members of the herd, too. Then they build up an increasingly reliable picture of how to behave in all kinds of situations.
To demonstrate just how resilient zebras can learn to be, consider this. Two years ago, at our Natural Animal Center in Africa, we released a herd of Oryx gazelle on to the reserve. Oryx have ancient evolutionary ties with zebras, but our zebras had never encountered Oryx before, so it was interesting to find out whether they were going to cope with the arrival of these unusual-looking antelope.
What we saw was that initially, the zebra bunched up close together as they tried to discern whether or not these were animals to be feared. Very quickly, however – in less than half-an-hour – they realized they could relax and that despite the enormous horns of the Oryx, no danger was likely. And this attitude rubbed off on their zebra foals – they all learnt to accept the Oryx, too.
This incident illustrates that emotionally healthy zebras can adjust and adapt quickly to something potentially fearful, when they realise that anxiety is not necessary. This is in strong contrast to many horses who live in social isolation – they, unfortunately, reel from one fear to another in ways that escalate quite easily into phobias.
Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
IT’S A FACT There is now strong evidence that phobic behaviors in many adult animals ( not just horses ) begin with the development of intense fears as youngsters.
Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
Foal fears
The early learning experiences of the zebra foal out on the African plains, surrounded by his family group, are typically very different from that of the horse foal. And there is now strong evidence that phobic behaviors in many adult animals ( not just horses ) begin with the development of intense fears as youngsters.
Because abrupt, early artificial wearing of foals is regularly practiced by many horse breeders, thousands of foals experience profound fear when separated from their mothers. So we should acknowledge that it is a potential trigger for phobia development in the adult horse.
Therefore, with young horses, it is largely in the owner’s hands to prevent the development of phobias. But even in adult horses with existing phobias, it is possible for an owner to interrupt the circle of transference of fears. Using kinder training methods, and avoiding flooding and punishment, are essential if the situation is to be fully resolved. At all costs, coercing the horse into confronting his fears is to be avoided.
The early learning experiences of the zebra foal out on the African plains, surrounded by his family group, are typically very different from that of the horse foal. And there is now strong evidence that phobic behaviors in many adult animals ( not just horses ) begin with the development of intense fears as youngsters.
Because abrupt, early artificial wearing of foals is regularly practiced by many horse breeders, thousands of foals experience profound fear when separated from their mothers. So we should acknowledge that it is a potential trigger for phobia development in the adult horse.
Therefore, with young horses, it is largely in the owner’s hands to prevent the development of phobias. But even in adult horses with existing phobias, it is possible for an owner to interrupt the circle of transference of fears. Using kinder training methods, and avoiding flooding and punishment, are essential if the situation is to be fully resolved. At all costs, coercing the horse into confronting his fears is to be avoided.
Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
Emotionally healthy zebras can adjust and adapt quickly to something potentially fearful.
Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
More information
• The Natural Animal Center, visit www.naturalanimalcenter.com
• Teach yourself horse’ by Heather Simpson, visit www.horseandrider.com
• The Natural Animal Center, visit www.naturalanimalcenter.com
• Teach yourself horse’ by Heather Simpson, visit www.horseandrider.com
Dr_Ghaffari
Active member
Dear Amir
Hi, what happend for my letters, I sent yesterday?
Hi, what happend for my letters, I sent yesterday?