IS YOUR HORSE LONELY?

Horses need horses not goats, chickens or llamas, but other horses.  They are social animals, living in a herd environment.  For their health mental and physical being, they need to socialize with each other.

Having horse company allows them to play, fight, chase and protect each other.  They look to each other for safety, direction, comfort and companionship.  Lone horses can become bored leading to behavioural problems.  When they see humans enter their domain, they may become pushy or intimidated by our presence.  This is because they are the prey and we are seen as the predator.

Horses raised on their own do not have good social skills.  This is seen in many race horses who are stalled and kept alone for many years.  Once allowed to go free, they usually get beat up by other herd members not even knowing how to defend themselves.

Horses learn social and behaviour skills from other horses.  We are unable to teach horses to learn our human language yet we can learn the horse language and apply it so horse and human understand each other (this is called horse whispering).  So, if your horse is doing something you don’t understand, take the time to watch horses in their own herd environment.  There is always a leader whom everyone watches, trusts or learns from.

Horses need interaction with other horses and as humans, it is our duty to watch and learn how they treat each other.  This will teach us how to effectively teach them.

Next time you pass a lone horse out in the field, consider this – is he lonely?  I wonder if he needs his back scratched by another horse or, if he needs to stand head to tail to have the flies swished from his eyes?  Or who rubs his withers with compassion, or chases to play tag with him?  And who stands over him and protects him when he sleeps?

A lone horse misses out on quite a bit.  Is he lonely?  I’d say yes!  Remember, horses need horse needs not people needs.

- Arlene & John McCallum