The most beneficial piece is to establish or re-establish yourself as the leader of your horse in your herd of two on the ground before you get on his back. Groundwork is a very important part of the training process in many different ways. But what is groundwork and why is it so important? I won’t ask my horse to do something when I’m on his back unless he’s first done it willingly for me on the ground.īefore we ride horses, we should do groundwork with our horse. Lightness, non-resistance, and positive responses, I need him to offer me all of these qualities on the ground before I get on his back. This can be immensely intimidating for our equine counterparts. As predators, it’s our instinct to walk right up to an object to get whatever it is we want. This enables us to focus in on fast-moving objects… potential prey.
We have binocular vision, which means that we can use both eyes at once and see best out in front of us. Such comprehensive field of vision allows the horse to keep an eye out for those predators on every moment of every day.Ĭontrary to the horse, we humans are predators and, as a general rule, operate completely opposite from the horse with our bodies and our minds. This allows the horse to see nearly 360 degrees, except the areas directly in front of them and directly behind them. Horses have monocular vision, which means that each eye is independent from the other.
One characteristic of prey animals is that their eyes are on the sides of their faces so that they can have a wider field of vision to spot a predator. A lot of things we naturally do can be counter-productive when it comes to working horses.ĭid you know that horses’ minds and bodies are constructed in a way that aids them in their survival as prey animals? While horses are prey animals, humans are classified as predators, and as such, we approach life in a very different manner than the horse. So, when we lead or ride a horse up to or past something it has not seen before, the horse can become wary and nervous. If flight is not possible, the horse may resort to the fight response by charging or kicking. With flight, the horse may try to run through or over a fence or person to escape. When we trap a horse we can trigger its flight or fight response. In the wild, a predator would like to have the horse in a situation where it could not escape. Flight will always be the first instinct of these animals. You might have heard of the term “fight or flight." A horse’s first instinct is to get out or dodge the moment he encounters anything remotely scary. It’s all about survival for the horse, and their instincts are no exception. What is dangerous to a horse? Almost everything! Their wellbeing relies on their perception that everything that moves or is new could eat them. Horses understand that their safety relies on their ability to put distance between themselves and something they perceive as dangerous. An understanding of the horse’s vision will give us a clearer picture of its world and help us to remain safer.įirst, we need to realize that the horse evolved as a prey animal and its first response to anything scary is to flight. Examples of common predators include lions, bears, and foxes.Įquine vision plays a role in how the horse reacts to events. Predators are animals that hunt, or prey, on other animals. Examples of prey animals include horses, goats, and rabbits. Horses are ‘naturally’ afraid of humans because humans are predators.īut what is the difference between a prey animal and a predator and how are both able to connect with each other?Īnimals that are eaten or hunted are called prey. It’s a grazing creature that, in the wild, has always lived in herds on grasslands.
0 kommentar(er)
