05/05/2025
I have the same broken record 😉
There is no such thing as naughty horse.
I know that long-time followers must think my record is stuck, but this bares some repeating.
Firstly, because even the converted choir slip back into this thinking regularly.
Secondly, a number of the 'whip and discipline" crew are claiming that new studies show horses CAN be naughty.
Horses are physiologically unable to engage in planned misbehavior.
Please note: this does not mean they are less intelligent than us. The mere fact that I have to clarify that indicates they are probably of a higher level of intelligence than us.
They have a less developed frontal lobe than us.
The frontal lobe is where we think about lies, our five- year plan, and where to bury the body of our boss.
Horses HAVE a frontal lobe, but it's lack of development means they are capable of thinking about 6 steps ahead, and around two minutes into the future. You know that ' in he moment' state we all work as hard at achieving? That's what it's like being a horse.
The only time horses run around in a state of stress, about things that may never happen, is when they are kept in domestic situations where humans don't consider their species appropriate needs. Even in these cases they aren't thinking a day in advance. They have an immediate need not being met. All day, and all night.
Why does this matter?
Why should we be debating this?
Isn't it cute to call them naughty, but in a cute way?
No, because naughtiness is cute until it needs correction. Then out comes the discipline.
When we write off behavior as naughty, we stop finding the motivation behind the behavior, whether it be pain, fear,, lack of understanding, or needs not being met.
Every single behavior we find undesirable with horses is the results of one of these motivations.
A well-known equestrian magazine recently published an article claiming that NEW studies now show that horses CAN Plan in advance. They posted no links to the study, but after some searching I found the study, and found nothing new. We already knew that horses can process few functions ahead, and a few minutes ahead.
They cannot, according to any peer reviewed science, sit in their stable overnight and plan where to pretend to be scared, so they can throw you off.
This matters. It isn't 'just having fun'.
I have clients telling me instructors are still telling then to use their whips, because the horse is ' just being naughty' or ' he is just taking advantage of you" or " he is just testing you'.
These are all cases of other motivators being missed in favor of punishment. Then we wonder why those horses are "spooky amd unpredictable". They are being punished for things they don't understand. They live in constant fear of what the bald monkeys might do to them next.
This is why we need to drop the term naughty from our vocabulary.. Even in jokes and memes.
