01/04/2022
// Friday Fact - Ruling Out Pain //
Before any analysis of problem horse behaviour, it’s important to investigate other possible causes such as pain. The science of recognising facial signs of pain is still in its infancy, despite the claims of many authors. Much of the problem arises because of the huge variation between horses in the facial characteristics as well as differences in behavioural traits and temperaments.
The image below shows the generalised understanding of how pain might present itself. However, it’s important to recognise that pain and stress have similar characteristics in animals. The characteristics of pain in the image may alternatively suggest stress resulting from conflict behaviour, or any other stress induced by human interactions.
Therefore, when assessing problem behaviour you should also rely on first principles and pattern recognition, including the signs and symptoms of the problematic behaviour.
For example, in the case of a horse that doesn’t stand still when being saddled, as well as facial signs of pain/stress, you should also consider:
▪️ Dysfunctions in in-hand training
▪️ Prior negative associations with saddling
▪️ Sensitivity levels and preferences
▪️ Predictability of the actions being done
▪️ Familiarity of the human
▪️ Confidence to separate from social partners etc.
This is an excerpt of our course 10872NAT Diploma of Equitation Science. To find out more, please follow this link: https://esi-education.com/courses/diploma/