12/05/2025
Finding Peace Together-
Intro to Work in Confinement
Unless the horse lives on a thousand acres without a fence line in sight, they are living in confinement. Even the richest pastures and most intricate track systems are enclosures, designed to contain. Domestic horses are in essence, bred and raised in captivity. I don’t feel that this is a bad thing. On the contrary, as someone who can “hear” them “speak”, many are quite fond of the luxuries of domestication and love being with us. After all, our dogs and cats chose this life with us, horse’s aren’t too far off and yet…. their Nature. It’s in the horse’s nature to be cautious about confinement as it’s a foreign concept for them. I have learned this from observing feral and/or young horses in particular, as I believe they offer me the closest representation of a horse’s factory settings. Observing horses who have been poorly handled, I have learned that they tend to be even more troubled about confinement than it is in their Nature to be. Horses, when left to their own devices, are wide ranging band animals who prefer to be in wide open spaces the majority of the time. Here’s the catch - there are more horses who need homes than there is adequate space for species appropriate living. So stall, paddock, pasture or track it is. This is what we all have to work with and we’re all in it together.
I have noticed that young and/or feral horses, when given opportunity, come to find some peace in confinement quite quickly. They learn to trust the human, they learn to trust their environment and they learn to trust themselves. I’m not saying that this is an easy undertaking for a human, to introduce a horse to the concept of confinement. It’s a massive undertaking to do this with quality and requires the human to rise as a horseman in profound ways. For there are ways to introduce a horse to confinement ( for us, it’s loose in a pen or arena, on a lariat rope, through a halter and lead and eventually into the bridle), where both species make contact and learn to follow one another’s feel, where the human offers something that feels good to the horse and the horse offers that good feel back to the human. When our bodies and the equipment we use act to extend an invitation to softness and a request for influence, (ie “May I have this dance?”), then horses can learn to feel quite good about what we’re doing together and where we’re doing it.
In all fairness, I don’t know that I’d have recognized this topic and its cruciality as much as I have if it hadn’t been for all the horses who had been given a bad deal and showed me where their trouble was. Damn, horses get troubled about confinement. Real troubled.
Difficulty trailer loading and stress during transit
Pulling back when tied/difficulty being tied
Speeds up in changes of direction
Chronic ulcers
Weaving, pacing, cribbing, pawing
Rearing
Excessive spookiness
Head tossing
Kicking
Difficulty with grooming, tacking and/or mounting
Head Shy
Rude Manners- pushing, shoving, rubbing, leaning, dragging, stepping on the human
Kissing Spines
Food Aggression
Difficult to catch
Bucking/kicking out under saddle
Bolting
Travels heavy on the forehand
Jigging
Busy in the mouth
Difficulty being trimmed or shod
Difficult for the vet and/or bodyworker
The process wherein we help troubled horses and their humans work through this is about the same as it is to introduce it all to an untroubled horse. It doesn’t usually look the same, as the troubled horse has a harder time changing eyes, working through their blind spots and making contact with the human. This too, demands that we, as the human, rise up and really allow ourselves to be brave and curious about the experience. If we condemn it, avoid it, bulldoze through it or start telling stories of villains and victims, we’re going to miss it. That moment when the horse shows the first glimpse of a curiosity that is their own, if we miss that, we missed an immense opportunity for connection. The troubled horse requires stronger contact, more space, more time. They usually require skill and handiness, some gumption, consistency and deep, deep commitment. It’s worth it of course, to bring one through to the other side. It’s Always worth it. And the cool part about it, the part that really gets me interested, is that it’s so simple. The doing isn’t easy, of course but that’s on us too. For the most part, a horse doesn’t want to be so troubled and really wants to get along. So too does the human and both have demonstrated to me time and again, our willingness to change. Though, this does seem to be much harder for the human than the horse. I see horses let go of their trouble with confinement faster than I often observe the human to let go of their story around it. Me too, I’m not immune. I’m just saying, there’s something about a horse expressing their trouble with confinement that can trigger TF out of a human. I’ve seen and experienced this in so many interactions. And I get it. How many of us (horse or human) have learned how to make strong contact with others? How to navigate conflict? How to Feel into a situation rather than analyze it? How to express our emotions, communicate our needs and establish healthy boundaries? Um…. As the horse struggles with confinement, I see our sympathetic nervous systems take over. Some folks fight, some flee, some freeze, some fawn. Some of us can go in any which direction, depending on the day.
I’ve said it once or twice and I’ll keep on saying it- cultivating emotional elasticity through nervous system regulation is key. Horses bring us into the here and now in such beautifully nuanced ways when we’re psychologically ready and willing to meet them. Just as important, we must be physically fit and ready as well. How could we possibly trust the horse’s body when we do not trust our own? Particularly under saddle, we must be willing to let go of the illusion of control and surrender to the horse’s movement, just as they must surrender to our guidance and give up their own sense of control in so many ways. It’s all very much co-creational and everything works both ways.
Every once in a while, I meet a horse who has healthy attachment (the three types of confidence). With this horse, stocks are no problem, neither are hobbles or trailers or riding in collection with a quiet mouth and mind, softly landing feet. Mostly, I meet horses who are concerned and bothered about confinement. They’re sticky getting onto the trailer and arrive at their destinations amped up. They pull back and break halters. They kick out under saddle and occasionally threaten a buck. Maybe they’re a cribber but show no other tell tale signs. Often, I meet horses who are so troubled by confinement that they can barely be handled, they have become so fearful that they may be aggressive. While my heart could break for these horses and for the humans who show up and give all to help them, it does not. Instead, I find myself ever drawn to the process, to the ebb and flow of the healing moments that allow us to guide these troubled horses back into peace and safety with humans and us back to ourselves.
~ Chiara
A quick note to consider- I have suspicion that some horses who are deeply troubled about confinement are so for physical reasons. I have noted that every single neurological case I have worked with struggled with confinement to excessive degrees, even when very friendly, gentle and quiet about many other things. Just food for thought ❤
