Ars Equus - Éducation du Cheval

15/05/2025

Big news from HorseWorld!🐴📢

We're proud to announce the publication of our first-ever peer-reviewed scientific paper, in partnership with Hartpury University and Equine Welfare Consultant Kate Fletcher 🙌

Our study shows that track grazing systems can significantly reduce bodyweight in horses prone to obesity - with no negative impact on hoof health or behaviour.

This research provides valuable, evidence-based insight for horse owners, equine professionals, and welfare organisations tackling the growing challenge of equine obesity🐴💙

A heartfelt thank you to Pets Foundation whose funding helped us build our original track systems at HorseWorld.🌱

📖 Read the full publication here: https://bit.ly/3RAQUdn

03/02/2025

A catalog of equine behaviour indicating discomfort and pain was developed by Sue McDonnell Ph.D. and Catherine Torcivia, VMD after studying 35 years worth of footage and observations.

** Notice the first behaviour in the picture, the frustrated head flick is something you see a lot when people are training with negative reinforcement and then adding food and/or trying to do fake “liberty training”. The low rate of reinforcement (food) and high value “treats” combined with aversive tools like whips, causes frustration and conflict and these types of head flicks, as well as more overt behaviour. 

“What sorts of things do horses do when they’re uncomfortable?” she said. “That’s what we aimed to define in a more or less complete inventory list, to make sure people really understand these discomfort behaviors.”

“One of our main goals with this ethogram was to get a collection of these (discomfort) behaviors and provide very specific descriptions, with images and videos, which I think are key for people to see what we’re talking about,” Torcivia said. “And hopefully this can kind of bring everyone together as far as what they’re looking at and how they’re interpreting things, just to help them use the same language and get them on the same page when they’re discussing equine discomfort.”

A summary of the findings:-

https://thehorse.com/197801/new-ethogram-describes-70-discomfort-behaviors-in-horses/?utm_medium=Behavior%20enews&utm_source=Newsletter&fbclid=IwAR19ZFnISWoQL3PSLyuCvwfaJpV6S287XLofIbOtruXDOeFs07h8oGZqvuM

The full paper:-

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/2/580

27/01/2025

**𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗖𝗛 𝗣𝗨𝗕𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡**

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗲𝘀: 𝗜𝘀 𝗜𝘁 𝗟𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗿 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝘀𝘆𝗺𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆?

Kevin K. Haussler, Sarah S. le Jeune, Russell MacKechnie-Guire, Selma N. Latif and Hilary M. Clayton

𝗢𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 (read without a subscription): https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/15/3/288?

𝗦𝘂𝗺𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆

Humans display handedness in which the right hand is often preferentially used to complete complex tasks, such as writing. Animals often display left–right differences in behaviors, such as the ease of turning in one direction versus the other. These differences are sometimes assumed to be caused by “laterality”, where one side of the brain controls activities on one side of the body. While this concept is well-established in humans, there is limited evidence supporting the idea that the brain’s lateralization is the primary cause of these left–right differences in horses. This study highlights the complexity of interpreting observed asymmetries in horses, as factors like injury, pain, and altered biomechanics may also play important roles. While laterality might be advantageous for some functions, its effects on horses are not always clear. The goal of this narrative review is to offer a clearer framework for understanding laterality and asymmetry in horses, which could improve clinical practices, enhance training methods, and ultimately lead to better care and performance outcomes for horses

26/01/2025

Introduction au round pen inversé

Objectif de la séance : fluidité du mouvement autour du rond, diminution de la recherche de m’approcher en frontal

Bonus de séance : introduire un peu de distance (se rapprocher du centre et réduire mon mouvement), pouvoir avoir un peu de trot

Objectif final : pouvoir être immobile au centre, mouvement en rond autour de moi et supprimer l’installation du round pen

Renforçateur : initialement bonbons landi à la pomme mais pas trop de succès (alors qu’elle les aime ? Lot peut-être moins bon), ensuite granulés de luzerne, plus motivant

18/01/2025

08/01/2025

07/01/2025

22/11/2024

“As the horse coordinates his limbs to abduct and straddle the pole, he releases tension from his bottom muscle chain. He also activates the deep hip stabilizing muscles, which play a cybernetic role communicating to the brain about a limb’s position and tonicity.

1. Place a single pole on flat ground. Ideally, the pole should be 10 to 12 feet in length.
2. Lead your horse to approach the pole straight from one end.
3. Pause briefly for a second or two to ensure your horse is listening well and not rushing.
4. Now very gently, one tiny step at a time, lead him forward with the pole under his midline.
5. Stop when he is fully straddling the pole and give him a pause to settle in that position.
6. Now ask him to take one step backwards, continuing to straddle the pole. Then bring him one step forward again.
7. Continue this motion of stepping him backwards and forwards while straddling the pole.”

By Jec Aristotle Ballou from her article “Building Stronger Horses: Stability Before Strength” www.horsejournals.com/riding-training/english/dressage/building-stronger-horses

This exercise is much more challenging than it looks and sounds, so I will often just start with the front legs only and have the horse stand relaxed with no back and forward walking when introducing this exercise for the first few times.

JAG Khasanova “Khody” practicing the straddle the pole exercise. 💪 Photo by Jessica Ann Designs

10/11/2024

A review of 58 studies shows 75% report significant welfare concerns with this practice—consistent across all training levels. And the performance impact is mixed, but with 44% showing no benefit.

Read the review here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11446961/

06/11/2024

Next time you watch a faux “liberty training” video (this is the context) or someone claiming to be a positive reinforcement trainer who's actually NOT, have this poster in front of you.

It’s super helpful! 😊

Count the conflict behaviours and how much tension the horse is showing, note the pinned ears.

The word “play” is often used as a reason for seeing this tension and conflict behaviours, as is “concentration face” and it’s BS.

Other behaviours would be rearing, pig rooting and bucking as they run away. 

Then go watch my force free positive reinforcement training. Good positive reinforcement training is fun and the horse will look relaxed and attentive, not tense or have pinned ears:

https://youtube.com/?si=veyoqmrYnwVvRSUd

*** Edited to add - context is important - what's the situation that the horse is displaying these behaviours in?

All behaviour needs to be taken in the context/ environment in which the horse finds themselves when you see these behaviours.

Note that ourselves and OUR behaviour is also part of the horse’s environment. All behaviour needs to be considered in context ie. what happened prior, during and after and what is the horse's history regarding training, health status/injury and experiences with humans, other horses and various environments, etc.

If your horse is snoozing under a tree and yawns, most likely the horse is not experiencing fear. (Although they could potentially be experiencing discomfort or pain.)

If you've just done or are doing some groundwork, round pen work, ridden work, gone for a hack, or dentistry, bodywork, worming or vaccinations, or even just tying up and brushing your horse, you MAY see these signs and more. The more of these behaviours you see, the more likely that you are seeing a response to fear, stress pain, discomfort or frustration or a combination.

Change our behaviour, the environment, lower our expectations and review our training plans to avoid seeing these behaviours in a training or handling context.

It's important to remember that all behaviour has function, it has a purpose for the horse, even if we don’t know what it is or understand it, horses behave in certain ways for a reason. They are masters of subtle communication and we need to learn to read those subtle signs and the big signs as well, not brush them off.
Also consider that if fear as been ruled out, that these behaviours may be caused by the horse's internal environment such as pain or injury, ie. always rule out pain as a cause for certain behaviours FIRST.

Photo credit: https://www.ppgaustralia.net.au/

24/10/2024

Dominance theory was a terrible mistake, that even the scientist who cataloged it, regrets doing. The deep level of misunderstanding that happened based on inappropriate studies just spiraled out of control into a culturally accepted excuse to train and work with animals with force and punishment.

Dominance theory was the idea that animals, horses included, have a linear dominance and set roles within the herd. The idea that there is a set leader, a decision maker, who controls the other horses' behaviors through threats and the other horses love this horse as their leader. The idea that horses have a linear set hierarchy that determines who's in charge and only changes if overthrown by someone stronger. These deeply flawed ideas have lead people to believe that they can be the leader horse by mimicking equine behavior, they misunderstood, justifying their use of forceful physical control and punishment to train behavior. All under the idea of being a "good leader".

The thing is, science is constantly growing and self-correcting. As we spend more time actually studying horses in various scenarios and environments, and each species individually, their family units, their herds, packs, groups, etc... We have learned this concept of dominance is wildly inaccurate and deeply unhealthy, only seen in extreme, inappropriate environments (like old overpacked zoos with many unrelated animals, as the original studies were based on).

What's really going on then? What is Dominance really? Do we need to be dominant?

Horse herds really work in a much more fluid and dynamic manner, it's not a linear hierarchy. Horses make decisions based on need, if someone has a need, they satisfy that need, the other horses stay with them out of social bonds and safety in numbers. A secure, confident horse will be more likely to make decisions that lead away from the group, while insecure, nervous horses might be less likely to make decisions, sticking more closely to the center of the herd. This isn't leadership or dominance, just confidence, in themselves and their world. This changes constantly. A confident horse may be more clingy and insecure if they have a pain problem, if they're pregnant, or if they're sick. This dynamic is constantly flowing. Who makes the decision, is up to how much the individual wants something. Who stays or goes in the herd is based on social bonds, friendships, familial relationships, and resource needs.

What was frequently mistaken as "dominance" was actually determined roles of priority access to resources. If a resource is limited, the herd knows who has first access, usually the bully. This varies by resource, my sweet itch mare has priority access to the shelter, while she doesn't care about defending food resources. She may shove everyone out of her way for shelter from bugs, but someone else may shove her out of the way for food. A group of 2 might pair up to move off a single horse who would typically move either of them individually. This access to resources is determined with little squabbles, but usually is limited to just some body language threatening gestures. It would be unhealthy if the herd were to compromise each other in fights over resources, when they have the bigger threat of predators they need to remain safe for. We only see extreme linear resource guarding in domestic settings where resources are limited. If hay is fed in limited supply one horse may always get priority access. If there isn't enough shelter, one horse may not let the others in it. This isn't dominance, but resource guarding. This isn't leadership, but the opposite, a horse who is deeply insecure in their resources, in their safety, violently defending themselves. If one horse resource guards excessively, most of the other horses avoid them, ignore them, don't want to groom with them, and don't want to risk dealing with them. They're like a human child bully, so insecure in themselves they act out against everyone else to try to soothe their need.

Ethology has also shown that horses do not think humans are horses. Even if we mimic their body language, they do not equate us as horses. We don't have a place in their access to resources, because we aren't sharing their resources. We are their PROVIDERS. We are the ones giving them their resources, it's our job to understand herd dynamics and ensure our horses have adequate resources in appropriate ways so there is no need to fighting, insecurity, or herd stress. It's not our job to challenge our horses for access to the very resources we are giving them! We are their caretakers.

Dominance and access to resources has nothing to do with training, only knowing how to provide care and management without creating unhealthy or dangerous equine interactions.

Training should be done with a compassionate understanding of behavioral science and how to apply positive reinforcement. It has nothing to do with herd dynamics or dominance, or even strong leadership, but rather clear communication, compassionate care and gentle behavior training.

Additional resources
https://www.awla.org/uncategorized/alpha-dogs-dominance-theory-fact-or-fiction/

https://www.clickertraining.com/node/2297

https://www.veterinary-practice.com/article/dominance-when-an-outdated-theory-wont-go-away

https://news.asu.edu/20210805-discoveries-myth-alpha-dog

https://journal.iaabcfoundation.org/horse-dominance-1-28/

https://www.thewillingequine.com/post/dominance-leadership

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/behavior/debunking-the-alpha-dog-theory/

https://positively.com/dog-training/article/ethology-why-pack-theory-is-wrong

https://www.rover.com/blog/alpha-dog-meaning/?msockid=323ef8c5489068da23bbeaa549916988

https://www.veterinary-practice.com/article/dominance-when-an-outdated-theory-wont-go-away

22/10/2024