Hi all,
I'm new to this site and I'm doing a science project this year and my topic is Do human emotions really effect a horse's performance. If anyone has any opinions on the topic or can help me answer this question and also use as some first hand resources that would be great. Along with some experiments I'm already performing. I would greatly appreciate all of your help.
Ther sure do! If your nervous or scared, a horse feeds off of how you are sitting in the saddle, how your hands are moving and such. In turn, they will start to act up and be silly. That's why it's really important to keep calm when doing anything with horses. I know that my nerves have cost me a couple barrel races in my life.
oh yea i was tense going up to some cows on a trail ride and my 3 year old never saw them before there was a barb wire fence nd last time i was at this place with my QH he took after the sheep and almost took out the fence 4 hours from the trailer and no way to get him out other wise then walking. so i was scared and he was paniking and as i calmed he calmed.
without a doubt! Horses are genetically programmed to always be alert to the emotional statis of the other herd members, especially the leader. If one member of the herd becomes nervous, the others pick up on it quickly. IN the wild, their lives depend on this, so they are exceedingly good at scanning anybeing that is near them and picking up on any emotional state.
They cannot help but then be affected by this emotional state.
Absolutely. When we get nervous or tense or excited, we unknowingly show it through our body language. It's not that the horse knows how you're feeling by looking at your expression; they feel a definite difference in your riding when you become tense or excited. They can feel distraction very well also. Often times, your signals become less clear when you're distracted.
You betcha they do. I can't remember where I read it, but someone did an experiment with 4 riders. They were jumping small verticals. They told all the riders in advance that when they got to a specific jump, someone what going to jump out at them. It was a little white lie. Nobody jumped out at them. Because the riders were anticipating it happening, all of the horses spooked at that fence. Rider energy definitely translates to the horse.
For sure!
Sometimes, my mare will be acting especially badly and when I analyze what I'm doing, how I'm feeling, whatever, I'll usually realize that I'm incredibly tense or nervous about something. Or sometimes, I'll start out kinda tense, she'll start being naughty, I'll get tense-r, she'll be naughtier, etc until I realize and de-tense-ify myself at which point she'll generally calm down significantly.
However, if I'm around her and I'm feeling sad or fragile, she'll generally be the most forgiving, laid back, gentle soul imaginable.
Absolutely. I was having an awesome ride one day then got a phone call that had me bawling my eyes out. My horse obviously picked up on it and starting jigging. I had to hang up and take her home before I finished my breakdown.
No doubt about it! When I'm confident and relaxed Dallas rides beautifully. When I'm nervous or upset he picks up on it and starts acting nervous himself. When I'm nervous on Shaymus he actually gets slower and more gentle, which is why he is the best babysitter ever. Once I was riding Dallas after a friend of mine hung himself and I was such a mess Dallas just fell apart too, not a pretty ride. lol. Horses definitely feed off of what their riding is feeling.
Yep, for sure. On Sunday I went to the barn to get some peace of mind, I didnt even know if I was going to ride. I felt a little depressed, overwhelmed and on the brink of tears. I swear she knew, as soon as I opened the stall door she lowered her head and let me love all over her. Normally she wants to move right out of there, no hanging out in the stall. I decided I'd ride, so got her all ready and warmed her up. She was very calm, collected quickly, and gave me a quiet and responsive ride. So much so that I was able to accomplish some things I'd been working on recently. When I put her back in her stall she put her nose to my shoulder and breathed out...like she was saying "hang in there, you're going to be fine"
Yes, they do, but how are you going to tie this into science? It fits, but it's a pretty complicated and lengthy explanation, and one I would wager that is still not fully understood and appreciated.
A lot of ways, depending on their resources. As far as an actual (SAFE) experiment for the non-scientist? I don't know. But if you were to write a paper or make a presentation on it, there *HAS* to be some data out there. There always is. So, for that, use several sources to draw upon and synthesize new theories or explanations.
Oh I agree with everyone else! I've always noticed when I'm nervous or tense the school horses tend to pick up on it and don't really listen to me until I relax.
I guess my horses are used to me crying, because they never act any different if I am upset or crying (that I have noticed anyway).
I have heard that horses can "feel" your fear, but I always assumed that was because when people get scared they tense up and the horse can feel your muscles tense.
I always make an effort to relax my muscles (while still taking a grip with my hand on the saddle) if I see a spooky object. I want to be prepared if they spook, but I don't want to tense my body up and give them a reason to spook.
Other than the muscle-tensing fear response, which is just my personal theory as to why horses know when people are afraid, I honestly haven't noticed horses being tuned in to my emotions. Like I said, if I think things could go south, I make an effort to loosen up my body so I don't send tense vibes to the horse, but if I am mad, or sad, or depressed, or happy, I really don't notice my horses noticing!
My trainer used to tell me "a horse is a mind reader". I would swing the end of the lead rope to get her to start moving faster on the lunge line. In order to prove her theory to me, the trainer told me to put my arm/hand out instead and push her to move faster by thinking of her cantering and projecting my own energy to the horse (if that makes any sense to you). I did it and it worked. Other horsemen and horsewomen may already know this, but I was blown away. I agree with what all the other posters wrote too. I have experienced the same thing with my horses when I am happy, sad, upset, etc...
This is definitely a yes! Horses totally feed off your energy. Whenever I'm nervous, my horse gets nervous, whenever I'm stressed, my horse gets stressed. Horses are very sensitive animals!
Not only do they know what you're feeling and react or feed off of it, they also sometimes do what they can to make you feel better. When I'm incredibly PO'd about something, I frequently go out to the horses to make myself feel better. Pretty soon, one of them, usually my stallion or the yearling colt, does something utterly hilarious and I end up laughing and the "MAD" is over. This has happened WAYYYY to often for me to think it's all coincidence.
Depends on horse. Some will get nervous as they feel you get nervous, some will calm down and take care of situation for you helping you to calm down. :wink:
Agreed. Most horses do reflect your mood because whether you are unaware or not your body language reflects how you feel and the horse will react accordingly. But then you'll have horses like old school master riding horses who are so used to many different humans 24/7, they might have learnt to completely tune out and ignore it.
That Emotions play a big part in the relationship between human and equine is a firm belief of mine although not all horse owners accept that horses are capable of feeling emotion, hence the development of training methods of positive and negative re-inforcement.
Your writing a thesis on the subject is of strong interest to me.
Herewith please find a few personal suggestions for headings in your manuscript:
The comparison of the physiologies of human and of horse.
The nature of fear and its impact on human and horse.
Ditto - The nature of anger -- ditto --
Other important emotions in relationships between the species:
affection, dependence, need, angst, despair, pleasure, jealousy, anxiety, anticipation, compatibility
Methods of non verbal communication: expression, tone (of voice), touch, sight,
The nature of pheramones.
Bonding with your horse.
Tension in a horse rider.
Dr Alexander’s ideas on the way in which the sub conscious brain works including rote and relaxation.
Learning by rote
Adrenaline and its impact on behaviour.
The effects of gravity, force, mass and motion on the rider.
The comparison of the relationship between human and equine and human and canine.
Matters resulting from institutionalisation namely routine, expectation, stress
Horses and riding for the disabled.
Books referring to the subject include:
Horse Psychology-- Moyra Williams ISBN -10 0-85131-238-1
Be with your Horse-- Tom Widdicombe ISBN 0 7153 2020 3
What is my horse thinking?-- Lesley Bayley ISBN 0 600 60485 3
True Unity-- Tom Dorrance ISBN 1-884995-09-8
Understanding your horse-- Michael Peace & Lesley Bayley ISBN 0 7153 1297 9
Horse behaviour explained -- M Zeitler Feicht ISBN 1-84076 037 0
But few books go so far as to credit a horse with human emotions.
Monty Roberts believes that human comprehension of what goes on in a horse’s brain has yet to be fully explored.
PS Presumably both authors own their own horse????
For sure! If you're freaking out your horse will assume there's a reason for them to freak out. The horse I ride (not mine, my coaches but I love her like she mine)was being sassy and bucked (throwing me once) because she didn't want to go over a trot pole had I panicked she would have thought there was something for HER to panic about although I was the one in danger of being thrown head first into a wall. I'd like to clarify she's never like that but her eyes had been bothering her and had swollen up a few times in the past couple weeks so she hadn't been ridden in a few days that combined with the whether getting colder was the reason she acted up.
Yes, of course human emotions affects the way a horse thinks, feels and behaves. If a human acts all bossy and supriorer towards a horse, any animals for a matter of fact the horse will most definitely turn around and either snap at you, this is usually done by the leader of the herd or the animal that you are basically 'attacking' to out you back in yout place. I was once on a horse in a new environment and being a rider with an anxiety disorder I instantly got scared that he would spook, although he 20 years old and never spooked in his life, because I was afraid and scared of something that wasnt there, he got scared of me being scared, and thatof course resulted in me being thrown off, which was quite a shock to the riding instructors. If you want to learn more about this I highly suggest going to see a horse whisper, or doing a horsemanship course in which a trainer helps understand and develop a relationship between horse and human via body language and emotions that you may be feeling, if this is not revelant to your experiment go do it anyway because it is highly worthwhile, I hope this helps in some way!! And good luck
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