Lets talk about stress...
Posted by Rosie Jones on Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Well this is a bit of a mammoth blog since I haven't written for so long!
This months events have got me thinking about stress levels in horse and rider, and particularly, how much stress is OK? How stressful should horse owning (or human carrying) be?
Of course the easy answer is - 'Not Stressful At All' but two events have got me wondering if that really is true.
Firstly, there are the boys. Jim's yard has recently been frequented by two handsome young suitors who pop in from next door and titilate the ladies. The farmer next door owns herds and herds of unhandled horses, doesnt maintain his fallen down fences, so Jim has had the odd visitor but this is the first time we have had entire colts to deal with. They have clearly been kicked out by the stallion of their herd now that they have reached maturity. One is black (henceforth 'Blacky') and the other is grey (hereby known as 'Grey-ey', no, better still, lets call him 'Grayson'). We have obviously had to bring all the mares into the safest places, and managed to herd Blacky into the roundpen, where he stands now, very worried by his lack of herdmates and confinement, screaming to anyone who will answer him. Grayson is still at large (rather impressive jump, it turns out) so will take some forward planning to herd him in. The farmer didn't want anything to do with helping herd them in or fixing fencing, and the police and RSPCA legally cant do a lot, so rather than follow the farmers advice to eat them (he was joking, surely?!) we have convinced him to sign them over so we can look for homes for the boys. Therefore I have been relaying the stories of them to all my clients hoping someone will find a space in their heart (and bank balance!) for one or both of the renegades. I was telling one lady how poor Blacky was now all alone and needed gelding and gentling, and she said "Yes its so sad itsn't it? Poor little mite - he doesn't even have a name."
Well that got me thinking on the way home. I'm not sure it is sad at all about his namelessness, or the lack of human attention he has had. In fact, from his point of view, it is the presence of human intervention that is making his life so stressful right now, and, over the coming weeks, however gently and kindly it is done, adjusting to domestic life is going to be stressful to some degree. I should think the name is the least of his worries. But then, we mustn't feel too guilty, being a colt without a herd jumping from field to field does not look stress free either - Grayson spends most of his time looking absolutely lost and desolate on the horizon, let alone the obvious risk of injury.
Is a certain amount of stress inevitable with human contact with horses? Is it ineveitable in horses lives anyway, without humans interfering at all? Are we really doing them a favour by trying to keep everything entirely stress free, or is this a red herring approach?
Certainly, trying to keep all stress from the horse doesn't always yield the lovely results it seems to deserve. Horses handled a lot by well meaning owners since they were foals (and therefore less likely to have the stress poor old Blacky is going through now) are often the most unhappy, grumpy and stressed out horses as 3 and 4 year olds. Particularly true if this handling was from the humans point of view 'kind' and from the horses 'confusing/inconsistant/ineffective'.
Recently, I heard that a complaint was sent in to a horsey magazine, cancelling subscription because there was an advert in the mag which had an image of a horse wearing a flash and the owner felt it was cruel. The sad thing is, this magazine (the Listening Post) is full of training techniques, networks and behaviour articles that could have helped this lady to achieve better success in her (flash free) horsey life, but she was so careful to shut out this particular stress from her horse, that she has actually restricted herself from learning other stress-lowering techniques. I guess my point is that sometimes, there are things you can learn from people if you just accept that their boundaries are different from yours, and that 'cruel' is really something of a personal choice rather than a clear definition. One mans cruel is another mans kind, we can all only do our best to stick to what we think is right and realistic. Incidentally, I'm pretty sure IH isn't wildly in favour for flash nosebands anyway, but approved of the item advertised (a strap to hang on with if your unseated). I know I'm not keen on flash nosebands, but if you search hard enough you'll find a photo of me riding a horse in one. I suppose it's one of the things I'm willing to negotiate on temporarily, if its working for the horse and owner and I'm new to the picture, especially in order to help the owner with other issues - if I shut myself off to all flash weaing clients that would rule out or offend most of the horsey world, since bridles seem to have them on as standard. Anyway, noseband debates for another time...
How interesting that I should start this thread arguing for people to be less concerned about the stress their horse is under, when my whole approach involves finding the most low stress solution!
Kelly's recent May Masterclass tour has to be my favourite tour that I have ever taken part in, specifically because I feel that it really displayed this low-stress way of working, if you get the technique right, and break it down into small enough steps, then sure enough, training can look easy, low stress, and feel succesful to horse and owner. Its not as simple though, as merely being kind or avoiding anything unpleasant. Actually what can appear to be a stressfull stimulus can cause the horses stress levels to lower - what giberish am I talking now?! Lets think of an example - loading a horse into a lorry using panels. The first time I saw this, I went through the thought process that many of you probably have too - 1)thats cheating 2)thats too stressful for the horse as he has no real choice. But, I've learned a few things now, and my current viewpoint is 1)cheating is great if it helps the horse and 2) actually, counter to human instinct, the horses stress seems to go down when the panels are used. I can only speculate that this is because the real stress - of the decision to load - is taken away, there is no fight to be had, the back door is closed so there is only really one way and the horse can be left alone to find that loading is the obvious choice - with lower adrenaline and less stress. I know its hard to believe but after watching almost every horse sigh, soften and load when panels are used, and then continue to load once they are taken away, I found myself forced to recognise that loading is LESS stressful with panels. How do we know then, which stresses we should avoid and which seemingly stressful things are actually helpful? There is a level of personal choice regarding ethical boundaries, but I think largely we have to assume the horses will tell us. If the outcome is a less stressed horse, and the process was not beyond out own ethical boundaries, then sometimes we have to reassess the truth of what actually works for the horse.
Its great that there are so many clinicians and horsepeople to watch and learn from nowadays, but even if you dont get out to demos a lot, you can have a nosey at what goes on with the horses around you. Have a tack cleaning day and spy on your yard mates!! Who has the happiest, most relaxed and willing horses? If you know a horse that seems really happy, and unstressed, then find out exactly what the owners are doing and start incoporating/trying it out!!
Sadly, and strangely, since I have been playing this game I have found it isn't always the 'kindest', most caring, or most 'naturally inspired' owners who have the happiest horses, it seems the right motivation is not enough, I think it is actually the most consistant and confident owners whose horses are the most relaxed, but, this is a thesis of ongoing development so by all means email me your spying results if you find different patterns!
Its great too that we are in a climate where ethics and technique can be discussed so openly, I love that sort of thing, although even I was surprised to see the Dually halter compared to an electric pig prod on a forum recently. A video of girls loading a horse using the electric shoc device had been put up, and one contributer likened the training to Dually work since it was all about timing and discomfort. From one logical point of view I suppose she is right, in that the dually works with pressure (or discomfort), of course in many more ways she was wrong (I cant always be PC can I?!) but rather than jump to the defence of the Dually on any logical point (and there are many!) I think you only need to look at the reaction of the horses to know what is really stressful and what is not. I simply wouldn't use a device that didn't work, or more importantly, that horses became fearful or stressed of - regardless of who promoted it!! I'm fickle like that!
So I guess this brings me to some sort of conclusion on the rambling discussion on horses stress levels. Part of horses live's are inevitably stressful, that's what living IS. It's our job to reduce that stress in training and managing horses as much as we can. While doing this, we need to bear in mind that it is not always immediately obvious to human minds which route will lead to the least stressed horse. Keeping open minded to others training techniques, and watching to see how the happiest horses are produced, without preconceptions, has to be the way forward.
Gosh I'm sounding far too wise - I reckon a fall is now due to knock me off my (literal and metaphorical) high horse - probably in mud, face first, with lots of people watching!! Then lets talk about stress levels! lol
Hope your grass is growing in this weather (thats the positive way to say, hope your not all getting too wet!)
Rose
xx
This months events have got me thinking about stress levels in horse and rider, and particularly, how much stress is OK? How stressful should horse owning (or human carrying) be?
Of course the easy answer is - 'Not Stressful At All' but two events have got me wondering if that really is true.
Firstly, there are the boys. Jim's yard has recently been frequented by two handsome young suitors who pop in from next door and titilate the ladies. The farmer next door owns herds and herds of unhandled horses, doesnt maintain his fallen down fences, so Jim has had the odd visitor but this is the first time we have had entire colts to deal with. They have clearly been kicked out by the stallion of their herd now that they have reached maturity. One is black (henceforth 'Blacky') and the other is grey (hereby known as 'Grey-ey', no, better still, lets call him 'Grayson'). We have obviously had to bring all the mares into the safest places, and managed to herd Blacky into the roundpen, where he stands now, very worried by his lack of herdmates and confinement, screaming to anyone who will answer him. Grayson is still at large (rather impressive jump, it turns out) so will take some forward planning to herd him in. The farmer didn't want anything to do with helping herd them in or fixing fencing, and the police and RSPCA legally cant do a lot, so rather than follow the farmers advice to eat them (he was joking, surely?!) we have convinced him to sign them over so we can look for homes for the boys. Therefore I have been relaying the stories of them to all my clients hoping someone will find a space in their heart (and bank balance!) for one or both of the renegades. I was telling one lady how poor Blacky was now all alone and needed gelding and gentling, and she said "Yes its so sad itsn't it? Poor little mite - he doesn't even have a name."
Well that got me thinking on the way home. I'm not sure it is sad at all about his namelessness, or the lack of human attention he has had. In fact, from his point of view, it is the presence of human intervention that is making his life so stressful right now, and, over the coming weeks, however gently and kindly it is done, adjusting to domestic life is going to be stressful to some degree. I should think the name is the least of his worries. But then, we mustn't feel too guilty, being a colt without a herd jumping from field to field does not look stress free either - Grayson spends most of his time looking absolutely lost and desolate on the horizon, let alone the obvious risk of injury.
Is a certain amount of stress inevitable with human contact with horses? Is it ineveitable in horses lives anyway, without humans interfering at all? Are we really doing them a favour by trying to keep everything entirely stress free, or is this a red herring approach?
Certainly, trying to keep all stress from the horse doesn't always yield the lovely results it seems to deserve. Horses handled a lot by well meaning owners since they were foals (and therefore less likely to have the stress poor old Blacky is going through now) are often the most unhappy, grumpy and stressed out horses as 3 and 4 year olds. Particularly true if this handling was from the humans point of view 'kind' and from the horses 'confusing/inconsistant/ineffective'.
Recently, I heard that a complaint was sent in to a horsey magazine, cancelling subscription because there was an advert in the mag which had an image of a horse wearing a flash and the owner felt it was cruel. The sad thing is, this magazine (the Listening Post) is full of training techniques, networks and behaviour articles that could have helped this lady to achieve better success in her (flash free) horsey life, but she was so careful to shut out this particular stress from her horse, that she has actually restricted herself from learning other stress-lowering techniques. I guess my point is that sometimes, there are things you can learn from people if you just accept that their boundaries are different from yours, and that 'cruel' is really something of a personal choice rather than a clear definition. One mans cruel is another mans kind, we can all only do our best to stick to what we think is right and realistic. Incidentally, I'm pretty sure IH isn't wildly in favour for flash nosebands anyway, but approved of the item advertised (a strap to hang on with if your unseated). I know I'm not keen on flash nosebands, but if you search hard enough you'll find a photo of me riding a horse in one. I suppose it's one of the things I'm willing to negotiate on temporarily, if its working for the horse and owner and I'm new to the picture, especially in order to help the owner with other issues - if I shut myself off to all flash weaing clients that would rule out or offend most of the horsey world, since bridles seem to have them on as standard. Anyway, noseband debates for another time...
How interesting that I should start this thread arguing for people to be less concerned about the stress their horse is under, when my whole approach involves finding the most low stress solution!
Kelly's recent May Masterclass tour has to be my favourite tour that I have ever taken part in, specifically because I feel that it really displayed this low-stress way of working, if you get the technique right, and break it down into small enough steps, then sure enough, training can look easy, low stress, and feel succesful to horse and owner. Its not as simple though, as merely being kind or avoiding anything unpleasant. Actually what can appear to be a stressfull stimulus can cause the horses stress levels to lower - what giberish am I talking now?! Lets think of an example - loading a horse into a lorry using panels. The first time I saw this, I went through the thought process that many of you probably have too - 1)thats cheating 2)thats too stressful for the horse as he has no real choice. But, I've learned a few things now, and my current viewpoint is 1)cheating is great if it helps the horse and 2) actually, counter to human instinct, the horses stress seems to go down when the panels are used. I can only speculate that this is because the real stress - of the decision to load - is taken away, there is no fight to be had, the back door is closed so there is only really one way and the horse can be left alone to find that loading is the obvious choice - with lower adrenaline and less stress. I know its hard to believe but after watching almost every horse sigh, soften and load when panels are used, and then continue to load once they are taken away, I found myself forced to recognise that loading is LESS stressful with panels. How do we know then, which stresses we should avoid and which seemingly stressful things are actually helpful? There is a level of personal choice regarding ethical boundaries, but I think largely we have to assume the horses will tell us. If the outcome is a less stressed horse, and the process was not beyond out own ethical boundaries, then sometimes we have to reassess the truth of what actually works for the horse.
Its great that there are so many clinicians and horsepeople to watch and learn from nowadays, but even if you dont get out to demos a lot, you can have a nosey at what goes on with the horses around you. Have a tack cleaning day and spy on your yard mates!! Who has the happiest, most relaxed and willing horses? If you know a horse that seems really happy, and unstressed, then find out exactly what the owners are doing and start incoporating/trying it out!!
Sadly, and strangely, since I have been playing this game I have found it isn't always the 'kindest', most caring, or most 'naturally inspired' owners who have the happiest horses, it seems the right motivation is not enough, I think it is actually the most consistant and confident owners whose horses are the most relaxed, but, this is a thesis of ongoing development so by all means email me your spying results if you find different patterns!
Its great too that we are in a climate where ethics and technique can be discussed so openly, I love that sort of thing, although even I was surprised to see the Dually halter compared to an electric pig prod on a forum recently. A video of girls loading a horse using the electric shoc device had been put up, and one contributer likened the training to Dually work since it was all about timing and discomfort. From one logical point of view I suppose she is right, in that the dually works with pressure (or discomfort), of course in many more ways she was wrong (I cant always be PC can I?!) but rather than jump to the defence of the Dually on any logical point (and there are many!) I think you only need to look at the reaction of the horses to know what is really stressful and what is not. I simply wouldn't use a device that didn't work, or more importantly, that horses became fearful or stressed of - regardless of who promoted it!! I'm fickle like that!
So I guess this brings me to some sort of conclusion on the rambling discussion on horses stress levels. Part of horses live's are inevitably stressful, that's what living IS. It's our job to reduce that stress in training and managing horses as much as we can. While doing this, we need to bear in mind that it is not always immediately obvious to human minds which route will lead to the least stressed horse. Keeping open minded to others training techniques, and watching to see how the happiest horses are produced, without preconceptions, has to be the way forward.
Gosh I'm sounding far too wise - I reckon a fall is now due to knock me off my (literal and metaphorical) high horse - probably in mud, face first, with lots of people watching!! Then lets talk about stress levels! lol
Hope your grass is growing in this weather (thats the positive way to say, hope your not all getting too wet!)
Rose
xx
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