Little Red Horse Equine Sanctuary & Rehab Center

04/22/2021

So you’ve got a horse that pulls back:

First it’s important to look at why pulling back happens.

A) horse was underprepared and under educated to tie, felt the lead rope and panicked. A horses natural response to pressure they don’t understand is to panic and try to escape- unfortunately their attempt to escape creates more pressure they don’t understand. Add to that anything that may have broken loose and followed them in their panic such as a lead rope dragging behind them, post, or other such thing - now you have a pretty intense trauma.

B ) horse was under educated and unprepared, and has learned to break ties due to poor equipment. Never tie to something that can break if you don’t intend for your horse to learn to break ties : bungee cords, blocker ties that can be pulled loose by moving, baling twine etc- if your horse is not adequately educated, they will quickly learn to break these. If you’re using this to prevent a wreck (except in the case of hauling which is entirely different) your horse is likely not ready to tie yet. Not to mention, if they’re used to breaking things that break, they are likely to really hurt themselves pulling back if they’re ever tied to something that WONT break.

C) horse was over exposed while tied. Example: fly sprayed, saddled, washed etc - something that scared them while tied. Never ever do something to a tied horse they can’t do loose. When a horse is dealing with the threat of the new stimulus they don’t understand or are afraid of (ie fly Spraying) and, trying to escape, runs into the pressure of the lead rope, they can really panic. Do not do not do not do this.

What to do about it?

1- create accurate lead rope work 100% of the time. Every second your horse is haltered you are working toward a better understanding for them with how to manage your equipment. This means they leave slack in the rope and follow a feel. You can’t afford to space out after a wreck, and you owe it to your horse (even if it isn’t your fault, it’s your responsibility) to help them understand the equipment and clear up any misunderstandings. Your horse should never drag on the rope - this means you are aware every step, and YOU should never drag on the lead rope.

2- set them up for success. Don’t tie hard and fast, possibly for a while, and when you do, make sure you are nearby. Learn a good quick release knot and carry a knife with you. Advocate for your horse and make sure others around you are mindful of your horse when you are working on tying.

3- build trust, relaxation and connection in absolutely everything you do together. Help release their polls, necks, shoulders and backs which are all negatively affected by pulling back - get a good body worker.

4- don’t ever tie in the trailer without the divider, butt bar or door being closed. Untie before you open.

5- prevention is the name of the game from now on. Once a horse has had a wreck, they are more likely to duplicate that exact kind of wreck. You need to learn your horses expression to read signs of trouble building (BEFORE the trouble happens), learn the triggers, build good communication, and help head off future wrecks. Have some good ways to connect and teach your horse to look to you for help through groundwork in the event of another wreck.

Do your best not to let your horse get hung up again-

And it will not teach them better behavior to “fight it out” on a patience pole or some such thing. The risk of their injuring themselves is too high, and the injury to your relationship is even greater.

03/18/2021

I am a Humane Hierarchy trainer. That is the name of the roadmap I use to make ethical choices about the training methods I use. I’m going to describe the method in this post. (Humane Hierarchy Part 2, which is now also published, comprises real world examples of all the methods in the Hierarchy.)...

02/21/2021

A tantrum. A fight. A conflict of mismanaged expectations
Does your horse have a tantrum when they do not get what they want? Do you have a tantrum when you do not get what you want from the horse
In so many ways it’s about control. Control is with the ego. You may have found ways to dress it up as consent but on a fundamental level you find yourself accidentally thinking or saying “How do I make them do...X-Y-Z?”
I don’t make them do anything unless it is absolutely an emergency for their or your safety. A horse not doing what YOU WANT, is NOT a true emergency. The ego may see it as a violation, the ego will see it as a safety issue when it’s not
Does your horse have a fit, a tantrum when he/she doesn’t get what she wants? I do not talk about basic needs of the horse as a species. I talk about a horse having a Rage episode because it performed an UNASKED FOR movement over and over and didn’t get a high rate of reinforcement for it. Ask yourself, is that healthy? Is that functional? Is that safe? Is that mature?
Behavioral stereotypies: behavior repeated over and over again for no functional purpose. A welfare issue in response to an abnormal environment
It can be a horse who gallops when not asked for because the horse finds galloping more fun than a walk. A horse rearing or striking when asked to just stand or give the leg for cleaning because it learned that if it did those things it got a high rate of reinforcement, and standing was ‘boring’. It can be a horse doing his crunches over and over and over again when you walk from house to the barn because it is the only way he was able to communicate with you without your fear or confusion. Is that normal? Is that horse experiencing emotional well being?
Think of your horse like you would a friend. Personally, I do not compete with or control my friends
I don’t have fun with strangers. I don’t ask horses to play if they do not know me
Imagine if a stranger ran up to you, started juggling, then poking you for money. How would you feel? Then imagine it was a friend? Then imagine you and your friend tried juggling together. Can you see how each three are emotionally SO different?

02/20/2021

Learn to improve how your horse FEELS, to improve your horses behaviour

02/17/2021

We are the same, in a basic way, we are the same
Anthropomorphic attitudes had it half right. We CAN and COULD be using human points of reference to describe what happens with our horses
But we have to know exactly in what ways we are alike than we are different
Mentally we are different
Emotionally, we are the same
As far as we know, we have the same emotional framework. In fact most of the data around emotional neuroscience in humans comes from animal studies, due to the ethical problem of studying ‘negative’ emotions in humans. So we actually know more about animal emotions than we do human
But enough about knowings. Horses do not care what we know
They care how we make them feel
And unlike humans, they probably lack the capacity to lie
Thank your horse today and anthropomorphise how they feel to you. Use your emotional experience and intelligence to describe how they feel to you
If you can’t feel them? Maybe nobody gave you permission yet
You have permission! Because it’s your life and nobody else’s!
Feel! Start feeling!

02/16/2021

🐴🐴🐴LOADING AND TRAVELLING PROBLEMS🐴🐴🐴

From an ethological perspective loading is incredibly unnatural for horses they would not deliberately seek out or go into small , dark spaces or confined areas that may also have a strange odour. A lorry or trailer is a very alien environment for a horse .They will naturally be much safer from danger or attack and feel less vulnerable in a wide open space with their herd. Safety in numbers equals more eyes, ears and alarm systems to detect signs of threat and to take appropriate action to avoid danger or potential threat should they become apparent.

As a result they will not automatically feel safe, secure and calm in this type of space or environment. This is something they need to learn through the facilitation of repeated positive and safe experiences. This may also include addressing root cause alongside .

Broadly speaking loading problems can be divided into two types of issue :

1. Problems with loading .
2. Problems with travelling.

Loading and travelling problems are not all created equal and there are many different reasons why they occur. It is vital to address root cause and not just focus on the main symptom of the problem the loading or travelling issue.

Some reasons why a horse may not load or travel well are:

🐴 Lack of previous experience.
🐴 Negative/traumatic experience such as an accident or bad journey
🐴 Separation distress/anxiety
🐴Fear /neophobia
🐴 Aversive training
🐴Poor handler/caregiver relationship
🐴Handler/caregiver anxiety
🐴 Bad driving
🐴Musculoskeletal problems
🐴 Neurological problems ie stringhalt or shivers
🐴 Vestibular disease
🐴Sensory deficit (blindness/deafness)
🐴 Mild laminitis
🐴 Ulcers
🐴 Generic pain
🐴 Illness
🐴Motion sickness

Treating a loading problem involves addressing root cause as such it is more of a process than a structured plan . It’s important to focus on your horses sense of safety with all of these components .

©️Jessie Sams(2019) Beeching Horse Behaviour and Animal Behaviour and Trauma Recovery Service

01/22/2021

My goal with any horse I come in contact with....."Never take".

Good groundwork is not about “Getting energy out”. Who are we to judge how much vitality, how aroused, how intense or energetic a horses behavior should be? We are not the experts. The horses are
They might be too much horse for us. But they are exactly enough horse for themselves. When did we get so entitled to exploitation, so numb to feeling, that we think we have the right to take anything out of the horse?
Often, the horses who are lunged because they are deemed to have “Too much energy” are horses who are not able to express their natural selves in day to day life. Locked up, cooped up, controlled, micromanaged. Of course a horse who only gets to move properly when they do it with us is likely to behave like a rocket. Common sense is not common?
Never take anything from the horse. Good groundwork can be about cleaning “energy” up, or putting better “energy” in— whatever you define energy as. Good groundwork for me: is about allowing the horse their emotional expression, and using what they “say” about themselves to help them feel better. It has nothing to do with me or my desires. Everything to do with supporting them any way I can
Never take. Offer, give, support, guide, borrow, ask, share. Never take

01/22/2021

The short answer is equine rehabilitation is the restoration of the horse to his original manufacturer's specifications. This includes restoring fully emotional stability, natural unrestricted movement, comfort, and overall health...or at least as much as possible. While this may sound simple, a hor...