July 2005 (pr)
AG/Equine/2005-02
Equine Behavior: Prey vs. Predator,
Horse vs. Human
Dr. Patricia Evans, Extension Equine Specialist
The horse evolved to graze the vast plains,
with survival traits that have served it well. Even
with domestication it continues to exhibit these
traits. As a result, humans need to understand
horses’ natural behavior or reactions in order to
make our interactions with them safer and more
rewarding.
First, we need to realize that the horse
evolved as a prey animal and its first response to
anything scary is flight. Horses understand that their
safety relies on their ability to put distance between
themselves and something they perceive as
dangerous. What is dangerous to a horse? Almost
everything! Their well-being relies on their
perception that everything that moves or is new
could eat them. So when we lead or ride a horse up
to or past something it has not seen before, the horse
can become wary and nervous.
While horses are prey animals, humans are
classified as predators, and as such, we approach life
in a very different manner than the horse. A lot of
things we naturally do can be counter-productive
when it comes to working horses.
What predator-like things do
humans do around horses?
1. As predators, our eyes are on the front of
our face and we get tunnel vision when we are
focused on something. We approach the horse
looking intensely at it and usually look it in the eye.
This is how the predator in the wild approaches its
prey as well, with great intensity and focus. This
manner of approach can cause the horse great
distress if it is not comfortable with people.
2. As predators we sometimes want to trap
the horse to capture it. If we have a horse that is hard
to catch, what do we normally do? We use a corner
of the fence line to trap the horse and prevent it from
running away. In the wild, a predator would like to
have the horse in a situation where it could not
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