How perceptive are horses?

[gallopingby]

Yesterday someone came to meet a cob l’ve looked after for several years, the aim is that he should be rehomed somewhere he’d enjoy lots of attention. The person walked into the stable and cobby jumped in a very startled way, he’s never done anything like that in all the years l’ve known him so l was quite surprised. The viewer however just said ‘I don’t want another one like that’. So, it got me thinking, are some horses more perceptive than others or do people give off vibes that cause perfectly innocent horses to react? We were left wondering what was going on and poor old cobby seemed pleased when the person departed. Please discuss nicely.

 

[Barton Bounty]

BB would happily ignore you if he didn’t get a good vibe from you…you would know about it. He has stood at the back of the stable ignoring people before. BB has pushed himself between me and other people as if to protect me, he is a typical jealous male equally you could be feeding bb a carrot and I turn up and your ditched

 

[Sossigpoker]

Yesterday someone came to meet a cob l’ve looked after for several years, the aim is that he should be rehomed somewhere he’d enjoy lots of attention. The person walked into the stable and cobby jumped in a very startled way, he’s never done anything like that in all the years l’ve known him so l was quite surprised. The viewer however just said ‘I don’t want another one like that’. So, it got me thinking, are some horses more perceptive than others or do people give off vibes that cause perfectly innocent horses to react? We were left wondering what was going on and poor old cobby seemed pleased when the person departed. Please discuss nicely.

Mine picks up on people's general attitude/energy. If you're in a bad mood , he'll be scared of you. If you're scared of him , he'll be scared of you lol.
If you're calm and positive, he's like a big puppy. So this person sounds like someone who's quite an aggressive person or has a lot of tension in them. Mine would react the same

 

[Lois Lame]

I think horses (and people) (and everything else) are very perceptive. We all act very differently when 'something is going on' and it's very obvious to those around us.

 

[Caol Ila]

are some horses more perceptive than others or do people give off vibes that cause perfectly innocent horses to react?

Yes.

Some people give off vibes, good, bad, nuts, and otherwise, and some horses are more reactive/attuned to that than others.

It's how some types of equine therapy works. That's how they did it at the place where I had a job as a horse handler/groom. Horse, therapist, patient, and me would be in the round pen together. My job was to keep an eye on the horse, manage it if need be, but also let it respond to the patient. My boss, a psychiatrist, was a horsewoman, but she wanted to be 100% focused on the patient, not dealing with the horse. Hence having me along. She would use the horse's reactions to the patent's energy and manner to facilitate talking to them. Our patients were troubled teens who were pretty shut down to any adult, and who would probably tell a therapist to go f*ck themselves if they'd been in a normal office. I'm sure many had! But being at the barn and having the horse as kind of a mediator that responded directly and honestly to how they simply were got a lot of them to open up.

Our horses had to be attuned enough to a person's energy to engage, to respond to them in some way, but not so reactive that they would get upset if a patient had a lot of manic or negative energy. It took some special horses who were selected carefully.

I may have had a quiet but rather good laugh when I heard that a previous trainer of Fin's thought he would be a good therapy pony. LOL.

 

[Birker2020]

Yesterday someone came to meet a cob l’ve looked after for several years, the aim is that he should be rehomed somewhere he’d enjoy lots of attention. The person walked into the stable and cobby jumped in a very startled way, he’s never done anything like that in all the years l’ve known him so l was quite surprised. The viewer however just said ‘I don’t want another one like that’. So, it got me thinking, are some horses more perceptive than others or do people give off vibes that cause perfectly innocent horses to react? We were left wondering what was going on and poor old cobby seemed pleased when the person departed. Please discuss nicely.

I think how and the way you enter a horses stable can have a detrimental affect on them.

If you stride in very matter of factly it can cause a horse to react. I've seen it before. Especially if two people march in with purpose, (dentist/handler, farrier/handler or vet/handler) it makes an otherwise chilled horse to be anxious.

Some horses can feel 'ganged up on'. Not suggesting in the OPs experience btw.

 

[Fluffypiglet]

Mine hates stressy/ tense people and is even uncomfortable with me if I’m feeling abit weepy about something- like worrying about him . He’d be bloody useless as a therapy horse! only happy, calm people - preferably with treats - are acceptable.

 

[gallopingby]

Cobby actually normally likes people, he’s helped some lead rein beginners and wears his ‘oh must be careful concentrating face’ rather than the ‘yippee lets go’ he normally uses. That’s why l was so surprised, l’ve not seen anything like this in the very many years l’ve been around horses. Think it was the implication that the person already had one they found difficult and had apparently encountered the same experience with Cobby within less than five mins of walking in to the stable.

 

[LEC]

Horses are designed to live in the present off their senses. That’s what keeps them alive. They are very aware of body language, smell and hearing. Their sense far exceed our comprehension.

It’s why I strongly believe nervous riders are very detrimental to horses health and well-being unless they have been suitably trained. It must be very stressful for the horse.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Arabi is really quite wary of alot of new people when he was kept at livery I was always being rang up as they can't put a head collar on him in the stable to turn him out or catch him in the field.

If he thinks you are not sure what your doing he won't let you near him, Louis on the other hand will probably go with anyone

I used to say he would never get stolen as no one would get near him.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

Yes.

Some people give off vibes, good, bad, nuts, and otherwise, and some horses are more reactive/attuned to that than others.

It's how some types of equine therapy works. That's how they did it at the place where I had a job as a horse handler/groom. Horse, therapist, patient, and me would be in the round pen together. My job was to keep an eye on the horse, manage it if need be, but also let it respond to the patient. My boss, a psychiatrist, was a horsewoman, but she wanted to be 100% focused on the patient, not dealing with the horse. Hence having me along. She would use the horse's reactions to the patent's energy and manner to facilitate talking to them. Our patients were troubled teens who were pretty shut down to any adult, and who would probably tell a therapist to go f*ck themselves if they'd been in a normal office. I'm sure many had! But being at the barn and having the horse as kind of a mediator that responded directly and honestly to how they simply were got a lot of them to open up.

This is part of my job too. Very useful for assessment and intervention. Assessment by how the horse responds to the person - and also how the person respnds to the horse. If a horse won't come near someone, they can feel down and self blaming, "she doesn't like me" or get frustrated 'that horse ie mean and grumpy, I don't like her'. Or they can become curious and engaged 'how do I get her to come near me'. That tells you so much about how a person generally processes their experiences. And it is also useful for intervebtion: If you try and encourage people to reduce their anxiety by doing strategies like deep breathing, soft core, relaxed posture etc they often struggle. But if you give the same advice so that the horse is willing to come near them then they are far more motivated, plus the horses give direct feedback.

Therapy horses are the polar opposite of RDA horses - you want them attuned and sensitive. You can't use one that has been trained to tune out human 'noise'. Amber and Lottue are both brilliant at it.

 

[Ample Prosecco]

@Caol Ila most EAT therapists use a horse handler so the therapist can focus on the client. I've always thoughts it would be a really fun job.

 

[Above the snowline]

Definitely yes

 

[sbloom]

Horses are unbelievably perceptive in the terms you mean. They feel our energy, our intent and will behave completely different for different people. Fundamental stuff - so often to help our own horses we have to realise our own issues first, especially with being able to be present, to observe, to self regulate our own emotions and energy.

 

[Boughtabay]

Yes - mines got a bit of the “stranger danger” about him anyway, someone must have shown him those TV adverts about not going to look at puppies when I wasn’t around. he’s slowly growing out of with exposure but my god does he know when it’s the vet/farrier/dentist … he takes a moment to suss people out and it’s quite visible that he’s doing it. the other who’s had many homes with many types of people is much less interested in who handles her & for what. Though if she gave a look at someone I’d be more inclined to think they were giving off some strong vibes.

 

[Caol Ila]

@Caol Ila most EAT therapists use a horse handler so the therapist can focus on the client. I've always thoughts it would be a really fun job.

It was a good job. I would love to do it again in the right place, but I haven't found much EAT around here.

 

[Highmileagecob]

According to Monty Roberts, a horse can sense your heartbeat and can tune in to negativity or passive calm. Sometimes, just the presence of a stranger causes curiosity and triggers an impending fight/flight response.

 

[Birker2020]

Given a horse can hear a human heartbeat from 4ft away, I'm not suprised I lasted a nano second on Lari's back

 

[spacefaer]

We've got a lad who's naturally incredibly feral. It's fascinating who he lets talk to him over his stable door. It's usually non horsey people who he accepts first I think because they wait for him to come to them, rather than confidently invading his space like a horse person does.

 

[PurBee]

Animals in general seem to exhibit a 6th sense. It’s like they can sense the whole energy signature from another being, more clearly than we can. We get that intuitive nudge too, as humans, but animals dont have complex ego filters that we have, so i think they’re reading of energy of people is more clear, than what we perceive.

As an example, my gelding is really sociable, usually approaches anyone and anything with open curiosity. ( The mare is the complete opposite, likes her own space and doesnt engage with other people animals eagerly.)
The gelding, when younger, didnt approach one local person who stopped by the gate to say hello. He stood well-back and just arched his neck forward to sniff the offered hand. This person we got on with at the time, although we even got the sense there was an aspect about this person that was a bit ‘off’. But hey, folks are folks and all that. We got on to the degree for amicability‘s sake.
This person also had the same effect on my very sociable dog. She approaches anyone and anything to say hello and sniff them, but this person, she actually cowered low, stayed back and dropped her eyes in concern. I noted this reaction in her because it was so unlike her. At the time i pondered it but this is the ‘unseen’ realm of communication and i never made sense of it.

This person ended up being a spy/trespasser/setting up secret cameras/ doing illegal stuff all around the local land...all manner of distasteful activity.

I now take animals reactions to people more seriously, especially in those animals that are happy to greet all and sundry. It tells me if they’re not so welcoming of them, i probably should heed their warning.

 

[Caol Ila]

I think because they wait for him to come to them, rather than confidently invading his space like a horse person does.

My ex-feral is a little bit like that. When friends who don't know him have to catch him, I instruct them to approach slowly, at a curving angle, with relaxed body language. Basically, don't act like a predator. Then offer a treat so he takes a few steps towards you. Do that, he's fine. If you confidently march straight up to him with a headcollar and no ceremony, he takes off in the opposite direction. Once he knows and trusts you, he can be caught more like any other horse.