365
Days in Horse Country – Herd Behaviour
If you can count on horses for one thing, it’s to be highly
tuned into other horses. This is an
expression of herd behaviour, which is an instinct that has been programmed
into horses for millions of years. Try
to take a horse away from his buddies, and you will see this instinct in
action.
Herd behaviour developed in horses as a means of protection from predators. Horses live by the motto “there’s protection in numbers”, and in the wild, a horse alone is often a worried horse.
When humans ride horses and ask them to be in situations that fly in the face of that herd instinct, things can get tense. In essence, horses with a strong herd instinct don’t want to leave the safety of the barn where their buddies live, or the safety of the close proximity of a horse they are attached to. Terms like “barn sour” and “buddy sour” get bandied around.
Horses can be taught to override their strong herd instinct, but it takes hard work. By learning to trust the rider and responsively obey his or her commands, a horse can overcome his strong urges to stay close to home or close to another horse, and do what is asked of him.
The herd instinct is stronger in some horses than others, but every horse has some of this, left over from developing in open plains with hungry predators lurking. Our challenge as riders is to help horses understand that they can look to us for safety and companionship, instead of their equine buddies.
Michael