Page 28 midwest horse digest April 09
Is it possible that horses have emotions?
Does that change how we interact with them?
Exploring the Emotions
of the Horse
by Ryan Gingerich
What’s Different Between the Species? This brings me back to my stance
The emotional differences on what I believe are particularly harmful train-
between horse and human are significant. ing methods like round-penning and desensi-
The horse lacks the complexity that tizing. I strongly believe that round-penning a
makes up the human brain. Emotions horse (the act of chasing a horse in a round
come from the cerebral cortex and in pen) is possibly the most harmful thing you can
humans this area of the brain is very well- do because horses are prey animals. The
developed. Research has shown that the round pen lesson teaches fear. Dr. Grandin
measure of intelligence is based on the says that she believes that “instilling fear in an
number of folds in the brain in addition to animal is far worse than pain.” Horses are prey
the brain-size-to-body ratio of the organ- animals — they are the embodiment of the fear
ism. response — and since fear is quickly remem-
Horses have relatively small bered and never forgotten, it doesn’t make
brains with little folding. The more folds in sense to invoke this fear response, whether in
Do horses really have emotions?
a brain and the greater the overall size, the round pen or anywhere else.
I am often asked this question, and I
the more intelligent the animal is. This does The same holds true for desensitiz-
have to say that my answer in the past has
not mean that horses are not intelligent, but ing. I realize that this is a very popular term
always been “no.” How could they? I’ve
reflects their intelligence in relation to humans. and function in the training of horses. However,
always thought that horses are simple animals,
In fact, there are many studies that show the when done improperly it can have far-reaching
unable to reason, and have no conscious per-
horse as having a highly effective memory. adverse affects on the horse’s psyche and
ception of ‘self.’ I thought that surely such a
They can recall past experiences and react to emotional state.
simple creature cannot possibly process the
them readily. This alone doesn’t make the
complex information involved with emotions.
horse intelligent or unintelligent, just unique to Is Natural Horsemanship the Be-All, End-All?
And yet, while doing research for another arti-
its species. I often wonder if natural horseman-
cle, I found myself once again plagued by this
After months of reading about hors- ship is such a great thing, since there is still
question.
es’s emotions and studying and observing my such an over-abundance of horses with behav-
In my search for more information
own horses’s emotions, I now believe that ioral problems. I literally get hundreds of
and hopefully some ‘scientific’ answers, my
horses feel the simple emotions of fear, anger, emails every month from owners with horse
eyes were opened to the possibility that I may
curiosity, confusion, sadness and possibly problems. I think the obvious reason lies in the
have been wrong. This reality led me to some
happiness. I can say for sure that a horse misunderstanding of the horse’s psychological
very important questions. If a horse does truly
doesn’t feel these emotions like you and I do. makeup. I have spent years studying how
possess emotions, then how does this impact
The way emotions are processed in the human horses learn, how they interact with humans,
the way we train, house, ride, and interact with
brain is different from the horse because of the and why so many common misbehaviors are
them?
compartmentalization of the horse’s brain. As so prevalent.
humans, we have the ability to reason why we
On the Path to Knowledge
feel a particular way. Horses simply feel emo- So What’s the Answer?
My quest for answers led me to a
tion (without reasoning) because they don’t I have come to the conclusion that
wonderful book, “Animals in Translation,” by
have the ability to rationalize the feeling. most horse owners don’t interact correctly with
one of my favorite authors, Dr. Temple Grandin
their horses. Their cues are confusing, com-
(with Catherine Johnson). Dr. Grandin’s work
How Does This Relate to the Horse/Human plex, and not at all consistent. This miscom-
primarily revolves around the cattle slaughter
Relationship? munication can lead to many of the horse’s
industry and she has done a lot for the humane
Knowing this information about how emotions we are talking about that so often
treatment of these animals. In this book Dr.
humans and horses process emotions should then progress to behavioral problems.
Grandin makes a very interesting case for ani-
change the way we train our horses. We need My goal as a clinician is to educate
mals having emotions. She described emo-
to realize that horses don’t feel animosity or owners and trainers that horses can become
tions as both simple and complex. Simple
contempt towards us; their misbehaviors aren’t confused when confronted by opposing cues,
emotions are fear, rage, discovery, confusion,
premeditated attempts at ‘getting back at us.’ or similar cues that are too close together. Your
gain, loss, happiness and depression.
They are simply expressions of what the horse horse is a living, feeling creature that when
Complex emotions are shame, guilt, embar-
is feeling at that given time. If the horse is fear- pressed into a stressful environment will do
rassment, greed, respect, contempt. She
ful, it is because it is. If the horse is unsure and what it thinks is best for itself and not for you.
makes reference to the fact that animals don’t
confused, it is because it is. You wouldn’t pun- That may mean the horse bucks you
have the ability to have mixed emotions. She
ish a child because they were scared or con- off, runs away with you, or generally misbe-
also feels that animals aren’t ambivalent and
fused, nor would you use fear and intimidation haves. These misbehaviors are what the horse
don’t have love/hate relationships. As humans,
to try to teach a child a new word or lesson. We thinks it needs in that very moment and what it
these emotions are second nature to us. We
wouldn’t do this to our children and we should- feels will make the pressure go away. It is your
don’t think about being unable to express joy
n’t punish a horse for its feelings either. responsibility to understand that you may be
or sorrow, empathy or indifference — we run
causing many of the misbehaviors your horse
the gamut of these emotions on a daily basis.
How Does Round-Penning and is expressing!
Densensitization Affect a Horse’s Emotions?
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