HOW YOUR HORSE READS YOU LIKE A BOOK?
- naturalhorse1
- Apr 24, 2023
- 2 min read
Did you know that when horses are in a herd, they not only synchronise their heart rates with each other but they can also match their breath and even their body movements, gestures, chemical signatures (pheromones) and emotional state etc… This skilful repertoire of information is relayed unconsciously from one herd member to the next and has developed over millions of years of evolution to help the herd act as one, which works as an early warning system to predation to help to improve their overall survival. Therefore, horses can hear and even feel the body language of the other herd members to react accordingly with an escape plan for any threats or other dangers that may arise. Due to these amazing equine features, horses can hear our heartbeats from over a meter away and even read our blood flow and hormones too, as they try to “read” us as if we are another horse. Hence why they can often anticipate what we are going to do next. If this plethora of information is used mindfully by the handler, it can be an insightful tool to help us build rapport and trust with the horse, whilst facilitating calmness. We have seen this when working with traumatised horses through our sanctuary, to help to de-escalate any elevation in behaviour by helping horses to feel safe when they are around you. Thankfully, the introduction of smartwatches can help us to focus and monitor our bodies, including our heart rates, stress levels, breathing, blood flow and even electrical brain activity etc..all in more detail. This can help enormously to make us aware of what is happening with our own systems that we can otherwise miss when being around horses. It’s the culmination of lots of these tiny nuances and behaviours by us towards the horse, all coupled with our pheromones, eye contact, intentions etc…that can make some humans feel good for horses to be around. As horse owners and enthusiasts, we all want to be those types of people as what is not to love about being loved by horses :) Therefore, we hope you will be more aware of these small but important micro-behaviours to help us all to have a better understanding of your equine friends As we’ve found that when we try to see life through the horse's point of view, it can really help to develop a deeper bond with our horses, ponies and donkeys. Happy Horsin’ Natural Horse NZ

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