When horses expertise stress they usually behave in methods simply recognized: they turn into tough to deal with or trip, and attempt to flee or ‘struggle’ to flee what they understand to be a anxious scenario.
These ‘massive’ behaviours are apparent to most horse individuals, however much less well-known are different methods horses reply to stress, comparable to by fidgeting or as might be seen within the above video by turning into nonetheless, or ‘freezing’.
Nevertheless, stillness doesn’t equal calmness. Whereas nonetheless horses experiencing concern, nervousness or stress might present fewer apparent behaviours, refined indicators of those states can nonetheless be seen by skilled observers.
Horses who turn into nonetheless when confused are sometimes labelled loopy or described as ‘exploding out of nowhere’. As this video touches upon, by coaching the attention to raised acknowledge refined indicators of stress, horse trainers and handlers can reply sooner to the horse’s stress and de-escalate the scenario, avoiding larger stress responses.
For extra info on my on-line programs on horse behaviour, please go to the Perceive Horses web site.