10 things you can do if your horse becomes aggressive
Part 4 of 4: How to deal with aggressive behaviour in a safe, science-based way.
So far, we’ve explored why horses behave aggressively, what the different causes of aggression are, and why it’s important to never use punishment when dealing with aggression. Now it’s finally time to look at practical, hands-on steps we can take with horses that behave aggressively.
First, a quick recap: aggression is an umbrella term for a set of natural and normal behaviours, driven by strong negative emotions, that horses display when they want to escape from danger, protect a limited resource, or create distance to another individual.
The key to dealing with aggression is therefore to remove the need for the horse to behave aggressively by changing the underlying emotion.
I have compiled a list of 10 things you can do if you have a horse that behaves aggressively, divided into four approaches in chronological order: first find the causes, then remove the causes, then avoid trigger stacking, and finally change the behaviour.
It’s important to remember that aggression can become dangerous if not handled correctly. If you have a horse that displays severe aggression, or if the causes are complex, please contact an equine ethologist who can make a professional assessment and provide you with a tailored rehabilitation plan.
Find the causes
1. Keep a diary. Aggression is often multi-factorial with different causes and triggers. It can be very difficult, if not impossible, to evaluate complex aggression cases based on just a single incident. By writing down times of day, situations, and who the aggression is directed at, you will be able to notice patterns that will provide clues about the underlying causes.
2. Schedule a veterinary check-up. Pain is a major cause of aggression. If the behaviour appears suddenly, is displayed during saddling, or coincides with changes in performance there is reason to suspect injury or illness. An examination will never be able to rule out pain completely, but a skilled vet will be able to find and treat most physical issues. The diary (see no. 1) will come in handy for this: show your vet your records to help him or her make an informed judgement about where to look first.
Remove the causes
3. Respect the warning signals! A horse that behaves aggressively can be dangerous and humans will inevitably be the losing party in a physical confrontation. Equine communication is based on complex warning signals, appeasement signals, and avoidance responses. Be aware of the Ladder of Aggression and make sure you respect your horse’s early warning signals to prevent an escalation. Stop doing what you’re doing, walk away, and reassess. In addition to being the safe option, it prevents continued reinforcement of the aggressive behaviour.
4. Give your horse space. The purpose of aggression is to create more distance, either to potential danger or to another individual. Therefore, a horse’s need to behave aggressively is inversely proportional to how far away the trigger is. By increasing the distance, we decrease the aggressive behaviour.
5. Change the environment. Go back to your diary to review which situations trigger the aggressive behaviour and see if you can make changes to your horse’s daily management to avoid them completely. If your horse tries to bite you when you brush him in a particular spot, consider not brushing him there. If he becomes aggressive towards other horses during feeding, try providing ad lib forage or giving hay in multiple piles with plenty of space between them. If your horse kicks at other horses on trail rides, keep him at the back of the line or ride in places where you can maintain adequate distance.
Avoid trigger stacking
6. Make sure your horse isn’t hungry. Hunger makes aggression worse, and horses are particularly susceptible to hunger because of their small stomachs. As trickle feeders they need to eat small portions frequently and should be able to forage for about 15 hours per day. Make sure your horse has access to forage before any situation that may trigger aggressive behaviour, and ideally offer ad lib forage throughout the day.
7. Make sure your horse’s behavioural needs are met. Horses have three basic needs that are hard-wired into their biology: the need to forage for most of the day, the need to move over large spaces and the need to interact physically with other horses they like. These are often expressed as the three “F’s” Friends, Forage, Freedom. If any of these needs are not provided, your horse will feel frustrated, which can make him more prone to behave aggressively.
Change the behaviour
Rehabilitating aggression can be dangerous if not done properly. If you can, consult a professional such as an equine ethologist.
8. Change your horse’s emotions. Aggressive behaviours are driven by negative emotions. If we change the emotions, we change the behaviour: if your horse finds a situation pleasant, or at least no longer threatening, he will have no need to behave aggressively. The easiest way to change emotions around a situation is to use food rewards. However, it’s important to approach training with food rewards in a structured and methodical way to avoid triggering and inadvertently reinforcing the aggressive behaviour. Please consult an ethologist or professional positive reinforcement trainer if you’ve never worked with food rewards before – it’s a skill that needs to be learned. Distance is an important factor as well (see no. 4). Make sure you keep the horse at a comfortable distance from the trigger and gradually decrease the distance as your horse becomes more comfortable and relaxed.
9. Teach your horse an incompatible behaviour. Teach your horse a new behaviour that will make it impossible for him to simultaneously do the aggressive behaviour. For example, if your horse turns his hind end towards you when you enter his stall, put some carrots in a bucket by the door every time you go inside. If he faces you, it will be impossible for him to kick you with his hind legs. This has the additional benefit of changing the emotion around the situation – if you do this consistently, your horse will start to associate people entering his stall with the pleasant experience of receiving carrots.
10. Give your horse predictability and control of the situation. This is particularly useful if your horse’s aggression is caused by fear. Research has shown that the ability to predict and control an unpleasant experience makes it easier to deal with. There are many training concepts that give horses control over a specific situation, for example start buttons where the horse is trained to touch an object to voluntarily initiate an unpleasant procedure. These are trained in a methodical way using food rewards and can be used successfully to rehabilitate fear and fear-based aggression.
And remember - because I can’t stress this enough - horses that behave aggressively can become dangerous if not handled correctly. It’s always a good idea to consult a professional such as an equine ethologist who can help you address the issue in an appropriate way.
This concludes the mini-series on aggression! I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful. If you want to read the earlier articles in the series, you can find them in the archive section or via the links below:
Part 1: Why horses become aggressive
Part 2: Most aggressive behaviour in horses is our fault
Part 3: 10 reasons why you should never punish an aggressive horse
Please feel free to comment below or send me an e-mail if you have any questions or notes! I’d love to hear them 😊