I have a small farm, Al Sorat Farm, in Giza, Egypt, with a few horses most of whom have been with me for over 20 years. My academic background was social psychology about fifty years ago because there was no label for looking at animals and humans in an ethological framework. I started my farm when my kids had gone off to NYC for their university experiences and my husband had died in an accident. During the past 20 years, my horses, my dogs (a pack of 14 that stays at that number because the dogs chose it), and I have been studying the behaviour of social animals at the farm, while being engaged in therapeutic activities, school classes, and other things. I find it fascinating that the veterinary schools in Egypt have no space for teaching animal behaviour to the vet students, although to study it before anything else seems a total no-brainer to me. So I am now looking at how to offer this study here at my farm. Your article is brilliant and lit up my heart and my head. I will be following closely. I will be recommending The Equine Ethologist to all my friends.
The pervasive idea in the horse world on domination and respect seem to be especially prevalent in sport and traditional roles of horses in some police forces. I'd love to read your thoughts on horses in the Olympics, especially considering the recent scandal of Olympian Charlotte Dujardin. I also recently saw the Horse Guard Parade ceremony in London and thought the horses seemed extremely uncomfortable. All of them nodded their heads up sharply, perhaps to release neck tension and they also seemed to be struggling with the bits in their mouths, chewing, yawning and sticking their tongues out. It felt wrong to stand their in this large crowd of people witnessing what I believe after watching the ceremony will be looked back on some day as abusive. What are your thoughts on the use of horses in sport and in the police force?
It’s great that science is beginning to validate my personal instincts in my interactions with horses. But mostly, the stark contrast between how most humans interact with horses and the reality of how horses see us and feel about us was brightly outlined by this article.
Perhaps the most disturbing thing for me is how young horses, foals especially, are left to their own devices for what is sometimes years, and then many humans expect the horse to accept everything they need/want all at once. It’s no wonder so many horses end up being passed from human to human, in kill pens or languishing neglected in pastures. On our farm where we breed, raise, and train Arabians and Half-Arabians, we begin the foal relationship by having an excellent relationship with their dam, who will show the foal they have nothing to fear from the two-legged predators we are. We intimately get to know the individual tendencies and personality traits in each foal so we can strategize the best ways to interact with them successfully.
Thank you for taking the time to share this invaluable information. It certainly is heartening for me.
Brilliant. Amazing. I loved every word. Felt like you took my intuitions from past years of teaching and training and put them on paper. Thanks for sharing. I’m obsessed & I’ll be following & sharing your writings with anyone who will listen to me 😅🫡
We have a mare that is so dominant to all others that they are scared of her 24/7. We have had her in with as little as 2 other horses and up to a dozen others. She not only drinks first but will stand over the trough for several hours in extreme heat to stop the others from drinking.
She once reared and bellowed her frustration, looked around the paddock and saw her own 6 month old foal along with another same aged foal and galloped straight at them and double barrelled them till they both went through a fence after she lost a fight with a newly introduced gelding. We have owned her all her life, now in her mid 20’s. she has been like this since we bought her aged 2. Completely safe to ride and handle for us. We live in Victoria , Australia
This is such a great, in-depth post, that every single horse person should read!
I have a small farm, Al Sorat Farm, in Giza, Egypt, with a few horses most of whom have been with me for over 20 years. My academic background was social psychology about fifty years ago because there was no label for looking at animals and humans in an ethological framework. I started my farm when my kids had gone off to NYC for their university experiences and my husband had died in an accident. During the past 20 years, my horses, my dogs (a pack of 14 that stays at that number because the dogs chose it), and I have been studying the behaviour of social animals at the farm, while being engaged in therapeutic activities, school classes, and other things. I find it fascinating that the veterinary schools in Egypt have no space for teaching animal behaviour to the vet students, although to study it before anything else seems a total no-brainer to me. So I am now looking at how to offer this study here at my farm. Your article is brilliant and lit up my heart and my head. I will be following closely. I will be recommending The Equine Ethologist to all my friends.
Beautifully written and well explained. I will be sharing it in a post on my Substack. Thank you for allowing us to share.
The pervasive idea in the horse world on domination and respect seem to be especially prevalent in sport and traditional roles of horses in some police forces. I'd love to read your thoughts on horses in the Olympics, especially considering the recent scandal of Olympian Charlotte Dujardin. I also recently saw the Horse Guard Parade ceremony in London and thought the horses seemed extremely uncomfortable. All of them nodded their heads up sharply, perhaps to release neck tension and they also seemed to be struggling with the bits in their mouths, chewing, yawning and sticking their tongues out. It felt wrong to stand their in this large crowd of people witnessing what I believe after watching the ceremony will be looked back on some day as abusive. What are your thoughts on the use of horses in sport and in the police force?
It’s great that science is beginning to validate my personal instincts in my interactions with horses. But mostly, the stark contrast between how most humans interact with horses and the reality of how horses see us and feel about us was brightly outlined by this article.
Perhaps the most disturbing thing for me is how young horses, foals especially, are left to their own devices for what is sometimes years, and then many humans expect the horse to accept everything they need/want all at once. It’s no wonder so many horses end up being passed from human to human, in kill pens or languishing neglected in pastures. On our farm where we breed, raise, and train Arabians and Half-Arabians, we begin the foal relationship by having an excellent relationship with their dam, who will show the foal they have nothing to fear from the two-legged predators we are. We intimately get to know the individual tendencies and personality traits in each foal so we can strategize the best ways to interact with them successfully.
Thank you for taking the time to share this invaluable information. It certainly is heartening for me.
Brilliant. Amazing. I loved every word. Felt like you took my intuitions from past years of teaching and training and put them on paper. Thanks for sharing. I’m obsessed & I’ll be following & sharing your writings with anyone who will listen to me 😅🫡
Great writing/ opinion
We have a mare that is so dominant to all others that they are scared of her 24/7. We have had her in with as little as 2 other horses and up to a dozen others. She not only drinks first but will stand over the trough for several hours in extreme heat to stop the others from drinking.
She once reared and bellowed her frustration, looked around the paddock and saw her own 6 month old foal along with another same aged foal and galloped straight at them and double barrelled them till they both went through a fence after she lost a fight with a newly introduced gelding. We have owned her all her life, now in her mid 20’s. she has been like this since we bought her aged 2. Completely safe to ride and handle for us. We live in Victoria , Australia
Mind blown.
This is great thank you.