Pushy Horse Behavior: Understanding Your Horses Perspective, Part I

How many times have you been told to not allow your horse (young or adult) into your space? Or worse yet, don’t let them crowd you, push on you?
What if I were to tell you:
- This is normal behavior for horses and part of how they figure out where they belong in a herd dynamic
- They are expressing themselves, communicating and showing you who they are or what they like or don’t like from you
- Your horse needs an education - needs to be taught by you what’s acceptable to you and what’s not
In any situation, the horse never deserves the level of backlash given by from others telling you to punish your horse for their “lack of respect.” And, you don’t have to allow pushy behavior either. Stay with me while I explain what’s really going on and how to handle, or correct, pushy horse behavior.
We’ve all experienced horses that crowd our space, push into us, walk through us as if they don’t see us, and even run into us. Especially young horses. They will push into you, crowd your personal space, even step on you. They often bite, nip, and spaz out on us at the end of the lead rope.
I bet most of you didn’t know that this is normal behavior. That it is part of how they learn about boundaries - what’s acceptable behavior and what’s not. It’s also similar to pecking order, how they figure out how to fit in, belong in the community and contribute. Yes, that’s right. All intelligent social species, including horses, are hardwired to cooperate and contribute to the community. This is critical to their survival as a group, herd and species and part of what innately drives them to seek partnership.
Now, while hierarchy is important to all social species it doesn’t mean the same thing to horses as it does to humans.
See, hierarchy for horses helps them socialize and govern more easily and often hierarchy is shared between 2 or more horses. Meaning, if one of the herd members is not respecting the lead mare’s leadership choices, such as who drinks first, other members who have friendships with her will step in to help support, including the stallion. Hierarchy is more of a “shared position” versus a dictatorship.
So, where does it go wrong for horses meaning why are so many of our horses pushy or misunderstood and mislabeled as pushy?
Most horses are taken away from their mothers’ way too young. While it is the norm for humans to wean foals as early as 5 months, foals can suckle until 2 years of age in the wild. This allows the foal to get the proper amount of nutrients from its mother and to learn socially acceptable behaviors, form friendships, autonomy and figure out hierarchy. Taking young foals away before the ages of one year traumatizes them. It creates displaced behaviors such as insecurity, buddy sour issues, food aggression, cribbing, ulcers, hypervigilance, and social misconduct such as aggression and excessive pushy behavior.
Why you may ask? Because as I mentioned above, they need a healthy Mom and community to help guide them and show them how to act.
As the saying goes “it takes a village to raise a child.” Well, this holds true for horses. They rely on the herd dynamics, community, to help raise the young and guide them in developing healthy relationships.
See, young horses are allowed to be pushy, they are also guided by their herd members, so they learn what is acceptable and what is not. And, when I say “what is not” it doesn’t mean they are never allowed to be pushy.
Horses are not like humans and they don’t view pushy behavior like we do. While the young are guided they are also allowed to be who they are and that means that if a foal is more assertive and dominant than an adult, they may be allowed to assert themselves over an adult and/or they might get scolded. It really just depends. It depends on individual personality types and that herds particular social dynamic. Sound familiar?
In the end, a more dominant horse in the wild does not mean they are aggressive or selfish. Wild horse herds and social behaviors are quite different than most of our domesticated herds. There are two especially important roles in the survival and well-being of a healthy wild herd: community and cooperation (aka partnership) and over-all welfare and well-being of the herd (aka leadership).
Before you get ready to act and do something about your horse’s pushy behavior, please try and understand why first. This is so important to your relationship with your horse. Knowing how to handle it, what action, or strategy to use first will not only help your relationship, you will be teaching your horse vs punishing them.
Tune in next week when I discuss and demonstrate how to assess pushy behavior and teach our horse what’s acceptable and what’s not.
Please click here to learn more about how to develop your horse while you develop your riding skills www.taoofhorsemanship.com/mas...
#equestrian #horsetraining #horses #carolinebeste #taoofhorsemanship #masterymembership #horsetrainer

[@BellaxStrega]

Oh. My yearling is pushy and spazzes out at the end of the rope sometimes and I've started to worry I'm failing her. I feel a bit better now!

[@beinghumankhan7448]

💖SO LOVABLE SO BEAUTIFUL 💖 IT'S A MEMORABLE TIME & OUR DEEDS 💖👍

[@cheriseknight2245]

Giiiiirl your shirt is so cuuuute, it suits you!! Also thanks for the video, definitely gonna help!

[@Rebecca372]

Thank you so much! You teach me so much about the truth with horses and I really appreciate it and want to learn more!

[@TaoofHorsemanship]

Hi Rivka and Welcome! Thank you for joining us each week!

[@Rebecca372]

Thank you and ur welcome! I have a question, I fell off a horse once about a month ago bareback and I can't get my riding confidence back. Since then I only walk really slow on the oldest horses. Do you have advice?

[@14Blackspirit]

Omg... This is so interesting and something what I want to learn. Thanks for sharing.

[@TaoofHorsemanship]

Hi BlackIMoon and Welcome! You can watch the full length training video, along with hundreds more, on my video library. Please click here for details and to join www.taoacademy-horse-training-courses.com/video-library. Caroline also has the largest and only online foundation training program for students and horses should you want to learn how to start and finish your horse. Her program includes liberty, biomechanics, straightness lunging for balance, in-hand and suppling including training bitless and of course riding in balance. Please click here for details www.taoacademy-horse-training-courses.com/masterymembership-program-35-off xo Sabrina

[@darktoadn1113]

when my lease gets scard she always come in to me with her front shoulder on a angle pressed flat agent my back and will full body shake

[@RossJacobs]

I have a question. What I can't figure out is what is being communicated when two horses first meet. When they meet, they sniff each other, they posture, one may stomp a foot, then it is decided if they are friends or foe. What do you think is being communicated in those few seconds of sniffing, posturing and foot stomp to tell them that they are friends or foe? I know this position will change in time, but the initial greeting fascinates and perplexes me. I've asked lots of trainers and behaviourist and nobody has an answer, so I'm hoping you have given it some thought.

[@TaoofHorsemanship]

Hi Ross and Welcome! The "black and white" of the behaviors you are describing is: it doesn't matter how a horse postures, as long as they sniff. Bottom line is horses will not exchange breath if they do not accept the other. Posturing has nothing to do with acceptance, rather it is a personal expression, behavior of a horse. Reason why the "horseman's handshake" was created. It was a way for the human to extended friendship to a horse and use the hand as the "nose." If the horse was willing to engage with the human and accept them the horse would sniff the hand. Now, to complicate it, if the human acted too quickly and moved into the horse who accepted them, the horse might flee, run away. So, the sniff is just the beginning of the courtship "so-to-speak." If the human is submissive and takes the time to let the horse lead, they will become friends. If the human gets greedy, excited, they will blow it. Same goes for horses wanting to become accepted. One has to submit or all bets are off!

[@RossJacobs]

​@@TaoofHorsemanship thank you for your response. I agree the sniffing appears to be important. You state that a horse won't exchange breath unless they are accepted by the other. However, sniffing nose to nose is the first thing most horses do when initially exploring a relationship. It does not come after acceptance, but is part of the process of whether to be friends or not. Sniffing happens first before acceptance. I also think sniffing is a natural exploring behaviour for horses. But they do it because odour and movement provides information to the horse. So a horse will sniff a human hand in the same way it will sniff a tarpaulin on the ground. It is not so much a "hello" as a "what or who the hell are you?". Sniffing allows a horse to explore or ask a question without committing. It's the information of the odour and how to horse or human or tarpaulin moves that seems to be important in what happens next. But I also have observed that posturing appears to be important. Almost all horses posture, but different horses do it in different ways. Whereas, the way a horse sniffs seems almost universal. It appears to me that the behaviours are similar between horses, but whether horses become friends or foes can be very different. This leads me to consider they are picking up on odours and postures that help them decide friend or foe. I am very suspicious that some secret language is being conveyed that we can't detect. I have put mentholated vaseline in the nostrils of a few horses and although they exhibit similar sniffing behaviour, the responses indicate confusion in the other horses. I appreciate this is just anecdotal, but it does seem consistent with the theory that odour maybe an important component when determining the initial response to greeting other horses. Lastly, I think we need to consider that the way horses greet each other and its meaning is very different to how they do it with people or dogs or elephants. We can't assume that sniffing the hand of a human has the same significance or meaning as sniffing the breath or side of another horse. I have never believed horses view us in the same way they view other horses. I don't interact with my friends in the way I interact with my dogs or the way I interact with my horses even though I feel love for them all. Thanks again.

[@TaoofHorsemanship]

​@@RossJacobs Hi Ross! Posturing and sniffing are part of socializing and figuring out where they belong within the herd, aka, pecking order that ultimately leads to establishing hierarchy within the herd. Posturing and sniffing are about social status too and/or establishing it. In my experience, 97% of the horses that sniff accept each other and this acceptance dance includes pushing each other around until the new horse, or less dominant horse submits. Every horse I've worked with, or been around, has either sniffed my nose or my hand, just depends on how well they trust humans - curiosity, trust, fear plays a huge role in their ability to socially engage. Horses and dogs are very different and not only interact differently, they have different needs and behaviors and that's because they are different species and with different survival and social needs. In regards to having an answer to your question about "what I think is being communicated when they sniff.." I believe they are getting acquainted, getting a feel for the other just as we look someone in the eye, shake their hand, observe their body language. It tells us so much about that person not to mention helps us get a first, guttural (honest) impression. Horses are so honest and get straight to the point and don't "mince words" or fake how they feel. The sniffing and posturing happens immediately, with a let's get it over with mindset (horses are also very territorial) and move on or in some instances the more dominant, or horse with a higher position, will have to spend time teaching a more unsocialized horse how it all works. Hope I answered your question and if not please let me know.

[@RossJacobs]

@@TaoofHorsemanship I feel I have not been clear. When people meet, the way somebody shakes my hand - the feel, the length of time, who reached for whose hand first, the firmness, the amount of up and down shake, the energy of the up and down shake, etc - tells me things like the person's confidence, assertiveness, interest in me, cautiousness, focus, opinion of me, etc. But when horses meet what information comes from the sniffing? Is it the act and the way a horse approaches the sniffing? Is something being conveyed in the smells a horse detects? Is it in who sniffs first and who stops sniffing first? Is the posturing part of the ritual for exchanging information (which I believe it is, but have only anecdotal evidence)? I suspect odour plays some role in the initial 'meet and greet' because it is the simplest explanation for my observations with the vaseline experiment. Plus the sniffing behaviour is an actual inhalation of smells. It is not just reaching to touch with the nose like a handshake. The sniffing is not just exploring whether it is okay to reach for you. If it were, there would be no need to horses to inhale several times when they reach with their nose. I am so interested in this 'meet and greet' phenomena that I am always asking for other people's experience and views. If we knew what horses were looking for in the 'meet and greet' to indicate 'friend or foe', perhaps we could figure out a way to tap into their good feelings about us in a more productive and quicker way. Thanks for allowing me to talk about this on your channel.

[@TaoofHorsemanship]

@@RossJacobsHi Ross! You have been clear and patient with me, thank you! I apologize for being too vague. I also appreciate the conversation and being able to dive in deep and share my experience and understandings. I think you are making this too complex. You seem knowledgeable, so I am going to assume you understand the horse’s brain and how similar our brain and nervous system is to theirs, instinctually. However, horses have a small frontal lobe therefore they do not rationalize or possess the ability to conceptualize like humans. When you talk about meeting a person and “sizing them up” horses do this, but they don’t think about it like we do. Their sniffing behavior allows them the opportunity to gather information about the other horses, information gathered by their senses (intuitive) not their brains. Not to mention they do not possess an ego like ours therefore they are not judgmental, so-to-speak. I believe that they accept horses that are most like them, most familiar to them, and that’s how it all starts. At least this is what I have observed, and it matches the same behavior they share when a new horse is introduced to a happy, healthy herd. They are kept away until the new horse shows respect and is passive. This shows up by the new horse finding the horse most like them (neither is a threat) and mirrors them until they are invited in to share space. Often the new horse is quickly, if not immediately, invited in by the horse most like them. It’s all part of figuring out how to fit in and where you belong in the hierarchy. So, yes sniffing, smelling, exchanging is a horse’s handshake and their way of getting to know another horse by means of their sensory input - where they’ve been, are they scared, confident, female, male, etc. I don’t have much more to offer as far as some of your questions referring to “is something being conveyed,” other than yes, through their senses and what the smell, taste tells them about the other. They are so sophisticated when it comes to their senses and processing and there is next to nothing about this written, therefore we don’t have much to go by. In regards to your comment/question about: “If we knew what horses were looking for in the 'meet and greet' to indicate 'friend or foe', perhaps we could figure out a way to tap into their good feelings about us in a more productive and quicker way.” I believe that we can and some of us have been able to “tap into their good feelings about us”. The biggest challenge is gaining a horse’s trust. When they are babies and untainted, they treat us the same as their own species. Everything changes when we start “making” them vs “asking” them when we handle and develop them (aka train them).

[@sarahnystrom8517]

Remember guys this just a snippet of the real video. Just saying.

[@darktoadn1113]

so then did i handle this wrong my lease reared on me 4 times last weekend i never hit her as i dont belive u have to hit a horse to get the horse to do what u want reason farmer next field over was target shoot high powered riffle so i forced her to go over there she punt me in a bared wire fence she tried to push me away from there she even tried to get me off the bared wire fence my vest look like a pin cousin so i got her there she did not want me to leaver her left shoulder kept comming into me for the first 10 min after 30 rounds have been fired i got on her did the same thing made her stand with out being aggressive but the funny thing the swet did not come untill i made it to the road haxcore.net/images/159967782_175095457604596_8794310251495351709_n.jpg what my lease looked like when i got back to the barn

[@TaoofHorsemanship]

Hi darktoad N and Welcome! That is a great question and wow I'm glad you're okay! Please email Caroline at [e-mail] or join us on our weekly LIVE webinars/podcast on our FB page, Wednesday's at 12PM EST facebook.com/TaoofHorsemanship. Thanks and I hope to hear from you Sabrina