Morals, Domestication, and Horse-Keeping

Like the elephant in the living room, there is an ever-present but unspoken subject that affects every horse-person: Where is the boundary between right and wrong in our relationship to horses.

About five thousand years ago mankind embarked upon a journey that continues to the present: the domestication of horses.  By domestication, I mean, a contract between two different species whereby one species agrees to give up its freedom and work for, and participate in another species’ selective breeding program in exchange for food and protection. (1)(2)(3)

The word “domestication” is so commonplace that we often fail to realize the significant role domestication plays in every aspect of our relationship with horses.  You might find it interesting to know that some gray wolves gave up their freedom and entered into a domestication contract with humans at least 14,000 years ago and became dogs; cattle were domesticated about 10,500 years ago; and cats have been domesticated for about 9,000 years. (4)(5)

It is this contract between humans and horses that lies at the core of our relationship with horses to this day.  In all probability without this contract horses would be extinct.  This is evidenced by the fact that there are only 1500 Przewalski’s horses alive today.  They are the sole remnants of truly wild horses and the closest cousin to the ancestors of domesticated horses.  A strict conservation effort brought them back from only 13 surviving animals.  (6)

When one describes the original ancestors of our modern horses, one might think of the Przewalski’s horse or, perhaps, the 17,000 year-old cave paintings of horses in Lascaux, France.   Dun colored, sometimes spotted, dorsal striped, with a short bristly mane, large head, and short legs under a stout body, they bore little resemblance to the graceful, statuesque creatures that have resulted from our selective breeding programs. (7)(8)

The lives of early humans changed dramatically once horses became a part of our culture.  At first they were bred for docility so that they could easily be kept in herds for milking and meat.  It appears that their keepers quickly discovered that horses could be ridden and they were tasked with herding, hauling, and hunting.  Later as resources became scarce, horses became weapons of war. Genghis Khan became the ruler of the largest kingdom in history when his Mongolian warriors conquered huge portions of Europe and Central Asia on horseback. (9)

As they became an integral part of commerce, agriculture, transportation, sports, and warfare, the selective breeding of horses to optimally perform specific activities has developed into a science.  As well as docility, we have bred them to be ridden, to pull, to be strong, intelligent, fast, and agile. In return, they have given their lives to us at home and on the battlefield.  Because of their amazing adaptability to a variety of environmental conditions and a myriad of uses, horses have become permanent players in human history even though they are no longer needed as modes of transportation. (10)(11)(12)

The contract between humans and horses is sacred.  By breeding for docility, we have removed much of horses’ ability to break their contract with us; leaving them at our mercy.  From time to time horses will react to harsh handling but, instead of giving them the respect they deserve, we have created bits and other gadgets to suppress their ability to object.  We have also, over-bred and abandoned them. The used-up horses, the surplus horses, the feral horses, our mustangs and brumbies, the homeless children of domestic horses, are rounded up, caged, and slaughtered.  In many ways we have broken our promise to protect them from ourselves. (13)

Where is the line between right and wrong in the realm of horse-keeping? The pendulum swings to extremes.  Some folks view horses as disposable machines that can be destroyed once they outlive their usefulness.  Others question the morality of asking horses to work at all and want to return them to the wild.  The riding of horses has come under debate, as has taking horses over fences or rugged terrain.   Recently, it was suggested that horses should only be ridden in straight lines and circles should be strictly avoided.   It is for this entire panorama of people that I have written this paper.   The ancestors of our present day horses became extinct because they were unable to defend themselves against predators and today’s horses are even more vulnerable.  As equestrians we must, individually, consider the terms of a domestication contract we can make with our own horses and horses in general.

My personal contract with my horses is this:

  • I will feed and protect them;
  • I will empathize with, encourage, and support them;
  • I will treat them with the same courtesy, kindness, and respect I extend to other family members;
  • I will endeavor to always make them feel comfortable and happy, even when I, or my students, are mounted on them;
  • I will not use fear, force, or punishment as teaching tools.
  • In exchange, as long as they are not tired, injured, or sore, they will allow me and my students to work with them on the ground or ride them in various gaits and movements based on their individual abilities over varying terrains, and take a few jumps now and then as they are able; and
  • If they are injured, sore, or resistant to working with me, I will acknowledge violating the contract and correct the problem.

The contract you have with your horses is private and based on your own sense of morality; however, it’s important to think about it.  Where do you draw your line?

By Chris Forte

For more information regarding our responsibility to our horses:

EQUINE HEIRARCHY OF NEEDS

References:

  1. The Earliest Horse Harnessing and Milking, Alan K. Outram1,*, Natalie A. Stear2, Robin Bendrey3,7, Sandra Olsen4, Alexei Kasparov1,5, Victor Zaibert6, Nick Thorpe7, Richard P. Evershed2 See all authors and affiliations , Science  06 Mar 2009: Vol. 323, Issue 5919, pp. 1332-1335, DOI: .1126/science.1168594
  2. Ancient DNA provides new insights into the origin of the Chinese domestic horse, Author links open overlay panel DaweiCaiaZhuoweiTangaLuHanbCamilla F.Spellerc Dongya .Yangc XiaolinMad Jian’enCaoe 0 HongZhua HuiZhouab, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2008.11.00, Journal of Archaeological Science 36 (2009) 835-842.
  3. Mitochondrial DNA and the origins of the domestic horse, Thomas Jansen, Peter Forster, Marsha A. Levine, Hardy Oelke, Matthew Hurles, Colin Renfrew, Jürgen Weber, Klaus Olek, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2002 Aug 6; 99(16): 10905–10910. Published online 2002 Jul 18. doi: 10.1073/pnas.152330099, PMCID: , PMC125071, Article PubReader PDF–320K Citation
  4. Rethinking dog domestication by integrating genetics, archeology, and biogeography, Greger Larson, Elinor K. Karlsson, Angela Perri, Matthew T. Webster, Simon Y. W. Ho, Joris Peters, Peter W. Stahl, Philip J. Piper, Frode Lingaas, Merete Fredholm, Kenine E. Comstock, Jaime F. Modiano, Claude Schelling, Alexander I. Agoulnik, Peter A. Leegwater, Keith Dobney, Jean-Denis Vigne, Carles Vilà, Leif Andersson, and Kerstin Lindblad-Toh, PNAS June 5, 2012 109 (23) 8878-8883; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1203005109
  5. Study Traces Cat’s Ancestry to Middle East , Nicholas Wade, June 29, 2007, The New York Times
  6. Equus ferus ssp. Przewalskii, King, S.R.B., Boyd, L., Zimmermann, W. & Kendall, B.E. (errata version published in 2016). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T7961A97205530. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T7961A45172099.en., http://oldredlist.iucnredlist.org/details/7961/
  7. Prehistoric genomes reveal the genetic foundation and cost of horse domestication, Mikkel Schubert, Hákon Jónsson, Dan Chang, Clio Der Sarkissian, Luca Ermini, Aurélien Ginolhac, Anders Albrechtsen, Isabelle Dupanloup, Adrien Foucal, Bent Petersen, Matteo Fumagalli, Maanasa Raghavan, Andaine Seguin-Orlando, Thorfinn S. Korneliussen, Amhed M. V. Velazquez, Jesper Stenderup, Cindi A. Hoover, Carl-Johan Rubin, Ahmed H. Alfarhan, Saleh A. Alquraishi, Khaled A. S. Al-Rasheid, David E. MacHugh, Ted Kalbfleisch, James N. MacLeod, Edward M. Rubin, Thomas Sicheritz-Ponten, Leif Andersson, Michael Hofreiter, Tomas Marques-Bonet, Thomas P. Gilbert, Rasmus Nielsen, Laurent Excoffier, Eske Willerslev, Beth Shapiro, and Ludovic Orlando, PNAS December 30, 2014 111 (52) E5661-E5669; published ahead of print December 15, 2014 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1416991111
  8. Lascaux Cave, Emma Groeneveld, September 2016 , Ancient History Encyclopedia,  https://www.ancient.eu/Lascaux_Cave/
  9. All the Khan’s Horses, Morris Rossabi, Natural History, October 1994, Asian Topics in World History | Columbia University , http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols, http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/mongols/conquests/khans_horses.pdf,
  10. How did we domesticate horses? Genetic study yields new evidence, Sharon Begley Reuters, Christian Science Monitor, December 16, 2014, https://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2014/1216/How-did-we-domesticate-horses-Genetic-study-yields-new-evidence
  11. The American Quarter Horse: Population Structure and Relationship to the Thoroughbred , Jessica L. Petersen James R. Mickelson Kristen D. Cleary Molly E. McCue, Journal of Heredity, Volume 105, Issue 2, 1 March 2014, Pages 148–162, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/est079
  12. Evaluating the roles of directed breeding and gene flow in animal domestication ,Fiona B. Marshall, Keith Dobney, Tim Denham, José M. Capriles, Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2014 Apr 29; 111(17): 6153–6158. Published online 2014 Apr 21. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1312984110, PMCID: PMC4035985 Article PubReader  PDF–739K
  13. The Unwanted Horse in the U.S., By Tom Lenz, DVM, MS, Jul 29th, 08, Presented during the AAEP Summer Healthy Horses Workshop in Austin, Texas. American Association of Equine Practitioners, https://aaep.org/horsehealth/unwanted-horse-us