Have you ever watched a horse show and the unspeakably beautiful horse who just entered the arena appears to be lame? Everyone, including the judges, sits in silence as the lovely creature bravely soldiers on, doing his best to please his rider. Sometimes he even wins a ribbon! But no one comments on the real issue: despite the good intentions of those around him, the horse is unhappy.
What do horses require to have a good life? Much of what we have learned about them has been handed down to us by word of mouth from centuries of experiences based on trial and error. During the last several decades, however, we have turned to scientific research to better understand our horses. What we have learned is that horses, as well as other animals, are far more complex than we expected.
In 1943, an American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, formulated a theory of human psychology and a classification system he called a hierarchy of needs, those things that motivate people determined by their order of importance. His theory has been broadened to include much of the animal kingdom.
According to Maslow’s theory, the five motivators that inspire animals, including horses, are:
- physiological needs,
- safety needs,
- social needs,
- the need for esteem,
- and the need for self-actualization.
A visual representation of Maslow’s concept is a pyramid with the physiological needs at the bottom and the need for self-actualization at the top. The lower three tiers have to do with want or fear of deficiencies. The top two tiers are aspirational and growth oriented.
Physiological needs are those that pertain to all eleven body systems including exterior bodily structures (such as skin and hooves); skeletal, muscular, lymphatic, respiratory, digestive, nervous, endocrine, cardiovascular, urinary, and reproductive. Deficiencies in any of these systems cause horses to experience ill-health and prevent them from attaining their potential. As horse husbandmen, we are responsible for meeting all health concerns through implementing responsible breeding practices; and providing sufficient food, water, shelter, thermoregulation assistance, sleep, and veterinary care.
The second tier, safety needs, includes the natural desire for a predictable, orderly world. This manifests as the need for stability and normalcy, to feel safe in the physical environment, for social order, to be free from physical or psychological abuse and to be free from the fear of physical and psychological abuse.
The need for safety is often overlooked by well-meaning equestrians. Some horses are moved from barn to barn by owners who are seeking the best physical accommodations for their horse but unaware that moves alone create psychological havoc. Competitive riders may not realize that during the show season, the lack of a consistent schedule, hours in a horse trailer, varying show times, and constant changes in environment and food and water, can jeopardize the health of their horses. Sometimes it is the unforeseen changes to the physical environment that horses fear such as new cones in the arena, geese flying overhead, or a new manure removal cart.
Perhaps the most overlooked threat to equines’ safety needs are training and riding practices that rely on punishment or the threat of punishment to mold behavior. The various types of equipment we use for the business of training and riding may, also, appear threatening. This includes uncomfortable tack, bits, whips and sticks, lunging tools, round-pens, cross-ties, horse-trailers, and the like. Although most of these items seem innocuous to humans, horses may look at them in an entirely different light.
Research indicates that even their handler’s unhappy facial expression can cause horses to become anxious. Sensitive equestrians are constantly on the alert for signs of discomfort, anxiety, pain, or unease. They introduce change in their horse’s environment very slowly and only when necessary. Also, they realize that spooking, bolting, and other conduct may be motivated by their horse’s need for safety and strive to solve the problem, not punish the horse.
As herd animals, the equine social need for love and belonging, the third level of the pyramid, plays a prominent part in their lives. If we treat horses as fuzzy motorcycles we will remain unaware of the social connections horses crave. They have a keen desire for the close proximity, the smell, the sight, and the touch of other sentient beings. Horses exhibit less stress in established equine societies and thrive in situations where they have complex social relationships. This need for companionship and affection is often observed in the pasture where a horse may play with one horse, but mutually grooms another, and habitually grazes with a third horse.
Equine caretakers would be wise to be mindful of their charges’ social needs. While living in a group with other equines is not possible for some horses; it may be possible to organize their daily turn-out so that they spend time with a companion horse. Cats, dogs, llamas, chickens, and other animals can, also, serve as friends. As their caretakers, we must be their friend, and leader. Not a “leader” in the sense touted so frequently these days as the most dominant aggressor, but “leader” in the sense of one who is respected and trusted for one’s empathy, encouragement, and support.
The fourth level of motivators is the need for esteem. Maslow thought there were two types of esteem needs, the need to be respected by others and self-respect. My wise old equine friend, Jumping Jack Flash, was the leader of his small herd of pastured horses. Even at 31 years-old, he would taunt the other horses into racing. Of course, he always won even though he was a full ten to twenty years older than his pasture mates! Jack, always confident, had earned the respect of both his equine and human family.
It is, however, difficult to provide similar opportunities to earn peer respect when horses are kept in relative isolation. This is doubly hard if horses are subjected to training programs that tell horses when they are doing something wrong but only release “pressure” when they do something correctly. This type of training is called negative reinforcement because the reward is the removal of pressure (discomfort). Negative reinforcement training methods not only do nothing to meet horses’ need for esteem, they cause equines to feel that horse-human interaction is uncomfortable and unsafe. In other words, it creates deficiencies in three aspects of Maslow’s motivational pyramid, the need for safety, the need for positive social contact, and the need for esteem.
However, if human-horse activities are reward-based, horses learn that their efforts are noticed and appreciated by their human friends and they take pride in their accomplishments. In reward-based teaching methods, horses are rewarded for problem-solving and for every improvement. Mistakes are usually over-looked. Rewards may be any combination of food, caresses, hugs, smiles, applause, and verbal praise.
The highest tier on Maslow’s pyramid is the need for self-actualization. Maslow explains that this is the need to be truly oneself, to exert free will and self-expression. During his time, the need for self-actualization was not considered to be applicable to non-human animals but current research has documented animals’ need for self-actualization is the result of living in a safe environment where their natural curiosity is aroused and they are self-confident.
Horses need opportunities for both physical and psychological self-expression. It is difficult for horses to express themselves when they are kept in stalls and released only to be put to work in the arena or on the trail. When they try to offer an opinion, for example by pulling on the reins because their riders’ hands are too heavy and cause them to be uncomfortable, they are punished. Again, horses are not fuzzy motorcycles, they must be allowed room to state who they are and what they are thinking and feeling.
Luke is a rather self-actualized horse. Sometimes when the other horses are grazing he will spontaneously gallop around the pasture, proudly rear straight up and hold the stance for a second or two before he pivots on a hind leg, brings his forelegs back to the ground and gallops off in the opposite direction.
Luke opens the hay feeder lids so that I can insert the hay. The other horses have tried to mimic him but so far they have failed. Of course, he and the other horses will eat whether or not Luke opens the lids, but he takes great pride in his accomplishment. In fact, he puckers his upper lip if I open the lids before he has the chance to do it for me!
When Luke was young he used to love making noises by grabbing my poop-scooper and striking it against various objects. I eventually fashioned a drum stick out of a plastic pipe and a tennis ball so that he could thump an empty plastic barrel.
Like humans, horses’ needs and desires are multifaceted and unique to each individual. What motivates one horse may not interest or fulfill the needs of another. If we want happy, healthy horses who are excited about being alive, we must be willing to actively engage in our horses’ lives. We must listen to them and work to ensure that all five tiers of their needs are met.
Best wishes,
Chris Forté
To learn more about using a reward system read:
MORALS, DOMESTICATION, AND HORSE-KEEPING
References:
Maslow, Abraham H. “A Theory of Human Motivation.” Psychological Review, vol. 50, no. 4, 1943, pp. 370-396, http://psychclassics.yorku.ca/Maslow/motivation.htm
Hartmann, Elke & Christensen, Janne & McGreevy, Paul. (2017). Dominance and Leadership: Useful Concepts in Human–Horse Interactions?. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science. 52. 10.1016/j.jevs.2017.01.015.
Proops, Leanne & Grounds, Kate & Smith, Amy & McComb, Karen. (2018). Animals Remember Previous Facial Expressions that Specific Humans Have Exhibited. Current Biology. 28. 10.1016/j.cub.2018.03.035.
Smith, Amy & Proops, Leanne & Grounds, Kate & Wathan, Jen & McComb, Karen. (2016). Functionally relevant responses to human facial expressions of emotion in the domestic horse (Equus caballus). Biology Letters. 12. 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0907.
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Euringer, ,A.J. Animals respond for food in the presence of free food.Science,1969, 166,399·401.
Tresz, Hilda & Manager, Behavioral. (2010). Contra Freeloading (Working for Food) at the Phoenix Zoo. ABMA Wellspring. 11.