Subject:  Horse Trading

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Equine Science Series I

Horse Behaviour … www.naturalanimalcentre.com

Article number: 1.2         Subject:  Horse Trading

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Series I      Article number: 1.2         Subject:  Horse Trading    www.NaturalAnimalCentre.com

Horse Trading

Most horses are routinely bought and sold throughout their lives – in fact, there are animal behaviour statistics that show that the average horse in Great Britain has around six homes in his life. Every week literally dozens of pages in the equestrian press are devoted to people trying to sell their horses in fact, there are now entire magazines that do nothing else but help sell horses.   In this article, I question whether it matters if we do this to horses?  Does it have any long-term adverse effects on them?

 To try to answer this question, we need to turn to the scientific equine behaviour research – equine ethology.  Ethology is the study of how horses live and behave in a natural environment and we can take the results of some of the research performed on wild horses and use it to make conclusions about the life of the average domestic horse.

 In the previous article we have looked at the importance of pair-bonding where the main reasons that horses tend to pair bond is for mutual companionship and safety.  However, when a horse is sold, one of the first adverse effects is that he is abruptly separated from his special friend (usually for life) and the existing pair bond relationship ceases to be. 

 Being sold also means that the horse loses his existing herd, his field companions at his current yard.  The need to belong to a permanent, stable herd is one of the most important motivators in horse behaviour in the wild.  Horses do not change herds at every opportunity – rather they tend to stay as part of one herd for most of their adult lives.  Being part of a stable herd, makes the horse feel safer and more able to rely on equine companions who will give him warning of impending danger as well as more opportunities for relaxation and play.

  

 

 

Through our modern lifestyle it seems we may become estranged from our common sense in understanding the needs of animals around us.  Few people would feel comfortable about stripping a zebra from it’s herd in the wild & selling it on to an unknown home.  And yet the evidence shows that many of us no longer pause to consider the impact our domestic horses – who share millions of years of evolution with their wild counter parts like zebras.

 

 

 

Probably all of us have heard human psychologists say that losing a partner, losing your home or losing your job are three of the most stressful things a human can experience.  Most of us fortunately do not experience all three things simultaneously, but when we do, people rally round us, recognizing that this is a dire situation.  But unfortunately for the horse, many people hardly give the stress of being sold even a moment’s thought.  It is important for us as responsible horse owners to recognize that if we sell a horse, potentially he could suffer from the changes in all three areas of his life as well –

•  He could be losing a special relationship with his pairbond
•  He is effectively “moving house” by going to a new yard
•  He may be going to a new owner because she is hoping to try him out in a new equestrian discipline, changing from show-jumping to dressage, for example.

 

Time for change

One of the first and most important things is to recognize that horses are not like motorcars that can be sold like commodities every two or three years without any long term effects. Just think – if your dog becomes riddled with arthritis because of old age, do you place an advert in the local newspaper and try to sell him?  Most of us would be horrified at this suggestion.  There is both a moral and a cultural regime in this country that, in the main, protects dogs being treated in this way, but unfortunately this is not the case for most horses. Horses that no longer make the grade in competition yards are sold on as experienced hacks or schoolmasters.  And many small ponies are simply discarded as unwanted because their owners have out-grown them.

For Sale:  2001 model Irish-hunter, grey with black trimming, low mileage, only seven owners.  Full service & competition log.  May answer to name of Frisky, but needs some work.  Four good hooves, recently MOT’ed by local vet, good runner.    No home check necessary – just come & get it, cash in hand.    Used to solitary confinement & being caged for 23 hours per day.  Spirit successfully broken – easy to handle.  No dealers, cash only, no time wasters please.Offers of £2,000, but will take whatever I can get.  Call day or night …

 We need to change our perceptions, our responsibilities towards horses (especially as equine behaviourists) and only take on horses that we intend to keep for the rest of their lives.  This is a huge shift in current thinking and the way we view horses.  If an average horse lives for at least 30 years, are you committed to taking one on and then looking after it throughout his life?

This seems an awful lot to ask us to do but think about it from your horse’s point of view.  Behavioural science has proven that horses feel anxiety and stress in a manner that is very similar to the way we do.  So before you place that advert to sell your horse, remember how you feel when your life is out of control and when you are subjected to lots of changes in your life. 

If you really have no alternative but to sell your horse, here’s how to help the transition to a new yard smoother for your horse:

•  Just like reputable rescue organizations do, do a home check and find out where your new horse is to be kept
•  Make sure your horse is well socialised and habituated to everything in this current regime – if he is sacred of the vet, make sure that you habituate him to visits from the vet before he goes – just think how much more stressed he will be if a vet visits if he is in a strange unfamiliar yard
•  Give the new owner a list of your horse’s preferences – his favourite foods, his favourite toys etc so that she can continue to supply these once he has moved
•  Make sure your horse is able to get on with all the horses in his existing yard – this will help him cope with introductions to new horses when he moves
•  Make sure you sell him to an owner who will allow him to have plenty opportunity to join a new permanent herd and in time, hopefully, form a new pair bond
•  Agree with the new owner that you will visit the horse a few times after he has been sold to make sure that he has settled down

 

•  ABOVE ALL – if you are in any doubt about either the new owner or the new proposed regime, do not sell the horse.  Wait for someone more suitable to come along.

  Heather Simpson.

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