| The
Importance of the Herd
Doris Eraldi
We know that horses are herd animals, and most horsemen
understand how herd members interact with each other. Living
in a group of horses is particularly important for young
horses – it is how they learn about respect and hierarchy,
along with the comfort and protection that comes from being
with other horses. The ideal situation for raising young
horses would be a large pasture with a variety of terrain,
and a herd of other horses of varying ages … a simulation
of the natural environment for horses. Unfortunately, most
of us do not keep our horses on a large ranch, and few of
us can provide a diversified herd, but with some thought
and effort we can provide a healthy “colthood” for
our young horses, and reap the benefits that come from it.
In a herd, the youngest foals are generally protected and
indulged, but as they grow older the youngster learns which
of the older horses to watch out for, which ones will put
up with youthful high-jinks and which ones are grouchy. The
young horse learns of the dominance order, and how to live
within it. And while older horses will seldom seriously harm
a young colt, they also set boundaries and enforce them with
the body language that good trainers later imitate when training
the colt. As the colt grows into a yearling, he may find
himself replaced by new foals, and he begins to transition
into being one of the adult horses in the herd rather than
the pampered baby. It is this transition that is difficult
for us humans to recreate alone. In a horse herd it happens
naturally.
Begin setting boundaries for your colt early on. Kicking,
striking, “zooming past,” and biting are all
playful behaviors between horses, but should not be directed
toward humans, ever. Make sure your young horse has plenty
of turn-out time to expend those energies, and best yet provide
other young horses to play with, rather than joining in such
play yourself. If other colts of similar age are not available,
try turning your colt out with an older horse. The more interaction
the maturing colt has with others of his own kind, the easier
it will be for him to accept formal training when he is ready.
In my experience, some of the most challenging colts to start
in training were the pets – the babies that were raised
without other horses but had a great deal of human contact.
While these colts had the advantage of not being fearful of
humans, at the same time they often lacked respect and had
no concept of herd dominance and pecking order. Consequently,
it was difficult to get the colt to want to do anything that
he didn’t choose to do, such as move under saddle. While
it is not impossible to raise a colt alone without spoiling
him, it’s much easier to let other horses teach him the
facts of life.
Doris
Eraldi of Eraldi Training in Potter Valley specializes in
Pleasure horses and Equitation riders. She can be contacted
at 707-743-1337, or by e-mail dyan@eraldi.net.
Read Doris' previous article
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