Horse Reactivity

To understand horse reactivity is to understand the horses natural response to his surroundings. Horses are prey animals by nature, and the horses instinctive reaction to a perceived threat is flight or fight. The horse instinctively believes that his survival depends on that behavior. Horses, as a prey animal, correlate experiences very simply - is it safe or is it dangerous? If the horse thinks that the experience is safe, he may ignore it all together or he might be curious and investigate further. If the horse thinks that the experience is dangerous, he will enter flight mode. If pushed into the threat he may enter fight mode. When in a reactive state, the horse can be a danger to himself and the rider or handler.

What horse reactivity means:
I need your support
I need you to be the calm one
I am overwhelmed
I need to get out of this situation
I am in pain or discomfort
I am nervous/fearful and don’t know what to do
I am trying to tell you how I feel

What horse reactivity doesn’t mean:
I need to face my fears
I refuse to obey you
I want to dominate you
I am a bad horse
I need you to yell at me
I am being stubborn
Source: Twin Pines Equestrian

I remember the first time that I read this and I still love it just as much today. From an equine bodyworker perspective, when a horse is reactive there is a reason. I had a human bodyworker tell me once to listen to my body’s whispers and not to wait until your body has to scream for you to hear it. Horses tell us what they are feeling, just in a different way, if we will simply listen. If your horse is reactive, don’t assume that it’s bad or disrespectful behavior, simply ask “why?” Come at the question with a compassionate curiosity. Why is he being reactive? What is he reacting to? Has something changed? Simply try and understand what might be happening and what he is trying to tell you. If the answer isn’t obvious, there are some factors that can affect how mentally balanced a horse is (aside from instinct) and these should always be considered. These include the health of the horse, care of his teeth and feet, level of training and how physically at ease he is with tack and rider. Never underestimate a horse that is feeling sore as he may feel unsafe and therefore possibly already engaged in a flight response before you even lay a hand on him. One of the things that I love about equine bodywork is that I get to work with the horse to try and figure out what he is trying to tell us. Is there soreness somewhere in the body? What is the source of the discomfort? What are the possible causes of discomfort? My job is to evaluate the horse for sources of restriction and discomfort, then to use bodywork techniques to help lessen or resolve the issue. In this way, I get to have a conversation with the horse, be a voice for the horse and help him release tension. That is something that I am grateful to be able to do every single day!