Lessons from the Herd

Lessons fromthe Herd

Vega, learning how his legs work, playing and running to build strength and balance

Vega and Zen, playing and developing their skills around boundaries

Maturity as it Relates to Life Experience

By Christa Miremadi • Photos courtesy of Kristina Belkina

Some might think that a 13-year-old horse is a mature horse. Some may even go as far as to say that 13 is approaching seniority. I guess in some situations that could be true, depending on what the life experience has been for that horse over the past 13 years, but in other situations, 13 years old may just be the beginning of a horse coming into their emotional maturity.

Aside from the physical developmental progression that a horse goes through, (such as the closing of growth plates and the eruption of teeth finishing as late as 6-8 years of age) they also have natural mental stages of development that relate to their ability to focus and their attention span. These are dictated by their brain’s development, their age and their life experience.

In the herd, it’s obvious when a colt has reached an age at which the other horses expect more mature behaviour. As a baby and all the way up until they’re close to a year old, the other horses in the herd will tolerate a young horse’s antics, standing firm with little more than pinned ears or a tight nose as the leggy colt runs full tilt into an older mare or playfully bucks, kicking out at another herd mate.

These silly behaviours are permitted because they’re a necessary and important part of a young horse’s development: of brain, balance, body and social skills, but when that same horse reaches a year old, the herd’s tolerance level will shift. Where once, those erratic, silly behaviours were allowed, now they’ll be met with a short chase, a bite or even a firmly placed kick.

The young horse has reached a level of physical and emotional development from which higher expectations can be, well… expected. The older the horse gets, the more they’ll be expected to contribute as a positive member of the herd: keeping the peace, alerting the others to danger and playing their part in swatting flies or standing guard.

In our domestic, stabled horses, sometimes this shift in expectations (as outlined from the herd) is missed and as a result a young horse can find themselves emotionally “stunted,” being allowed to continue to bump into their handlers, kicking out or striking at inappropriate times and ultimately (because physically they continue to grow) becoming dangerous.

If we are able to deliver that message, however, we can help our young horses to realize that their silly, playful antics that were tolerable and “cute” as a weanling, aren’t appropriate for the yearling or the 2-year-old. We can teach them about space and boundaries, about patience and accepting standing still (even when they don’t want to) and about following simple directions like lifting their feet for the farrier or allowing a veterinarian to touch them in places they may prefer not to be touched.

All of these things are a necessary, valuable part of a young horse’s education/development and as they age, the expectation level we place on them can be raised. They can learn more and more things and be asked to focus and pay attention for longer and longer until one day, hopefully, they can become a functional, reliable partner.

By the time a horse is 10–15 years old, they’ve often developed enough emotional maturity to be well-practiced at following directions, learning new tasks and have a fairly healthy self-esteem. What I mean by that is that they’ll have enough self-confidence to maintain their composure, even when faced with learning something new or being asked to try something different. However, in some situations, if they haven’t been supported thoroughly, a horse’s emotional maturity can be stunted and in those cases we often find ourselves dealing with a physically mature horse with the mind of a 2-year-old. ~ * ~

Macy was a 13-year-old Appendix QH mare. She’d been purchased by her owner, Candice, when she was 7. She was young but she had a solid foundation of training in place. She didn’t have a lot of practice yet but she had received some very good schooling that, in time, if it was maintained and built upon, would become experience, experience that would help to provide Macy with confidence and security. Unfortunately, not long after she and Candice began their journey

Baby Vega (Pinto's horse), being greeted by an older gelding in our herd

together, Macy sustained an injury that put a halt to their progress.

Macy spent the next year in a stall, being cared for well and loved on, but without any real handling or practice at the foundation training that she’d received prior to the injury. After the year of rest, she was slowly given more space in order to allow her to strengthen her tendons again, without overdoing things and re-injuring herself.

After a couple years of rehab, she was finally able to be put out to pasture, where she could begin to stretch out and put more effort into re-building her strength, flexibility and balance herself. Macy lived this way for another couple of years. When it became apparent that Macy was maintaining her soundness and might be ready to get back to work, Candice began thinking about riding her again! Now, at 12 years old and physically fully developed (but with the training and emotional maturity of a 7-year-old) Macy was going to go back to work. ~ * ~

It can be easy to allow yourself to become wrapped up in what you should be able to expect out of a 12-year-old horse and to forget how much or how little has actually been done. Although an older horse can physically handle a lot more than a younger horse, emotionally, they might still need to go through the process of maturing, which is a process that will require supported exposure and experience and that requires competent, confident guidance, repetition, consistency and supportive, progressive expectations.

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Christa and Pinto Miremadi own and manage The Rock'n Star Ranch in Pritchard BC. They offer Natural Care Boarding, horsemanship lessons, training and clinics focused on building relationships, strengthening partnerships and developing confidence between horses and humans. Through compassionate communication and sharing the horse's point of view, Christa shares her passion for horsemanship, hackamore/bridle horse development and the art of developing a working equine partner. www.therocknstarranch.com

(See their listing in our Business Services section under TRAINERS)