While I was at Tamarack Hill Farm during my mom’s cross country lesson, Denny said something about horses and the refusal, how they are not being naughty but they are just being scared and this made me wonder, why do they do this, and is it in their nature?  When horses refuse a jump, people typically think that, A. They were not forward enough, or B. the horse was being bad. A. could be the right answer but it could not be B. When a horse encounters a jump for the first time it is naturally skittish as anyone would be doing something new. Denny suggested that you shouldn’t punish your horse; you should teach it by letting it sniff, see and touch the scary object.

Now let’s go back to the first horse, 50 million years ago, when the first horse appeared. The hyracotherium or dawn horse had four toes on the front feet and three in the rear and it specialized in running. Now back to our modern day horse, those toes have evolved from toes to hooves but it still is specialized to run. Horses have no other defense but to run. In nature they would have to be cautious about every little movement of brush or water as it could mean life or death. Tame horses don’t have to worry about that happening but that does not mean that the instinct is nonexistent. Horses still have that instinct even though it is not a matter of life or death, just like us. When someone throws something soft at you; even though it’s harmless you still flinch.  Horses just do it on a bigger scale. So next time you think your horse is being naughty just remember it’s his instinct not his behavior.

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