© Antti Walnestedt
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Punishment in the human sense of the word does
not exist in the horses' world. A horse does not do anything wrong and
therefore can not be punished for it. Horses bite and kick each other,
sometimes there are injuries and they can even be fatal. We may also need to
use some violence in our handling of horses, but not as a punishment for
something we have caused. What happens is depending on the situation the human have created. If a horse bites, for example it depends on something, find the cause and solve it. The problem can be a lack of respect, the habit of getting tidbits, pain, fear and so on. Establishing the rank in the herd can be quite violent, if we go into the game, we must accept it. Revenge must not exist, to use revenge because the horse did not jump an obstacle of the course just shows that one should have nothing to do with horses. Horses can challenge faith, for example by trying to steal food from a horse higher in rang, he may then receive bites and kicks, but that's not punishment in our sense of the word. An outcast can be chased and mistreated by other horses because he is not wanted in the herd for reasons that we can not always understand. |
An older stallion can decide that the young
ones in the herd are not allowed near the feed through, if they come too close
he attacks them and chases them to where he wants them to be, there they are
left alone. He gives them a place to be. This place to be, or release, must be
used when training a horse. If you can't put the halter on the horse in the field make him work, let him run away from the halter, help him, make him move, the only time he may stand still is when he takes contact and wants you to come and put on the halter. If he only gets a release when he has to have the halter on, in the end he will stand still. The time it takes depends on how big the field is, big field, a long time, small field, a shorter time. To hide the halter or tempt with food is stupid. To punish the horse because he went away doesn't work, give him an alternative instead. If the horse always can get an alternative he will not get stressed by the training. To chase a horse into a corner without giving him an alternative can make him kick, if he gets a hit, it may be the last thing that trainer did. The horse did nothing wrong and can not be punished even if the trainer died. People die every now and then in the handling of horses. No safety equipment in the world can substitute a correct handling, the horse must be treated as a horse, not be punished because he is not a human being. |