behaviour
The Spirit of a Horse
"For lack of a better word, I've taken to calling this the horse's spirit. The older I get, the more I have come to believe that this aspect of the horse is the most important and the most over looked." Tom Dorrance from “True Unity”
This is a quote from Tom Dorrance’s book that is often repeated by many folks. A lot of people have had a go at what Tom might have meant by the spirit of a horse and what Tom was trying to tell us in his book. I would never presume to try to analyze Tom’s intent by this statement. I have no idea what “the horse’s spirit” meant to him. I have no idea of what it meant to the many who have repeated it or tried to give their interpretation of Tom’s word. I guess it doesn’t really matter what Tom was trying to tell people, because everybody will put their own interpretation on it and people will see “the horse’s spirit” expressed in different ways.
Maybe I am foolish to jump into the fray with this topic and probably there will be many who disagree with me and may even think a lot less of me as a horse person for my views. But here goes anyway.
I don’t really believe there is such a thing as a horse’s spirit.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines spirit as “intelligent or immaterial part of man, soul” and Webster defines it as “life force of man, soul.”
So it seems the spirit refers to a human characteristic and not a non-human one. But forgetting all that and accepting that it can be applied to any living species, spirit refers to something non-organic. By that I mean that the horse’s spirit refers to something that is not biologically based.
I am not a spiritual person. I don’t believe in any religion or after-life or god. I also don’t believe in things that are not caused or created by the physical universe.
So when somebody refers to the horse’s spirit I think of something that is based on chemical reactions and interactions of electron and protons etc. I think of something that is innately part of the physical being of the whole horse.
When people ride a horse that appears to have its spirit destroyed, I see a horse that is shutdown due to bad experiences. I don’t see a horse whose ethereal soul has been destroyed.
The slogan I have adopted for many years and use on this web site and as part of my business is “keeping the horse inside the horse.” To me, that means the essence of a horse’s personality should be preserved during training and not destroyed by our attempts to create submission and obedience. A horse’s personality is created by genetics and experiences. But it can be altered. I believe horses can experience joy and I believe they can experience depression. And like people, these experiences derive from the chemical environment of the central nervous system. We know this because drugs that alter the chemical environment can elicit personality changes.
I have seen quiet and settled horses turn into chronically stressed horses in matter of weeks because of new experiences. I have also seen the opposite. But the essence of the horse that is created by its genetic predisposition remains unchanged. It may be hidden under layers of other traits caused by new experiences, but it remains there waiting.
I believe the spirit of a horse as a life force or something metaphysical is a myth. I believe what is sometimes referred to, as the horse’s spirit is no more than the personality of a horse that stems from his central nervous system. I don’t believe there is anything more beyond what you see with a horse that you need to discover. Horses are amazing enough as they are to deserve our awe and I don’t think we need to go looking for spiritual explanations for our relationship with them.
As I said earlier, I don’t know what Tom Dorrance meant by the “horse’s spirit”, but perhaps he did really mean the horse’s personality that is the essence of a horse. Well, that’s what it means to me.
But in the end, whether or not horses have a spiritual side is irrelevant because the approach to getting along well with horses remains the same. The preservation of a horse’s personality or his spirit still becomes the goal of all good horsemanship. In a practical sense it doesn’t change a thing in how you approach the training whether you believe he has a spirit or not.
"For lack of a better word, I've taken to calling this the horse's spirit. The older I get, the more I have come to believe that this aspect of the horse is the most important and the most over looked." Tom Dorrance from “True Unity”
This is a quote from Tom Dorrance’s book that is often repeated by many folks. A lot of people have had a go at what Tom might have meant by the spirit of a horse and what Tom was trying to tell us in his book. I would never presume to try to analyze Tom’s intent by this statement. I have no idea what “the horse’s spirit” meant to him. I have no idea of what it meant to the many who have repeated it or tried to give their interpretation of Tom’s word. I guess it doesn’t really matter what Tom was trying to tell people, because everybody will put their own interpretation on it and people will see “the horse’s spirit” expressed in different ways.
Maybe I am foolish to jump into the fray with this topic and probably there will be many who disagree with me and may even think a lot less of me as a horse person for my views. But here goes anyway.
I don’t really believe there is such a thing as a horse’s spirit.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines spirit as “intelligent or immaterial part of man, soul” and Webster defines it as “life force of man, soul.”
So it seems the spirit refers to a human characteristic and not a non-human one. But forgetting all that and accepting that it can be applied to any living species, spirit refers to something non-organic. By that I mean that the horse’s spirit refers to something that is not biologically based.
I am not a spiritual person. I don’t believe in any religion or after-life or god. I also don’t believe in things that are not caused or created by the physical universe.
So when somebody refers to the horse’s spirit I think of something that is based on chemical reactions and interactions of electron and protons etc. I think of something that is innately part of the physical being of the whole horse.
When people ride a horse that appears to have its spirit destroyed, I see a horse that is shutdown due to bad experiences. I don’t see a horse whose ethereal soul has been destroyed.
The slogan I have adopted for many years and use on this web site and as part of my business is “keeping the horse inside the horse.” To me, that means the essence of a horse’s personality should be preserved during training and not destroyed by our attempts to create submission and obedience. A horse’s personality is created by genetics and experiences. But it can be altered. I believe horses can experience joy and I believe they can experience depression. And like people, these experiences derive from the chemical environment of the central nervous system. We know this because drugs that alter the chemical environment can elicit personality changes.
I have seen quiet and settled horses turn into chronically stressed horses in matter of weeks because of new experiences. I have also seen the opposite. But the essence of the horse that is created by its genetic predisposition remains unchanged. It may be hidden under layers of other traits caused by new experiences, but it remains there waiting.
I believe the spirit of a horse as a life force or something metaphysical is a myth. I believe what is sometimes referred to, as the horse’s spirit is no more than the personality of a horse that stems from his central nervous system. I don’t believe there is anything more beyond what you see with a horse that you need to discover. Horses are amazing enough as they are to deserve our awe and I don’t think we need to go looking for spiritual explanations for our relationship with them.
As I said earlier, I don’t know what Tom Dorrance meant by the “horse’s spirit”, but perhaps he did really mean the horse’s personality that is the essence of a horse. Well, that’s what it means to me.
But in the end, whether or not horses have a spiritual side is irrelevant because the approach to getting along well with horses remains the same. The preservation of a horse’s personality or his spirit still becomes the goal of all good horsemanship. In a practical sense it doesn’t change a thing in how you approach the training whether you believe he has a spirit or not.
A Colt On His Own
Hi Ross,
Firstly the video of the colt and the ball is priceless. How sad it is that once this little fellow was weaned that his whole world changed to 'solitary confinement' all because he 'has potential'!
I know of a gelding that was in a similar situation. His elderly owner had bred this young TB colt (whose sire had fabulous SJ lines) in the hope of one day his grand daughter would take him to high (literally) places.
Once weaned he was put in a large yard where, unfortunately, the colt stayed until he was 3 yo. (The grand daughter was still too young and wasn't really interested) The elderly owner fell while feeding him one day, which started off a snowball of health issues for the owner. The horse was fed every day but his other needs were far from being met. His feet were trimmed once in 3 years. He started weaving and became very anti-social towards humans. Other than when he was a foal he never had the opportunity to be with, or touch, another horse. By the time he was a 3yo the owner was finding it increasingly difficult to care for him. The owner wanted him gelded so that he would be quieter to handle but the vet wanted him handled so that he would be quieter to geld!
I found out about him by accident (the owner was a neighbour but not one that I had a lot to do with and the horse was out of view to passers-by on the property). I went and had a look at him but handling him was way out of my league. Fortunately for the colt I happened to have a friend visiting from interstate that weekend that I knew would be able to help the horse.
So, to cut a long story short, the colt was handled enough to get him to lead to my place, he was put in another yard while he settled and was handled a bit more then the following day he was lightly tranquilized and loaded on a horse transport to my friends place, 900 kms away.
Fast forward 6 or 7 years and my friend now has a horse that is retired! The colt was gelded once at his new home but never had any idea about how to interact with the other horses. He was initially put in with one other older horse for company but still ended up being injured because he just had no socialisation skills.
My friend started the gelding at a later date but the anxiety the horse showed once away from the other horses made it almost impossible to take him out to club days let alone a competition. The old behaviours came back- like weaving when he was tied up- so my friend decided that the only fair thing for the horse was to retire him to the 'oldies' paddock for the rest of his days.
So the moral of the story is? It's a bit like buying an item of clothing that you like so much that you keep it wrapped up and put away for 'a special occasion'. That special day doesn't happen and before you know it that favourite item is old fashioned, the moths have found it, it has never been worn, and is now useless. The colt will be the same. Put away in mothballs, he has potential but for some reason or other it 'just doesn't happen' and he ends up emotionally scarred for life (his body will be fine but you've blown his mind in the meantime). Only this time it's not an old cardigan or old pair of shoes. It's a horse that is craving his own kind. It's a very sad situation and unfortunately he's not the only one.
That's a good story and I think it gets repeated around the world more often than we would like to think. But sometimes it turns out okay.
A few years ago I was called out to look at a 15 year old stallion for breaking in. The horse had been bred on the property and not handled since it was weaned. It had never had a halter on or had it's feet done and had lived alone almost all it's life When they wanted to move it another paddock they would chase it down a laneway and through gates. It was afraid of people and in the yard showed considerable fear based aggression. I was able to keep it in a yard on the property while I handled it for 2 or 3 days so I could load it onto a float to take it my place. I got it gelded and broken in. I worked a lot from my old horse and eventually taught it to be polite around other horses when it was ridden. But I never got it okay in a herd. It turned out to be a super nice horse and what a magical horse it could have been if it had the right start in life. It's new home was with a very talented teenage girl. She mainly used it for trail riding and pony club competitions. But it never could be put in a paddock with other horses.
I think the lack of handling is one thing and often that can turn out okay with time and patience. But the isolation is a different issue that can cause lifetime problems and damage that can never be completely unraveled. I think the isolation messes with the basic essence of what it is to be a horse and causes an aberration in the behaviour that many horses have to live with forever.
Hi Ross,
Firstly the video of the colt and the ball is priceless. How sad it is that once this little fellow was weaned that his whole world changed to 'solitary confinement' all because he 'has potential'!
I know of a gelding that was in a similar situation. His elderly owner had bred this young TB colt (whose sire had fabulous SJ lines) in the hope of one day his grand daughter would take him to high (literally) places.
Once weaned he was put in a large yard where, unfortunately, the colt stayed until he was 3 yo. (The grand daughter was still too young and wasn't really interested) The elderly owner fell while feeding him one day, which started off a snowball of health issues for the owner. The horse was fed every day but his other needs were far from being met. His feet were trimmed once in 3 years. He started weaving and became very anti-social towards humans. Other than when he was a foal he never had the opportunity to be with, or touch, another horse. By the time he was a 3yo the owner was finding it increasingly difficult to care for him. The owner wanted him gelded so that he would be quieter to handle but the vet wanted him handled so that he would be quieter to geld!
I found out about him by accident (the owner was a neighbour but not one that I had a lot to do with and the horse was out of view to passers-by on the property). I went and had a look at him but handling him was way out of my league. Fortunately for the colt I happened to have a friend visiting from interstate that weekend that I knew would be able to help the horse.
So, to cut a long story short, the colt was handled enough to get him to lead to my place, he was put in another yard while he settled and was handled a bit more then the following day he was lightly tranquilized and loaded on a horse transport to my friends place, 900 kms away.
Fast forward 6 or 7 years and my friend now has a horse that is retired! The colt was gelded once at his new home but never had any idea about how to interact with the other horses. He was initially put in with one other older horse for company but still ended up being injured because he just had no socialisation skills.
My friend started the gelding at a later date but the anxiety the horse showed once away from the other horses made it almost impossible to take him out to club days let alone a competition. The old behaviours came back- like weaving when he was tied up- so my friend decided that the only fair thing for the horse was to retire him to the 'oldies' paddock for the rest of his days.
So the moral of the story is? It's a bit like buying an item of clothing that you like so much that you keep it wrapped up and put away for 'a special occasion'. That special day doesn't happen and before you know it that favourite item is old fashioned, the moths have found it, it has never been worn, and is now useless. The colt will be the same. Put away in mothballs, he has potential but for some reason or other it 'just doesn't happen' and he ends up emotionally scarred for life (his body will be fine but you've blown his mind in the meantime). Only this time it's not an old cardigan or old pair of shoes. It's a horse that is craving his own kind. It's a very sad situation and unfortunately he's not the only one.
That's a good story and I think it gets repeated around the world more often than we would like to think. But sometimes it turns out okay.
A few years ago I was called out to look at a 15 year old stallion for breaking in. The horse had been bred on the property and not handled since it was weaned. It had never had a halter on or had it's feet done and had lived alone almost all it's life When they wanted to move it another paddock they would chase it down a laneway and through gates. It was afraid of people and in the yard showed considerable fear based aggression. I was able to keep it in a yard on the property while I handled it for 2 or 3 days so I could load it onto a float to take it my place. I got it gelded and broken in. I worked a lot from my old horse and eventually taught it to be polite around other horses when it was ridden. But I never got it okay in a herd. It turned out to be a super nice horse and what a magical horse it could have been if it had the right start in life. It's new home was with a very talented teenage girl. She mainly used it for trail riding and pony club competitions. But it never could be put in a paddock with other horses.
I think the lack of handling is one thing and often that can turn out okay with time and patience. But the isolation is a different issue that can cause lifetime problems and damage that can never be completely unraveled. I think the isolation messes with the basic essence of what it is to be a horse and causes an aberration in the behaviour that many horses have to live with forever.