Equido Articles:

TROUBLED HORSES…..?

DIABLO CASE STUDY

Diablo was a one day eventer (intermediate level) and was a very troubled and unhappy boy. He was a “product” that had a job to do and had been “produced” to a point of being mechanical. Since the age of 4yrs he had had little or no socialising with other horses, had been stabled 24hrs a day with turnout of around half an hour once or twice a week on his own. He was competed at a consistent level and did the best he could to perform well. He was ridden hard with spurs and liberal application of the whip as he started to become more and more shut down.

His behaviour in the stable left a lot to be desired. He hated himself, he hated his job, he hated people and he hated other horses. He would lunge and bite anyone or anything that passed his stable, he would turn round and kick at anyone entering his box. He was dangerous to be around and lethal to tack up having to be short racked to be safely handled.

His current owner could see the pain and suffering going on in his mind and out of sympathy and concern for his well being she bought him (for a very high price) to try to help him become a normal boy again. Full marks to his owner for her perseverance. The first step she took was to buddy Diablo up with her other horse and try to encourage him to learn how to be a horse again. She turned him out in a field through the day (it would have been too much of a culture shock to turn him out day and night) and slowly he started to calm down. He was still very aggressive to tack up but she persisted and took him on hacks, avoiding the school as much as possible and asking very little of him. He remained unpredictable in his stable, prone to biting and kicking and was still very shut down and withdrawn.

His owner had the chance of stabling at our yard and so our work with Diablo began. He arrived at the end of the summer with a bad wire injury on his leg. This required treatment and dressings to be applied daily and he had to spend time on box rest. Because Diablo had had a small taste of being turned out he reacted very badly to being cooped up in a stable. He had also found a new (and as he thought only) friend in his new owner’s other horse and displayed extreme separation anxiety. So although he had improved, he still had a long way to go. We reached a compromise on the box rest by turning the round pen into a 12ft x 12ft steel cage. Diablo felt like he was outside as he could see all around him, feel the air and experience the elements yet his movements were restricted. This seemed to work and his leg healed up very quickly.

Diablo was psychologically damaged and did not demonstrate normal horse behaviour. He did not have any rhyme nor reason to his aggression but simply acted automatically. We first worked with him in hand in the stable, letting him understand how to move over when asked (without kicking out or trying to bite). It became very obvious that his aggression was defensive and as he began to feel less threatened he began to calm down. Being turned out in a herd was a big help but very frightening for him and he stuck close to his stable mate as slowly but surely he re-learned his own language.

One incident sticks out and highlights how little communication skills he had; when asked to move over in his stable one night he became confused and anxious. He wanted to do the right thing but simply couldn’t work out what was required, he also wanted the handler to understand that he was not being bad and needed help, he began to demonstrate what is called “foal snapping” which is a mouthing behaviour as the horse appears to open and close their mouth with a licking motion. This means “please don’t hurt me I am only little and don’t understand” a very clear message from any foal to an older horse but this was being demonstrated by a 12yr old to a human in a desperate attempt to let the human know he was confused in the only language he could remember. I have never seen any horse, other than a foal or youngster, foal snap and this behaviour can easily be misinterpreted as an attempt to bite. Fortunately for Diablo his handler understood exactly what he meant and he quietly stepped to one side and let him work out the problem for a moment himself. Diablo realised what was being asked and moved over with a sigh of relief that at last a human had understood. This was one of his first attempts to communicate with and ask for help from a human.

Through time Diablo began to relax and mix with the herd. The other horses understood that Diablo was a little unbalanced mentally and was prone to “going off on one” with little provocation. They interacted with him when he was balanced and when he started to behave irrationally they backed off and left him alone. In this way Diablo slowly built up an understanding of what was acceptable behaviour and what was not.

His understanding in the herd corresponded with his understanding in the stable and he was no longer aggressive or defensive and started to seek out human interaction in a quiet and friendly manner. He was still defensive about having his rugs put on and had to be reminded verbally to “pay attention”, he would then focus really hard and concentrate on not biting or kicking. It was obvious that he had to make a conscious effort not to reflex bite at the handler as the front buckles were done up. Over time he became used to not biting and has slowly forgotten the habit. He no longer kicks out at people in aggression but can still fly kick if he becomes stressed but this is not aimed at anyone or anything.

The biggest change in Diablo is his overall attitude to life. If you met him now you would see a happy face with pricked ears taking a keen interest in all that goes on around him and a large friendly eye. He actively seeks the company of people and is polite and affectionate. He can still be defensive with other horses too near him but he has found his own place in the herd and his confidence grows from day to day. He no longer shows any separation anxiety if his stable mate goes out for a hack and is far more relaxed and starting to enjoy life.

Diablo is an ongoing case. He has been with us for two years now and is happy with himself, happy with people and almost happy with other horses. We are still working on him being happy about work under saddle but we are getting there. He loves to hack out and relax and so this gives us a good place to start from. Diablo will never be a “normal” horse as the psychological damage goes very deep. However, with the right handling and a lot of patience he will be a very happy horse who is no longer angry with the world.