A comment below on one of the posts reminded me of the importance in understanding Equine Behavior.

Not too long ago I was called to trim/fix 3 Arabian horses varying in age from young to senior. (Can’t remember the exact ages.) I introduced myself to each one prior to asking him or her for the hoof. A simple hind-end disengagement not only sets *me* up as the horse’s leader in just a few moments but also lets the horse feel comfortable releasing his or her defenses (hooves) to me without any reluctance.

The first, a mare, was younger than the others and very animated but very friendly and not at all mean. She was just a young Arabian who is allowed to BE a horse! I got through trimming her hooves then took her out to the round pen to watch her move at liberty. What a ham! She moved out beautifully with her new ‘pedicure’ and we spent a few moments ‘playing tag’. I love playing with horses – feeds their play needs as well as allows them to feel that I’m not all that nasty of a human who just comes in and trims up their hooves. I don’t always have the luxury of time to play with a client’s horse but on this day I did.

The 2nd horse was an apprehensive one – but stood very quietly and mannerly in the barn aisle while I looked at his hooves. (He was standing with the lead rope just tossed over his back as I don’t like a horse to be cross tied.) I proceeded to request his front left first and once I had it in between my knees he didn’t move one iota. What a gentleman! I completed trimming that one in no time then the right front before moving onto the rears. Left rear first (just a peculiar order I have – OCD maybe?? *grin*) As I’ve got the LR on the stand I happened to look *up* — SURPRISE!!! Oh my, what a surprise. Either I wasn’t listening closely enough to the owner as she was telling me about her horse or she omitted telling me that her horse was a — STALLION! Well, you could’ve knocked me over with a feather. I was shocked! This stallion was better behaved than most of the geldings I’ve had to trim over the last 22 years! To add to this, the mare was whinneying and running around right outside the barn door in her paddock by now and in the stall right next to where we were standing was another — yep, you guessed it — STALLION!

2 Arabian Stallions!!

They were both calm, quiet, mannerly (extremely!) and very personable. Easy, easy to work with and very affectionate. (One kept on nuzzling the back of my head while I was working. Must’ve been the smell of my Herbal Essence Shampoo! *grin*)

What a beautiful testimony to the owners. Those two stallions, as well as the mare, were loved, cherished, disciplined and exceptionally understood to be horses. The owners understood how horses think, behave and feel and they worked WITH their horses – they LIVED with their horses as full PARTNERS.

Another barn, other owners and these horses might well have fallen into the category we all know and respect (and many fear) so well — that of … *Stallions*.

It’s not about the horse, Folks — it’s about understanding the Equine thinking, behavior, language and fitting in with their world instead of trying to fit them into the human world.

That’s a human responsibility – not an equine one.

I wish all my clients’ horses were as sensitive, intelligent, and well-behaved as those 3 horses that day; especially those two STALLIONS!