How to Help a Herd Bound Horse

by Elaine Polny
(Palgrave, Ontario, Canada)

I was watching a video by a person who considers themselves to be a "natural horsemanship" trainer trying to explain what they do to help the herd bound horse. What hit me so obviously was the amount of human perspective and expectations that were placed upon the situation. Here was a few of the statements that were said:

"We first take this horse and separate him from the herd and place him in a paddock alone. That way he will learn to understand that being alone is okay."

"Because this horse bonded with other horses so easily, we would change his paddock mates often so he doesn't get so attached."

Needless to say, I had to stop watching because there was nothing "natural" nor "understanding" that any horse was going to learn from using these methods.

What was being suggested went against every natural instinct to a horse's perspective. They "are" a herd bound animal by nature! It represents safety, community and life. People too are socially and community bonded, we cannot live without others and we don't learn to be alone by being separated from each other. In fact in our human culture we use separation as a punishment. "Go to your room! Go stand in the corner! Go to jail!" And we inadvertently do the same thing with our horses but we don't realize the punishment that they feel from the separation. For example, putting horses in separate stalls, having them live life alone and changing their world constantly with new mates upsets their emotional balance. They naturally create strong social structures amongst themselves in a consistent herd where everyone knows the part they play within it.

We don't teach our children to become independent by removing them from friends and society. So why we think this will work with horses is beyond my way of interpreting the solution.

So how can we help the herd bound horse?

Let's start with not using the "sink or swim" method! You wouldn't toss your child in a pool of water and suggest to them learn to swim or they will sink. So don't toss a horse in a separate paddock or stall and suggest they learn to accept it! The same emotional response would be there from the child or the horse which is horror! No learning would take place. If anything it would all back fire and the child would become more afraid of water and the horse more afraid of separation.

I have noted with horses that have not had the chance to grow up in a socially natural environment seem to suffer from separation anxiety more than those who have. Not much different from a child having endured a unnatural family lifestyle. Empathy is the order of the day.

Use the buddy system until your presents and leadership can sustain the absence of another horse. It comes down to us needing to learn not the horse needing to change. They will change when we think in their terms first and we become the provider of what's missing in the situation, leadership/the decision maker.


So start teaching a horse where they are most comfortable. Now they can think about "you" and what is being suggested. When learning becomes conditioned responses you now have the best chance of taking over where the other horse left off.

Take notice of your objectives. Why do you need this horse to be alone with you? Are they purely selfish reasons on your part? Like, "I need to ride out into the sunset alone because it makes me feel good." Or "I need my horse to be able to go places, learn a competitive sport so I can enjoy our relationship." Or is it something like, "My horse could become ill or injured and one day may need to be separated to heal."

Food is a wonderful motivator and something all horses can focus upon but not to be confused or used as a solution. It must be utilized as a tool.

My confession! Shortly after bringing Hero home (he was one yr. old) I made the mistake of taking him in a stall not thinking that he had likely never been in one! Let alone be by himself in there! What a dope I was! I stepped away for only a second and he busted the door down to escape! Now what? I could only imagine the horror he felt in order for him to do such a thing! We have since re-established the stall environment as a great place to want to be with short comfortable visits and some goodies in a bowl. But at first when the food was done, I quickly got him out of there before he had a chance to think about doing it himself! From here we built up the time factor. I know he has created more of a conditioned response now because he busts fence boards in the paddock on the outside to get into the barn! But I also inadvertently taught him how to break whatever is in front of him to get what he wants! Oh, the learning never ends!

I can't say enough about how the tool called Clicker Training/Positive Reinforcement can absolutely help the herd bound horse through his perspective and understanding of wanting to be with you and being away from other horses. It's all about trust. But when you are not with them (which is the other 23 hours of the day!) do the best thing you can for them and let them be with their favorite friend. Wouldn't you want that too? I know I would. :0)

Elaine Polny
Horses by Nature