Horse Talk

[henny1129]

Get a knowledgeable horse person to look at him. We had a pony like that.

X2. At the place where I ride they have a horse (Wizard) and he does have arthritis. However, he uses it to his advantage just to get people off of him because he's a brat. When he tries to get you off him though he can be a bit dangerous. It's best you get some experienced help to determine whether he really is in pain of whether he's faking it.

 

[henny1129]

Day #6
My mom picked up some wrap and antibiotics
Some friends came out, they're hauling our calves in on Wednesday. We showed the wife my horse since she's an RN. She helped me wrap it and put some antibiotic on it, I'm going to give her a shot of penicillin tomorrow

Glad you got a bit of help.

 

[GingersHuman]

​Even if he is known for faking just to get out of it?

X2. At the place where I ride they have a horse (Wizard) and he does have arthritis. However, he uses it to his advantage just to get people off of him because he's a brat. When he tries to get you off him though he can be a bit dangerous. It's best you get some experienced help to determine whether he really is in pain of whether he's faking it.

In general, horses aren't deceptive like people, either they hurt or they don't. It doesn't mean they can't be brats of course, or that they aren't a brat who is indeed in pain. Best to confirm with other experienced horse people!

 

[Bunnylady]

Quote:
I get kinda cranky when I'm in pain, too, y'know?. Animals don't fake pain, they mask it, because demonstrating a lack of soundness attracts the notice of predators. Horses sometimes endure incredible amounts of pain from harsh devices in the hands of cruel or ignorant owners, not because they don't feel it, but because they have come to believe that the pain doesn't mean anything. Absolutely horses can be lazy, and do whatever they think they can get away with, but the most basic concept behind the way most of us train horses is exploiting their preference to avoid discomfort, be it physical or just mental. If a horse is acting like something hurts, it probably does; sometimes the trickiest part can be trying to figure out what the source of the pain is, and what can be done about it.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I agree because it seems to me, even if they WERE faking it and didnt hurt that day, who are we to determine if it's faking or real? I mean, we're not them, we can't feel it. That said, I actually do think faking in some situations us possible even though I mostly agree ginger and bunny. For example, if they hurt badly one day and they got out of work for it, a very smart horse might learn that all they have to do to get out of work is do that again. It's not necessarily deceptive but a learned behavior. For example, one time I had a lesson on a day where but the horse had been ridden that morning by someone looking to lease him. She was older snd I guesz had kinda rough hands or jerky or something and for some reason he haaaaated her so he did this little bucking behavior, not real bucking because he was like 24 and too old, but like a half buck thing. Well anyway, she got scared and stopped working him and got off. So when I had my lesson later, he tried it a bunch with me because it had worked that morning because she got off him. I didn't nd just worked through it until eventually he stopped doing it and then we had a beautiful rest of the lesson. Now, when I first started riding I probably would have been scared but I had been riding there for a little while and rode several of the horses. I haven't ridden in like a year plus now though but anyway, who's to say a smart horse couldn't figure out certain behaviors work to stop riding?

Now that said, like was mentioned, horses are prey animals and don't just show signs of pain, prey animals would have to be pretty in pain or sick to actually show it.

So even if they were faking, I personally would give them the benefit of the doubt rather than risk hurting them more. That or I'd get someone experienced to look at them or both.

 

[Bunnylady]

@KDOGG331 Bucking, biting and kicking are all ways a horse says "get out of my face and off of my case" to another horse, so for them to use that kind of resistance when dealing with a person makes sense to them. A horse doesn't limp away from another horse and try to convince it to have pity because it's hurting, y'know?

In most cases, such behavior would invite aggressive behavior from another horse rather than deflect it; I've seen horses lose position in a herd when they were injured, and have to wrestle their way back up the pecking order when they were sound again. Horses are pretty good at figuring us out, but thinking "if I act pathetic, they will leave me alone" seems like a pretty long reach for brains like theirs.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Sorry for the spelling, this website is slow to respond to typing or something, it's the only site it happens on

 

[ShrekDawg]

@KDOGG331
 Bucking, biting and kicking are all ways a horse says "get out of my face and off of my case" to another horse, so for them to use that kind of resistance when dealing with a person makes sense to them. A horse doesn't limp away from another horse and try to convince it to have pity because it's hurting, y'know?:/  In most cases, such behavior would invite aggressive behavior from another horse rather than deflect it; I've seen horses lose position in a herd when they were injured, and have to wrestle their way back up the pecking order when they were sound again. Horses are pretty good at figuring us out, but thinking "if I act pathetic, they will leave me alone" seems like a pretty long reach for brains like theirs.  

Hmmm, I never thought about it like that before, I kinda thought a behavior was a behavior, but the way you said it with them using behaviors they would use naturally makes a lot more sense. And yeah, it seems to me like they wouldn't want to show it because then they'd be vulnerable to both predators and horses. And in the wild would they ditch an injured herd mate or no?

 

[I Love Layers]

@KDOGG331 Bucking, biting and kicking are all ways a horse says "get out of my face and off of my case" to another horse, so for them to use that kind of resistance when dealing with a person makes sense to them. A horse doesn't limp away from another horse and try to convince it to have pity because it's hurting, y'know?

In most cases, such behavior would invite aggressive behavior from another horse rather than deflect it; I've seen horses lose position in a herd when they were injured, and have to wrestle their way back up the pecking order when they were sound again. Horses are pretty good at figuring us out, but thinking "if I act pathetic, they will leave me alone" seems like a pretty long reach for brains like theirs.

I think it depends on the horse, we had a pony who would be totally fine until we got out into the pasture

 

[henny1129]

I get kinda cranky when I'm in pain, too, y'know?. Animals don't fake pain, they mask it, because demonstrating a lack of soundness attracts the notice of predators. Horses sometimes endure incredible amounts of pain from harsh devices in the hands of cruel or ignorant owners, not because they don't feel it, but because they have come to believe that the pain doesn't mean anything. Absolutely horses can be lazy, and do whatever they think they can get away with, but the most basic concept behind the way most of us train horses is exploiting their preference to avoid discomfort, be it physical or just mental. If a horse is acting like something hurts, it probably does; sometimes the trickiest part can be trying to figure out what the source of the pain is, and what can be done about it.

I agree because it seems to me, even if they WERE faking it and didnt hurt that day, who are we to determine if it's faking or real? I mean, we're not them, we can't feel it. That said, I actually do think faking in some situations us possible even though I mostly agree ginger and bunny. For example, if they hurt badly one day and they got out of work for it, a very smart horse might learn that all they have to do to get out of work is do that again. It's not necessarily deceptive but a learned behavior. For example, one time I had a lesson on a day where but the horse had been ridden that morning by someone looking to lease him. She was older snd I guesz had kinda rough hands or jerky or something and for some reason he haaaaated her so he did this little bucking behavior, not real bucking because he was like 24 and too old, but like a half buck thing. Well anyway, she got scared and stopped working him and got off. So when I had my lesson later, he tried it a bunch with me because it had worked that morning because she got off him. I didn't nd just worked through it until eventually he stopped doing it and then we had a beautiful rest of the lesson. Now, when I first started riding I probably would have been scared but I had been riding there for a little while and rode several of the horses. I haven't ridden in like a year plus now though but anyway, who's to say a smart horse couldn't figure out certain behaviors work to stop riding?

Now that said, like was mentioned, horses are prey animals and don't just show signs of pain, prey animals would have to be pretty in pain or sick to actually show it.

So even if they were faking, I personally would give them the benefit of the doubt rather than risk hurting them more. That or I'd get someone experienced to look at them or both.

Yeah, I understand. Wizards arthritis is mild, and indeed he is in pain at times. However, he's an extremely intelligent horse and has learned behaviors he can do that get people off of him. They've had many people come and look at him and they believed that he was faking his pain at times. This was a couple years back, but he still acts a brat all the time. Not trying to argue with anyone, that's the last thing I want to do, I just want to explain the situation.