What Makes Your Horse Fight or Flee

Learn about Your Horse's Fight or Flee Instincts

The approach of a predator or even the suspicion of a predator is your horse’s main cause of flight. Your horse is a prey animal. You must assume anything sudden or strange is a predator to your horse. Unknown or sudden noises or movements may signal the approach of a predator to your horse. Generally, horses prefer to flee if they can, and will fight only if they need to defend themselves.

Predators can be carnivores, meat eating animals that kill and eat other animals (lions, tigers, and wolves), or they can be omnivores, animals that kill and eat other animals, but also eat leaves, nuts, berries, and other vegetable matter bears, pigs, and humans).

Your horse will put anything strange into the predator category until he has reason not to. From the beginning, we are in the wrong group, and we must change our horse’s perception that we are a threat.

The horse that survived in the wild was not a horse that took chances with the unknown. If something looked, smelled, or sounded strange, it was automatically, instinctively, perceived as a threat and dangerous to the horse…

Prey animals are herbivores (grazers and browsers), like cows and horses. Carnivores and Omnivores smell different from herbivores. Animals know the scents of other animals and react accordingly. Horses can be terrified of the scent from a bear, whether or not he has seen one, yet may be only mildly afraid of the unfamiliar smell of a cow. This is all instinctive with your horse. The horse in the wild that was repelled by the scent of a predator was the horse that got away.

Consider your horse tied up at your equine barn. He is caught, restrained, and has every reason to be terrified. We ask a lot of our horses to allow us to do anything at all. It is extremely important to understand that we as horse owners were and sometimes are predators to our horses. Your horse cannot help his natural instincts in his initial response and will revert to his instincts under pressure. Therefore it is vital that you do not startle or threaten your horse. Your horse must have the confidence that you mean no harm to him. Your horse must trust you or he will group you with other predators.

Have any questions or comments? Feel free to leave them below.

Have a great day with your horse.