Horse Brain, Human Brain. Janet Jones
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Trail Ahead
Horse Brain, Human Brain is written in five parts. Part One introduces the book and considers the challenges of forming teams between predators and prey, with attention to the pressures of evolution that created our brains.
Part Two focuses on taking the world in—perceiving sights, sounds, smells, tastes, touch, and awareness of body positions. Human egocentrism raises its head right away, with riders often assuming that horses perceive the world just like we do. This incorrect assumption confuses horses and frustrates handlers.
Part Three looks at how horses learn, imitate, solve problems, and remember. Why do equine brains learn best with positive reinforcement, despite the fact that trainers usually rely on its opposite? Why is timing so critical as natural chemicals flow through brain tissue, and why are edible rewards both a blessing and a curse? Why is punishment the worst method of teaching? Once the basics of associative learning are in place, I’ll introduce the power of indirect training. Part Three ends by exploring the dangers that crop up when goal-driven human brains try to command stimulus-driven equine brains.
Part Four homes in on equine attention, emotion, and forethought. We have to capture horses’ attention and regulate their emotions before we can teach them anything. Fear, anxiety, and trust are addressed, in addition to the ways horses express their emotions and interpret ours. We’ll also tackle questions of strategy here. Are equine brains capable of planning in advance? If so, are they culpable for their actions?
Finally, Part Five takes on the topic of true horsemanship. Of course, knowledge and skill are part of horsemanship, but I’m also talking about an ethical philosophy of care. True horsemen—both male and female—put the horse’s needs first and offer a generous spirit even when the animal misbehaves. Horse Brain, Human Brain teaches people to understand the equine noodle not only so that we can ride better, train more effectively, and protect our animals’ welfare. It also applies brain science to horsemanship so that we can understand each animal at a deep level that encourages mutual bonds of trust and responsibility between the two species.
All in All
Throughout this book, you’ll find barn-side applications of brain science. I want you to ride with your brain in real life, not just ponder a handsome theory from your reading chair. Every chapter includes true stories about real horses I’ve worked with, stories that illustrate my successes and failures in trying to understand equine minds. Along the way, I’ll explain how brain cells work when they fire their tiny electric sparks and shoot homemade chemicals around. Source notes appear at the end of this book and are referenced by page number. Illustrations are offered throughout, with drawings of the horse brain enlarged for visual ease. A glossary and index are included, too. That way, you can find information quickly if your horse makes you run from the arena to look something up!
Horse Brain, Human Brain is written for everyone who interacts with horses. Our group includes raw beginners and seasoned experts, practitioners of any equestrian discipline, and members of all equine professions. An understanding of the horse’s brain is pertinent to all of us. Unfortunately, this breadth gives me the opportunity to offend everyone by either talking down to the expert or talking up to the novice. Please forgive me for points that are pitched to alternate skill levels.
Leonardo da Vinci is credited with the quote, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” I hope Leo’s right because no book can convey the full complexity of the human or equine brain. To do so would require many volumes crammed with high-dollar vocabulary. That would dishonor the intent of this project. Explanations here are accurate but simplified, so that we can concentrate on our main character: the horse.
The Horse
Where in this wide world can man find nobility without pride, friendship without envy or beauty without vanity? Here, where grace is laced with muscle, and strength by gentleness confined.
Ronald Duncan, Poet
© Ronald Duncan Estate and reprinted with permission.
With brain-based horsemanship, we have access to the immense privilege of collaborating with an individual of another species, of shaping his brain and allowing him to shape ours. But to succeed, we have to work with the principles of human and equine brains instead of against them.
Chapter Two
Evolving a Brain
Why do we need to know how brains are engineered? I mean, there they are, fully formed, and ready to go. Why not just “shut up and dance,” as the song says? The reason is that the way brains evolved eons ago tells us a lot about how they work today.
Equine brains are engineered to sense and interpret the equine world. Where’s the best grass? Which way is the water? Is it safe to lie down here? What’s that noise? Is my alpha mare concerned? But they are not designed to take in and interpret the human world, and that’s what we ask of them most often.
Not only do we expect them to understand the human world, we also expect them to understand us! Now, I don’t know about you, but even with a human brain I sometimes fail miserably to understand people. Truth be told, I’m not always that great at understanding myself. How can we expect horses to succeed at the task?
Brains—horse, human, or otherwise—are engineered through time in many ways. Some methods of brain design are more easily modified than others. In shaping equine behavior, we need to know which aspects of the brain can be changed and which must be accepted.
Brains evolve first by natural selection, in which a mental ability helps individuals to survive and reproduce. For example, early horses who noticed peripheral movement quickly tended to stay alive. The physical structure of today’s brains is determined by environmental pressures that occurred millions of years ago. We can work around it somewhat, but we cannot eliminate or change it.
Brains adjust through domestication, which is driven by artificial selection. Here, humans choose stallions and mares with certain traits to yield offspring who carry the same trait. Breeders can select for temperament and trainability, but often choose beauty, speed, or strength instead.
Brains mature during development from birth to adulthood. The human brain develops for 25 years before it is fully mature, longer than most of us realize. In horses, the length of brain maturation to adulthood is unknown. Physical maturity in general takes five to seven years, depending on breed. Experiences during development alter the brain significantly, so the early training we provide to a horse is critical.
Brains change physically throughout adulthood in response to daily learning. Every time you or your horse experience something important, new connections are formed among brain cells. With use, these connections form a persistent record in the brain. In addition, new neurons are born throughout adulthood.
Natural Selection
Bone and tooth fossils show that the earliest ancestors of today’s horse lived in North America 56 million years ago. The size of small dogs, they had wide-set eyes down near their noses and padded feet with several toes. Warm temperatures of the era had produced subtropical forest across most of the continent, and the lower leaves of those trees kept pre-horses fed and sheltered. Life was good.
But fast-forward 21 million years, when an Ice Age caused temperatures to drop. Polar ice caps formed, glaciers moved in, forests died, and prairies emerged—covered with hard ground, tough grass, open space, and predators. Pre-horses whose bodies could not withstand these new conditions died off. But those few individuals who happened to have warmer fur, bigger bodies, stronger feet, faster legs, and harder teeth survived. They reproduced, their offspring reproduced, and so on—altering the species’ bodies and brains over eons of time.
If you have a chance, try a speedy getaway across rough ground on soft padded feet and a bunch of cold toes. Not very fast, is it? So, through natural selection, the horse’s outside toes began to disappear. Today, the splint bones in our horses’ legs, the chestnuts above their knees, and the ergots on their fetlocks are vestiges of those ancient outside toes. Meanwhile, the central toes hardened and enlarged into hooves that could travel a long way on rigid surfaces.
Natural