The horse must respect you. How many times have I heard this phrase! And just recently during a clinic I attended as a listener. The speaker is considered a highly renowned instructor and ethologist.
Since I was a little girl, I have never been able to understand the principle of respect applied to horses or the animal world in general.
Why should a horse respect me? I can't find an answer because there isn't one!
The concept of respect belongs only to humans, it is cultural, and it cannot be directly applied to horses. Horses do not know the concept of respect as we understand it, so they cannot act accordingly based on this principle. Let's just think about how this concept changes in different cultures around the world. Should the horse know them all?
Asking a horse to respect a person makes no sense because the horse cannot understand this concept! Do you all agree?
The behavior of horses is mainly influenced by their instinct, the environment in which they live, and past experiences with other horses and humans they have come into contact with.
Instead of erroneously demanding respect from the horse, we should start giving respect to the horse and questioning our actions, and learn to understand the natural equine behavior and interact with it with care and correctness.
Our role is to try to develop a relationship based on trust through equine understanding and clear and precise communication. Only in this way will the horse be more inclined to collaborate with us and perform our requests.
Dominance, control, authority are not principles to be applied to the horse but we must be educated to educate the horse.
Respect is important, from us to the horse only!
And remember, horses are watching us!
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