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Stress and Your Horse's Brain

Horses

By Rahau MihaiPublished 2 years ago 6 min read
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Welcome back! Today, I'd want to discuss how we are making progress in an area of dealing with horses that, until recently, has been entirely ignored: managing the animals' mental stress.

But first, let's examine how your horse's brain functions and contrast it with our own before we even begin to talk about emotional stress management and how it impacts your horse.

To begin with, horses don't think as humans do; their brains are built quite differently. As a result, how your horse utilizes their brains in combination with your information generates the various degrees of stress that your horse may encounter.

The "frontal lobe" is the most crucial region to take into account when examining and contrasting the horse's brain to our own.

Our frontal lobe, which processes all of the information we are exposed to on a daily basis and contributes to the development of our personalities as well as our capacity to grow cognitively, or thinking skills, is quite vast and well-developed in our brain.

The frontal lobe of your horse's brain is considerably more underdeveloped when we compare the same region, which prevents them from having anything similar to the capacity that you or I have to reason through an issue. The exact reverse is true for your horse.

The bulk of your horse's other brain regions that control movement and general athleticism have evolved similarly to how human frontal lobes have.

If you place your horse in a scenario where they have to use reasoning to get out of it, they will probably go into full flight mode and run away so that they can defend themselves. Not to mention the considerable tension that might result from such circumstance.

In case you're wondering how everything works together and interacts, the horse's brain is simply limited to just one little region. The region I'm referring about resembles an almond in both size and form. The "Amygdala" is a region of the brain that is somewhat involved in controlling your horse's emotions and is therefore closely tied to the emotional stress your horse experiences.

When examining the horse's brain, the emotion being discussed is one of fear and wrath; it is not the emotion of grief, pride, or any other sensation humans may go through. The "fight or flight" reaction has its roots in this region, which is considered to be primordial in nature and instinctual in how it responds to stimulation.

The "limbic system," a basic portion of the horse's brain that contains the Amygdala, is what causes many of your horse's unsolved difficulties and is also where these same issues tend to be stored.

All of the previous circumstances that have influenced them—those that they could not comprehend or connect to—are kept here and may sometimes be brought into the present.

Being able to relate to the true problem aids in understanding the problem's root cause and provides a path to take that will help to maintain the problem created by their emotion area response. This area is important because it is one of the main and controlling areas of emotional stress-production and it is that same stress that produces fear and fear produces a "flight or fight" response.

The different amounts of stress that may be produced in any particular scenario depend on the size, growth, and function of your horse's frontal lobe.

If untreated, stress is a condition that develops inside your horse's body and may result in long-term issues.

The hormone "cortisol," sometimes known as "the stress hormone," is released when a horse experiences stress, much as it does in humans. This hormone is generated by the adrenal glands and accumulates in your horse's blood and saliva.

Some horse trainers hold the opinion that using a certain bit with a horse may reduce stress and help the animal deal with the situation more effectively. To do this, this group suggests using a "Sweet Water" bit. A sweet water bit is one that has an untreated steel core (the part that goes in the mouth), which has been proved to cause the horse to produce more saliva and, as a result, release more of the stress hormone cortisol, making the horse less agitated in stressful conditions.

The cortisol hormone is absorbed by different cells all throughout your horse's body and is often employed in a beneficial way to control your horse's metabolism, electrolyte balance, and aid in the reduction of any inflammation.

Although cortisol is crucial for maintaining your horse's general health, it may sometimes fall out of balance, which is what often results in health problems.

High amounts of cortisol actually impair a horse's immune system, weakening its natural defenses and leaving it vulnerable to bacterial infections like thrush, abscesses, and even rain rot.

In our experience, additional physical concerns, such as lameness issues, body pain, gait abnormalities, and many other scenarios, have surfaced after a significant amount of emotional tension has been discharged. We like to think that by doing this, the body is enabling the immune system to begin operating at a greater level than it did before.

Basically, there are two types of stress that may be seen in horses: chronic stress (also known as long-term stress) and acute stress (also known as short-term stress).

You can better control your horse's stress if you are aware of the differences between the two groups.

I'll go through a few of the signs of both acute stress and chronic stress to help you grasp the distinctions between the two forms of stress, including:

Symptoms of Acute Stress

tense, trembling muscles

High Head/Neck Carriage Shy Bolting

Chronic Stress Indicators: Wringing of the Tail

A Change in Your Horse's Attitude Aggressive Type Behavior Stall Walking or Weaving

stomach ulcers

Skin Infections from Teeth Grinding

Colic Performance Slowed Down by Dull Coat

These are just a few of the numerous signs of both acute and chronic stress levels; as each horse is unique, they all respond to the same scenario in various ways.

Here is where it's crucial to understand what is typical for your horse and what is unusual.

Horses will exhibit signs of stress in the same way that humans do, which may be quite distressing for horse owners who find themselves suddenly dealing with their horse's health concerns that appeared out of nowhere.

We have made amazing success with many different horses in many various scenarios in the relatively young field of emotional stress management that we have dabbled in.

In the course of assisting horses, their owners, and getting horses back to a level of performance that seemed to have gone by the wayside, we have unlocked the door to a number of old issues that previously looked insurmountable.

If you believe that your horse might benefit from our services, please get in touch with us. We would be delighted to learn more about your horse and discuss how we might be able to support you and your horse.

That pretty much covers everything we wanted to discuss today. As usual, we welcome your criticism and are waiting to read your comments, so please do so!

The hundreds of horses I have had the honor of meeting, learning from, and being let into their lives are the inspiration for my work with owners and horses. I now have the knowledge of their world and how I had to change my thinking and behavior in order to become like them thanks to their acceptance. These horses first served as my customers, then evolved into friendships, instructors, and eventually mentors.

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About the Creator

Rahau Mihai

Hi! Come to my profile and you will see really useful things or something to relax you !

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