The Zentora Philosophy

In the herd, the horse may avoid (go away) from a more dominant individual when jostling for resources. The dominant preoccupation of the horse is to permanently remain in the company of his congeners orrejoin them quickly after a temporary separation for the purpose of safety.That is the sum of his social behavior that must be understood, imitated and exploited in the horse- human relationship.

The trainer’s dominance is demonstrated by the horse going away from the trainer as an expression of fear (mimicking social hierarchy). It also can be proven by going toward eagerly the trainer in an expression of trust (mimicking the horse’s dominant preoccupation to belong to the herd). The most effective form of the trainer’s dominance is expressed when the horse is willing to go forward without reticence both away from the trainer and return to him/her when allowed. This behavior expresses both respect and trust.

A wild animal life is organized around the accumulation of calories to support the body in prevision of dwindling resources during cold spells, dry spells, for travel (migration), or to supply increased energy during courtship and competition for males, pregnancy and lactation for females. Becoming fat, and staying fat, is the key to survival. Gaining calories, avoiding to waste them and amassing fat serves the purpose of guaranteeing the wellbeing of the individual, but also the future of the his/her genes: fat mares get pregnant and nurse their foals generously, strong stallions can fend off their rivals and breed many mares during their prime. Usually, the animals capable of eating more than others have implicitly the strongest character.

The competition for resources creates a social hierarchy in the herd between individuals. Though It may be occasionally violent at its onset, it generally becomes peaceful when the ranking order is established for the benefit of all involved. This order is fluid, and changes happen overtime in subtle ways. Conflict avoidance is the key to social harmony because it is necessary to avoid a counter-productive wastage of energy. It is never an equal behavior for both actors: the dominant animal maintains his/her path and the subaltern wisely gives way. It is the simplest form of the dominance-submission dance. Submission is the leading social strategy to conserve energy, maintains social harmony and prevent isolation of one member of the group. It maintains the level of group cohesion needed for individual safety. It also identify the individuals strong enough to defend the group against eventual predators.

Por the submissive avoiding conflict, the greatest benefit is protection from the group at an energetical cost, much lower than confrontation. Submitting by giving way is a small price to pay for the increased sense of safety. In trade, the dominant gets first dibs at continuing their genetic prospects (lead stallion gets more mares, lead mares get bred first and eat more).  

Submission is not a reflection of oppression and of loss of freedom, it is the most desirable path to avoid conflict, which prevents the unnecessary wastage of calories and gives both submissive and dominant a better shot at survival. This is why horse training is even possible in the first place. On the other side of that coin, horses resist demands for going forward when pushed because this is part of the individual tussle for ranking, but it’s also part of the economy of energy behavior. In the herd real demonstrations of individual dominance are rare, but the willingness to go toward the herd (replaced by the trainer in the horse’s mind) never suffers any reduction. Attracting the horse from the front always works better than pushing him from the back.  

Etho-phyiology of the conflict resolution model:

The absence of conflict helps the horse remain in the parasympathetic state (“Rest and Digest”), while conflict is based on sympathetic mode (”Fight and Flee”), which interrupts digestion automatically. The horse is designed to function in the parasympathetic mode 95% of the time, so he is able to digest his continuous, low-calorie diet, and 5% in the sympathetic mode when danger, real or perceived, occurs. When horses are trained without clear dominance from a benevolent trainer (who represent The Herd), they remain in a constant state of latent conflict which interferes with their digestion because they never get out of a mild sympathetic state.

“The resistant horse”, qualified of “naughty horse”, and other misnomers is an animal that does not know his social position. He is simply filling the dominance vacuum because the trainer has not stepped in clearly and taken charge. This is why we see so much stress-induced colic with amateur riders. Horses who are clearly submissive, are relaxed and comfortable, avoid conflicts with their trainers by submission, keep their digestive track active and are generally relaxed and happy. This form of relationship mimics the natural social order of horses. It has always been well understood by successful horsemen of the past who knew obedience and calm were the fundamental intrinsic reward for the horse. It was a rule that a horse must never go back to his stall on an unresolved conflict, both for training and physiological reasons. If the horse is not fully reassured that “all is well” in his world, and the relationship with his dominant (the trainer) has obtained and accepted his submission, he will remain anxious until his next ride (23 hours). It is likely that “stall vices” (pacing, cribbing, weaving) are due to anxiety (unresolved dominance issues or unbalance rides that feel dangerous to the horse) more than to boredom (if hay is given enough, horses are not bored if they an eat).

Conversely, the constant use of extrinsic rewards (treats) leads to a semi-permanent state of anxiety which is unnatural. Horses naturally learn from aversive corrections (discomfort from doing the wrong thing) and negative reinforcement (cessation of the aversive when they submit and stop the transgression). At that point, conflict is avoided by submission from the subaltern and acknowledgment of it by the dominant, both stay calm in the parasympathetic state, and digestion (the leading driver of equine behavior) is fully restored, if it was temporarily interrupted. Those interactions dominant/subaltern are very quick from transgression to punishment and full return to status quo, because they must avoid disrupting the eating/digesting/caloric accumulation behavior.    

The easier the path to obtain submission (simple questions, graduated steps, modification of movement by small increments) makes it easier for the horse to say YES! Both trainer and horse are satisfied. The fastest return to the parasympathetic, brings the greater rewards, so relaxation associated to submission (i.e.: absence of resistance) is the best way to guide the horse toward intrinsic rewards.

The easiest mode of dominance assertion is to build imperative strength while using a minimum of force in the process. Overwhelming Strength (presence, self-assurance, tying to a solid ring in the wall) is the easiest path to dominance and is expressed by always standing one’s ground and one’s direction of travel.

The control of movement

,,,,,leading to the control of posture

     ……leading to lightness of response by the quickest mean is the easiest on the horse.

It cross all the boxes.

The best proceeding: dominance, effectiveness, softness. Second best: dominance, effectiveness. Softness without dominance or effectiveness is not the path to successful training.