Why Do Horses Do That? - The Full Bucket Theory
The other day I was talking with a student about her horse’s behavior, which she found mystifying. The horses had been in the barn for several days, due to cold rainy weather, and today she had come to get her horse out for exercise. “I took Isadora out to the round pen and longed her for a little while and she was very laid back” she said. “you know, she just kind of trotted around la-de-da, so after a few minutes I went ahead and took her to the covered arena and rode. She was ok until she saw a horse out in one of the round pens.
Then she began to act like she wanted to buck and act crazy. I tried to ride her through it, but she just kept on acting like rodeo was on her mind, so I finally got off, took her back to the round pen and longed her.” She went on “Well, she just exploded and bucked and bucked and cantered around. What do you think made her do that after she was so laid back when I gave her an opportunity to play in the beginning.?”
It’s a good question isn’t it? Why do horses DO that? I think it is an accumulation of factors.
Horses, as you know, are herd animals and prey animals. They have survived as a species by responding to stimulants and reacting according to their anxiety level, after checking in with the herd to see if every body else thinks it’s dangerous too.
Horses have a physical and psychological need for movement. Lack of movement builds this need to an explosion point.
These factors and how they create the horses’ need for movement can be compared to a bucket that can overflow, causing a flood, when too much stimulus accumulates in the bucket. I define stimulants as things which cause the horse to feel agitated, (not necessarily afraid) and therefore push it towards acting from instinct or emotion rather than thought.
Factors that may increase the level of stimulants in the bucket are the horse’s character and breed type, weather, the horse’s happiness in its work, poor fitting tack…. I’m sure there are more, and if you think about it you can think of a few which affect your horse and increase the level in the bucket.
For instance, every horse’s bucket has some level of stimulants in it all the time. A horse with a nervous character has a higher level of stimulants in his bucket to begin with, so it doesn’t take as many added stimulants to “send him over the top”. A hot-blooded breed of horse has a higher level of stimulants in her bucket than a cold-blooded breed. Horses stalled regularly have a higher level of “need to move” stimulant than horses turned out all the time. Horses fed high protein or high concentrated carbohydrate diets have a higher level of stimulants in their bucket all the time.
Add to this the environmental stimulants. The horse that is not happy in it’s work has a higher level of agitation. Cold weather can cause agitation in the form of “need to move”. Poor fitting tack can definitely be a stimulant, causing the horse to want to buck or “run out from under it”. Remember, to your horse, on an instinctual level, a saddle that stabs him in the back with a predator (you) perched on it is not all that different than a big cat. This is not to say that horses can’t tell the difference. They are incredibly more intelligent than most of us imagine. But agitation can short circuit thought, and then your horse acts from instinct.
So back to Isadora, the perplexing horsey Queen in question. Lets see if we can add up the stimulants in her bucket to understand the “overflow” and why such a small thing as seeing another horse in the round pen might send her “over the edge”.
Isadora is a wamblood of the generally laid back type, so she doesn’t have as much in her bucket of stimulants all the time as say, a typical Arabian. She is still a horse, a hunted animal in instinctual terms, so her bucket has a certain level of “high awareness” type of stimulation in it all the time. In this case she had been stalled for several days with minimal exercise. Add a half-bucket. She is fed a diet with a moderate amount of concentrates. These were not eliminated during stall confinement. Add another quarter of a bucket. The weather had been cold for several days. Add another big dollop. She originally went out to the round pen and the arena alone. Add a some more for leaving the sameness of the stall, getting circulation and movement going, and stimulation of sights and sounds of the area. Poor fitting tack? Don’t know—could be a stimulation factor. We are getting close to the top of the bucket now. So here comes a herd member moving around freely in the round pen. On another day, or even this day with fewer stimulants filling the bucket, shouldn’t be an issue. But this day, the bucket of stimulation is already full and this last bit causes the overflow. Once Isadora erupts, she needs to move in order to lower the level of stimulation back to the level where she can think, rather than react.
If you learn to notice all of the stimulation or agitation factors filling your horse’s bucket, you will be more able to predict when they will have an “overflow” situation brewing. Give them a chance to move and dispel some of that agitation and stimulation.
If , like Isadora, you have reason to believe that they are “on the verge” you may want to add stimulation to push them into movement mode, or you may want to do some anxiety lowering movement exercises like TTEAM groundwork which will help them think and not react. Either of these strategies may help them be better able to think and respond to your partnership requests in a cooperative manner. Which one you choose depends on your horse’s character.
Then she began to act like she wanted to buck and act crazy. I tried to ride her through it, but she just kept on acting like rodeo was on her mind, so I finally got off, took her back to the round pen and longed her.” She went on “Well, she just exploded and bucked and bucked and cantered around. What do you think made her do that after she was so laid back when I gave her an opportunity to play in the beginning.?”
It’s a good question isn’t it? Why do horses DO that? I think it is an accumulation of factors.
Horses, as you know, are herd animals and prey animals. They have survived as a species by responding to stimulants and reacting according to their anxiety level, after checking in with the herd to see if every body else thinks it’s dangerous too.
Horses have a physical and psychological need for movement. Lack of movement builds this need to an explosion point.
These factors and how they create the horses’ need for movement can be compared to a bucket that can overflow, causing a flood, when too much stimulus accumulates in the bucket. I define stimulants as things which cause the horse to feel agitated, (not necessarily afraid) and therefore push it towards acting from instinct or emotion rather than thought.
Factors that may increase the level of stimulants in the bucket are the horse’s character and breed type, weather, the horse’s happiness in its work, poor fitting tack…. I’m sure there are more, and if you think about it you can think of a few which affect your horse and increase the level in the bucket.
For instance, every horse’s bucket has some level of stimulants in it all the time. A horse with a nervous character has a higher level of stimulants in his bucket to begin with, so it doesn’t take as many added stimulants to “send him over the top”. A hot-blooded breed of horse has a higher level of stimulants in her bucket than a cold-blooded breed. Horses stalled regularly have a higher level of “need to move” stimulant than horses turned out all the time. Horses fed high protein or high concentrated carbohydrate diets have a higher level of stimulants in their bucket all the time.
Add to this the environmental stimulants. The horse that is not happy in it’s work has a higher level of agitation. Cold weather can cause agitation in the form of “need to move”. Poor fitting tack can definitely be a stimulant, causing the horse to want to buck or “run out from under it”. Remember, to your horse, on an instinctual level, a saddle that stabs him in the back with a predator (you) perched on it is not all that different than a big cat. This is not to say that horses can’t tell the difference. They are incredibly more intelligent than most of us imagine. But agitation can short circuit thought, and then your horse acts from instinct.
So back to Isadora, the perplexing horsey Queen in question. Lets see if we can add up the stimulants in her bucket to understand the “overflow” and why such a small thing as seeing another horse in the round pen might send her “over the edge”.
Isadora is a wamblood of the generally laid back type, so she doesn’t have as much in her bucket of stimulants all the time as say, a typical Arabian. She is still a horse, a hunted animal in instinctual terms, so her bucket has a certain level of “high awareness” type of stimulation in it all the time. In this case she had been stalled for several days with minimal exercise. Add a half-bucket. She is fed a diet with a moderate amount of concentrates. These were not eliminated during stall confinement. Add another quarter of a bucket. The weather had been cold for several days. Add another big dollop. She originally went out to the round pen and the arena alone. Add a some more for leaving the sameness of the stall, getting circulation and movement going, and stimulation of sights and sounds of the area. Poor fitting tack? Don’t know—could be a stimulation factor. We are getting close to the top of the bucket now. So here comes a herd member moving around freely in the round pen. On another day, or even this day with fewer stimulants filling the bucket, shouldn’t be an issue. But this day, the bucket of stimulation is already full and this last bit causes the overflow. Once Isadora erupts, she needs to move in order to lower the level of stimulation back to the level where she can think, rather than react.
If you learn to notice all of the stimulation or agitation factors filling your horse’s bucket, you will be more able to predict when they will have an “overflow” situation brewing. Give them a chance to move and dispel some of that agitation and stimulation.
If , like Isadora, you have reason to believe that they are “on the verge” you may want to add stimulation to push them into movement mode, or you may want to do some anxiety lowering movement exercises like TTEAM groundwork which will help them think and not react. Either of these strategies may help them be better able to think and respond to your partnership requests in a cooperative manner. Which one you choose depends on your horse’s character.
