Dr Orla Doherty is gathering data on the impact of problem behaviors in horses on riders, handlers, and those working with horses, along with their strategies for addressing these issues. Dr Doherty is an Irish veterinarian with a Master’s Degree in Animal Behavior and Welfare from Edinburgh University. She established the Animal Behavior Clinic in 1994 and has been addressing behavior issues in animals ever since. She kindly requests that as many people as possible take a moment to complete the survey and, more importantly, share it with other individuals or groups connected to horses. The survey results will be publicly disclosed, and you will help experts in addressing problem behaviors in horses worldwide. The survey is available at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/International_Survey_on_Problem_Behaviours_in_Horses. Thanks for participating!
Weirdly vapid survey. What’s it meant to examine? And weird to see problem behavior discussed without any question of looking for medical or physical causes
To me it looked like a survey to determine what the most common and/or serious behavioral problems are and, if they are resolved, how much money and effort it took to resolve it.
The survey did ask who the person consulted and/or what they used to resolve the problem and mentioned veterinary surgeons and medication.
It also mentioned “animal behaviorists” use as a consultant, and wild guess, the survey may be trying to determine how much call there would be for an animal behaviorist specialty.
Meh
Took the survey, but found it pretty superficial.
Close! 
There is already an animal behaviorist specialty, but horse owners aren’t using these specialists the way dog owners do. The purpose of the survey (as I understand it) is to find out why horse owners are not using behavior specialists (problems aren’t bad enough?) and what they’re doing instead (if they don’t know specialists are available). In other words, what do the specialists need to do to encourage horse owners to consult specialists for problem behaviors? Do they just need to advertise their existence, do they need to educate owners about how specialists can help resolve problem behaviors, would it help to offer courses on how to prevent problems, etc.? For example, many people do try to resolve problems without looking for physical or medical problems, and even if a veterinarian is consulted, vets not trained as behavior specialists may not know all of the possible medical reasons for a particular problem behavior. Therefore, a horse may suffer unnecessarily because of lack of specialist care. No one wants that outcome, so it’s important for the specialists to find out what they need to do to encourage horse owners to consult with them. Currently, we’re in a kind of vicious cycle. There are few equine behavior specialists because there is no market for them, but because there are so few, people don’t even know they exist — and may have a hard time finding one. We need to solve this problem so that horses get the same behavioral care dogs are currently getting. If anyone has any suggestions, I’ll be happy to pass them on to Dr. Doherty.
Ok I guess I dashed through and didn’t retain much
I’ve talked to an animal behaviorist and attended an Andrew Macclean clinic as an auditor. My most useful insights have been the ones I was able to make on my own after thinking about their ideas.
Also the list of behaviors is pretty broad and undifferentiated. Anyone who has been riding for longer than about 5 minutes has experienced some amount of buck rear nappy spooky nippy etc especially if they work with green or project horses. It’s just what horses do under stress. Would be useful to know what the cutoff line for “problem” behavior is
I also think 90 per cent of the time the rider is the problem, and the other 10% you are dealing with problems former riders created (including not recognizing pain or fear issues). Ok maybe .005% is bsc horses with mental issues
the problem horse can be relatively easily deposed of by sending to an auction whereas I do not know of an auction for dogs and cats
Speaking only about the equine ‘behaviourists’ that I see in my social media feeds - they pretty much all need to be less woowoo, less aggressive against traditional methods of training, and a whole lot smarter and more experienced with horses. To reach the part of the potential market that is focused on showing, the behaviourists need to start communicating with those people rather than dissing them every which way from Sunday.
There’s a whole lot of good information out there. Right now, it seems it’s either/or. It doesn’t have to be a matter of choosing a behaviourist to solve a problem OR choosing to continue to train/compete, but it seems to be that way. That is not going to change unless the way behaviourists speak to the general equine public changes.
Yes, absolutely. People who bill themselves as equine behaviorists run the gamut from “animal communicators” to snake oil salesmen. Someone who can sort out a current veterinary problem from a training issue, not so much. Let alone someone who can distinguish between a current veterinary problem and trauma from a previous veterinary problem or from abuse.
I’ve seen exactly two cases of intractable behavior issues in 50 years. One bucked like a bronc out of the blue and after many months of expensive interventions was determined to have bone cancer when found in his paddock bleeding from the mouth.
Another with a prior history of tying up since resolved had this weird bit evasion that was never solved (although the woo-woo vet postulated a broken hyoid bone) although the horse was x-rayed and even scoped on a treadmill. Horse became a happy camper when he was no longer used for dressage and went on to be a low level hunter.
So, yes, the owner of either horse might have consulted a vet who was an equine behaviorist (if local and affordable), but I am doubtful that the result would be different in the end.
We as humans understand dog behavior a whole lot more than we do horses. And much of that is pretty darn recent.
Hmm. Behavior specialists not trained as vets may not know all of the possible medical reasons for a particular problem behavior.
Equine vets see many many horses and as a result can’t help but gain some insight into equine problem behavior.
I think having a vet who is also an Equine behavior specialist would be ideal.
It would be interesting to see the course work required to earn the Equine Behavior Specialist title. Is there a license required to use the title or is a Masters degree the qualification?
I agree with @fivestrideline that dog behavior and horse behavior are not comparable.
I think most horse behavior specialists are traditionally called trainers.
I would think a Horse Trainer would be the person to call with horse behavior problems.
Why would I call an animal behaviorist?
What sort of training does a “horse” animal behaviorist have?
I don’t mean my tone to come off as rude! I am just having a hard time coming up with a situation where a trainer would not be a better choice.
Trainer and Vet if necessary, would make the most sense to me.
I’ve used a veterinary behaviorist for a dog before.
What she did was run a dog training center and offered consults and one-on-one for aggression or other specialty behavior issues.
So in other words, she was a trainer.
That was my first thought as well.
But in all fairness I think the survey asks about things like stall walking, pawing, kicking, weaving, biting and other behaviors unrelated to riding.
I took the survey but found it kind of odd.
Most “animal behaviorists” know little to nothing about horses, in my experience.
OK, I should have been more specific about equine behaviorists, because anyone can use the term, qualified or not. The behaviorists I meant are the ones with a degree or scientific certification in animal behavior who have chosen to specialize in horses. I think what most of the people replying to this thread are thinking of is people with no credentials who just call themselves behaviorists, or of trainers, who are generally not behaviorists. Trainers train horses to perform, and they are indeed the people most owners go to with their problems, which may or may not be a mistake. Behaviorists are people who deal with behavior problems (and are hopefully properly trained to do so). Ideally, there would be a market for equine veterinary behavior specialists, as there is for canine veterinary behavior specialists, but there isn’t, so there are only a very few veterinary behavior specialists who work with horses. (Note: Veterinary behavior specialists require extra years of training, which covers learning — and practicing — scientific principles for modifying behavior, diagnosing the reasons for problem behaviors, using appropriate drugs when needed, etc. They are referred to as being “board certified” in veterinary behavior.) Behavior principles are the same for any species, so theoretically, a dog specialist could help with a horse, but you really need to be good at things like reading body language, so we really need behaviorists who specialize in horses. Credentialled non-veterinary behavior specialists are also appropriately trained and should be asking clients to get an initial vet check, but again, a vet who doesn’t specialize in behavior may not know of all the (physical) possibilities that could be causing a problem. Behavior modification can be time-consuming, so some canine vet behaviorists work with knowledgeable trainers to do the behavior mod. Equine vet behaviorists could do the same thing, but there are VERY few horse trainers who understand the science of modifying behavior. People (including some trainers) are, indeed, usually the cause of the problems, and part of a behaviorist’s job is to educate owners. If a horse is bucking because of a sore back, any good veterinarian can help, but how many people with horses that pace, weave, bite themselves, etc., have gotten those problems resolved by a trainer OR a vet?
It is true we know less about horses than dogs, which is because there is no funding for research on horses (and little on dogs). I don’t think I’ve posted the info on this forum, but I have been working with Morris Animal Foundation to begin to fund equine behavior/welfare research. I am only one person, so I can’t do much, but something is better than nothing. I’ve also discovered that trying to raise funds for equine behavior/welfare research is pretty much impossible, but if anyone is interested, you can donate at https://fundraise.morrisanimalfoundation.org/just-because/eq_behav_welf_research. Every little bit helps.
Hopefully, I’ve answered some questions and clarified things better than I did at first. If nothing else, I appreciate the interest in the conversation. Maybe just that much is a good start.
I did a consult on Project Horse with an equine behaviorist who had academic credentials, was herself an advanced rider, and came recommended by an intelligent young coach that I know. The behaviorist observed me with the horse and pointed out some useful things. She did not train the horse or really coach me, the second step would have been an action plan. It was useful, it was not woo, it was not coaching or training as usually done.
A lot will depend on the inherent skills of the person.
I think she also does dogs. I know the coach who recommended her does dogs too.
That sounded really bizarre. To get a horse to perform, trainers have to first fix their problem behavior.
Good trainers know how to modify and shape behavior somewhere between the carrot and the stick. They have impeccable timing and know how to release and reward for the right behaviors.
So what would a behaviorist action plan be for a horse that refuses to be caught? I mean, a trainer cant teach it to perform until she catches the horse from the pasture and she’s going to have to modify and shape some trust issues to achieve that.
