01/10/2016
Here is an excerpt from The Nature of Horses and Horse Management by Brian F. Colquhoun, DVM, MS, CVA
What, then, is the nature of the domestic horse today? In one sense it can be said that the nature of the horse is dependent upon its use and since there are many uses for horses, from the draft horses that plow fields on Amish farms, to the working Quarterhorses that are still used on ranches in the western United States, to the handsome cab horses that pull tourists around cities in ornate carriages, to the plethora of different sport, show, lesson and reproductive horses that exists worldwide, there are many different “natures” of those horses. In truth, however, it is not the nature of the horse, but the nature of horse management and of the human-horse relationship that differs.
Throughout over 6,000 years of horse domestication, the effects of people seeking to change and mould the horse for specific purposes is evident. One needs only to pick up any book on horse breeds to see the results of those efforts; and yet, have breeding programs that produced such a large number of horse breeds fundamentally changed the horse as a species?
Certainly, different traits have been selected that give a certain appearance or take advantage of specific dispositions and abilities, and through such selection the Arabian stands out for endurance and the ability to tolerate arid environments while the Thoroughbred can sustain high speeds for extended distances and the Quarterhorse excels at sprints and quick turns. It can be said then, that the nature of horses has been changed by human intervention. Still, horses, wild, feral and domestic remain herd grazers with the same basic social and nutritional requirements. They still need interaction with other members of their own species, something that is frequently denied, and they will often develop behavioral vices when it is absent. Their basic anatomy, while slightly modified, is still essentially the same as it has been for over four million years. In other words, the fundamental needs and nature of the horse has not been essentially changed.
