The Emotional Lives of Horses and What They Need From Us

A new book, "Applied Equine Psychology," compares horses to humans.

Reviewed by Michelle Quirk

Key points

• It introduces the equine psychology specialist and the role of clinical psychology in the equestrian world.
• A richer equine psychological landscape is illuminated, beyond the limitations of behaviourism.
• It discusses drawing from the full breadth of psychological schools of thought to help and understand equines.

Horses are fascinating and deeply emotional beings. I often think of them as the definition of sentience—the ability to feel. In my limited close interactions with horses, I could feel their presence and feel that they know a lot about what is happening in my head and heart, and that is among the reasons I was pleased to learn of a new book titled Applied Equine Psychology: The Art and Science of Helping Horses by Felicity George, Marie-Louise Holmes, and Sharon Smith, all of whom are equine experts. Part of the book's description aptly summarizes what this landmark work is all about: "Applied Equine Psychology goes much deeper into the inner workings of the horse, drawing parallels from human psychology and looking at what is going on in the horse’s brain leading to that behaviour."

Marc Bekoff: Why did you and your colleagues write Applied Equine Psychology?

Felicity George, Marie-Louise Holmes, and Sharon Smith: This book was many years in the making! Essentially, we recognised more similarity than difference in the emotional and psychological functioning of horses and humans. Trans-species psychology supported our thinking. Examining a wide range of approaches to helping horses with "behaviour problems," we saw a significant gap between the real needs of horses and standard approaches.

We saw strong parallels between horses and humans in physical healthcare, such as vets and doctors, equine and human dentists, and equine and human physiotherapists. However, in the realm of psychological healthcare, we saw horses being "helped" in much the same way as humans were over 70 years ago—primarily through behaviour modification. We wondered how core models and applied practice in human psychological healthcare would transfer to equines.

Within the equine behaviour affiliation, we explained these ideas through courses and webinars. We defined the role of "equine psychology specialist" with a professional practice model based on that of the clinical psychologist for humans and trained students to fulfill this role. We gained experience in real-world application, with multiple practitioners using this approach with hundreds of horses. Having validated and tested our approach, we wanted to make it available to a wider audience and help to shift the prevalent unhelpful narrative of horses as psychologically simple beings. We also wanted to stop endlessly explaining what we were doing, and just ask people to "read the book"!

MB: How does your book relate to your backgrounds and general areas of interest?

FG, M-L H, and SS: We all share a lifelong love of horses and have worked in a wide range of equestrian settings from riding instruction to the charity sector. We all became focused on wanting to help horses who were clearly struggling in domestic environments, and all had many concerns about the "solutions" that were offered.¹

MB: Who do you hope to reach in your interesting and important book?

FG, M-L H, and SS: Those who feel dissatisfied with the approaches offered by the equestrian community and feel they are missing parts of the puzzle. Those who have their appreciation of their horse’s sentience dismissed. Those who are interested in radically rethinking how equines and humans co-exist. Those who are interested in working to effect human behaviour change within the equestrian world.

MB: What are some of the major topics you consider?

FG, M-L H, and SS: The first part of the book examines why the approach we are describing is both valid and necessary—if we want the equines in our care to feel better rather than just "behave." We summarise relevant areas in the development of human psychological healthcare and discuss trans-species psychology in this context to support our approach.

We also describe trans-species systemic formulation, an extension of a well-established method of formulation used by clinical psychologists that supports working with multiple species. This methodology is not restricted to working with humans and equines but can be applied to any species.

We then go on to explore mental well-being for domestic equines in depth—the factors that influence mental well-being and the interplay between them, and the systemic issues of living in an environment your species did not evolve to cope with. Relationships and the meeting of social needs are a big factor influencing well-being; attachment theory and how it applies to domestic equines and all their relationships is discussed in detail with lots of examples. Trans-species psychology has been a foundation for approaches to working with trauma for many species; following in the footsteps of Gay Bradshaw and others, we explain the application of Judith Herman’s phased approach to trauma treatment for equines.

Finally, we discuss the role of the equine psychology specialist in more depth; those working in the field of human psychological healthcare will see strong parallels in professional practice—for example, the approach to client conversations and the importance of clinical supervision and working as part of a multidisciplinary team.

All in all, the book provides a robustly evidenced professional practice framework for providing psychological healthcare to domestic equines. It also offers practical explanations of how to draw from the full breadth of psychological schools of thought to better help and understand equines.

MB: How does your book differ from others that are concerned with some of the same general topics?

FG, M-L H, and SS: This book acknowledges a much richer equine psychological landscape—one that we can seek to better understand in order to improve domestic equine well-being and provide enhanced care. We aim to provide a deeper understanding of equine needs and how these relate to domestic environments, bringing focus to changing the world—not the horse.

We believe that this is the first book to propose an integrated application of core models and practice from human psychological healthcare, supported by trans-species psychology and practice-based evidence over a number of years. The approach we describe empowers equine guardians to make good decisions for the lifetime of the horse and not just solve a "behaviour problem."

MB: Are you hopeful that as people learn more about these amazing animals they will treat them with more respect and compassion?

FG, M-L H, and SS: Yes. In recent years, we do see a shift in thinking. The vast majority of those involved with equines have a passion for them and want to do their best by them. Many feel discomfort about the many unhelpful narratives in traditional equestrian settings but lack the information to challenge these narratives either internally or externally. Researchers are considering broader measures of well-being than the purely physical. In the general population, there is also a shift in considering the emotional lives of animals and deeper consideration of how we co-exist with each other.