Hope I haven't spelt that wrong! Basically means applying human characteristics to an animal, in this case horses.
I'm doing a uni assignment at the moment on horse domestication and fell down this rabbit hole and have found it really interesting, wasn't sure if any of you would.
I'm sure we've all heard the phrase 'I feel so cold so I'm going to put an extra rug on the horses tonight' or something to that affect. When horses are very different from us in the way they feel the cold and heat themselves.
The other day I was talking to a lady who purchased a horse from the yard where I keep ale and moved him to a yard nearby I was visiting. I asked how pony was doing and she said oh yes he's so much happier now, he was a sad boy when we got him. This made me curious as obviously I'm very happy with my yard and don't think they make horses sad at all. So I enquired what she meant.
She said along the lines of 'he now does alot less work and is in a field with his best friends so he's so much happier'
Now I'm not looking to slate anyone at all as my horse is a fatty who does no work so I can't exactly talk.
But do you think a horse who is perfectly settled at a yard with a companion and is very fit out competing every week is actually going to have an increase in his 'happiness' after being removed from those companions and being put in a field with a group of strange horses and suddenly having a lot less of a workload and everything else being different too? I mean if he hated his companion then yes that probably would be a huge relief.
Or is it just what we want to see? There are a million more examples and I'm not saying that one to pick on her it just got me thinking. I do get it alot with Ale too because I keep him out in winter and he would obviously be far happier in a stable for 16 hours a day than get wet. I know I would be, but actually I know for a fact he wouldn't really enjoy that and would be kicking the door to bits every morning and dragging everyone out to his field.
Anyway if any of that made sense join me in my mad ramblings!
I'm doing a uni assignment at the moment on horse domestication and fell down this rabbit hole and have found it really interesting, wasn't sure if any of you would.
I'm sure we've all heard the phrase 'I feel so cold so I'm going to put an extra rug on the horses tonight' or something to that affect. When horses are very different from us in the way they feel the cold and heat themselves.
The other day I was talking to a lady who purchased a horse from the yard where I keep ale and moved him to a yard nearby I was visiting. I asked how pony was doing and she said oh yes he's so much happier now, he was a sad boy when we got him. This made me curious as obviously I'm very happy with my yard and don't think they make horses sad at all. So I enquired what she meant.
She said along the lines of 'he now does alot less work and is in a field with his best friends so he's so much happier'
Now I'm not looking to slate anyone at all as my horse is a fatty who does no work so I can't exactly talk.
But do you think a horse who is perfectly settled at a yard with a companion and is very fit out competing every week is actually going to have an increase in his 'happiness' after being removed from those companions and being put in a field with a group of strange horses and suddenly having a lot less of a workload and everything else being different too? I mean if he hated his companion then yes that probably would be a huge relief.
Or is it just what we want to see? There are a million more examples and I'm not saying that one to pick on her it just got me thinking. I do get it alot with Ale too because I keep him out in winter and he would obviously be far happier in a stable for 16 hours a day than get wet. I know I would be, but actually I know for a fact he wouldn't really enjoy that and would be kicking the door to bits every morning and dragging everyone out to his field.
Anyway if any of that made sense join me in my mad ramblings!