Introduction
In this post I’d like to propose a method of processing time and experiences that I think increases the value of life and the quality of each day. It so happens that this method is based on horse behaviour; something I’ve observed daily for years and have learned a lot about.
For those who don’t have the time for the detail, I’ve provided a TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read) summary at the end but basically, I'm going to be talking about why horses yawn and grind their teeth and how we can adopt the motivations behind the behaviour to live more fulfilling lives. It's a bit of a read but I think you'll find the effort rewarding and I'd certainly appreciate your comments on what I've written here.
Human Language
Before diving into how differently horses communicate and interpret their surroundings, let’s cover some familiar ground. Humans are generally raised with certain ubiquitous social and behavioural standards. The protocols for interacting with others are well defined and we have the tool of language to easily and efficiently articulate corrections when such protocols are broken.
We shake hands when we meet someone for the first time. We say thank you when someone compliments us. We don’t talk over people nor raise our voice. Walking towards something can be interpreted as showing interest; turning away can be interpreted as being rude or disinterested.
What’s more, we tend to strive for what we consider a virtue of forgiveness. This typically entails forgiving transgressions made against us and usually forgetting about issues that once caused us harm.
Even time we have certain ideas about. We are built to be efficient with time; utilising as little of it as possible in order to achieve any particular task. When we arrive at a certain achievement in life; whether it be an accomplishment with learning a new language or perhaps mastering a musical passage on an instrument, our minds lock that achievement away in the “done category” and forever forward tend to consider it as a milestone that has already been achieved and hence of limited value when re-achieved.
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Further accomplishments need to build upon what we have already achieved or we consider ourselves to have regressed. Educational courses are very much geared towards this incremental approach whereby assessments are used to mark a certain benchmark of accomplishment as a prerequisite to moving on to more advanced material.
We live lives of security and abundance. Our physical wellbeing is as a general rule never threatened and we don’t have need to enforce our security on a daily basis. Our concerns focus on issues such as the maintenance of relationships, career progression, the pursuit of hobbies or any many of other pastimes that can be categorised as serving self-betterment. We have limited reserves of patience and tend to not react well when a situation is monotonous or purposeless.
Patience is an essential with horses and any expectations of abiding by human timetables should be abandoned. With the exception of those individuals who suffer from anxiety or perhaps PTSD, we generally don’t experience periods of nervousness, insecurity, horror, terror or a sense of imminent physical peril. For better or worse, these are the mannerisms that define the human condition.
Another human mannerism is the projection of our own mannerisms upon all scenarios that we encounter. We tend to apply the tools that make sense in our own life to problems that apply to other lives. This is a myopic undertaking and is a significant cause of the often cavernous gap between our expectations and those of a horse that we may be working with.
Our human language lets us down in many ways and we are well served by emptying the human behaviour tool box and starting to fill it with a new set of tools when we are working in the horse world.
Horse Language
Horses aren’t motivated by ribbons, by looking pretty, by jumping, racing or performing heavy labour. While we as humans are motivated by the application of pressure (someone hits us or threatens to hit us and we comply), horses are rather motivated by the release of pressure; and what’s more, the easiest path to that release.
Let’s be clear here. By pressure, I’m not just talking about the horrible situation of cornering a horse or whipping it or any other heavy handed technique. I’m also referring to subtle body language such as the direction that I’m facing, where I’m standing, any noises that I may be making, the tone of my voice and even any soft touches on the horse’s body. These are all interpreted by the horse.
There are two sides to any relationship and it’s not simply sufficient to know how your horse may be interpreting you. It’s very telling to have a basic understanding of the clues that horses give us all the time to let us know what they’re thinking and how they’re feeling.
This is a massive topic and I could write pages on the signals and signs that horses read and offer. To the point of this post however, let’s just focus on the perception of time, yawning and chewing.
Unlike popular opinion horses don’t necessarily yawn because they are tired. Horses perceive time in sequences of immediate instances. What’s happening now is all that matters. Although they have a very good memory and can recall experiences that help them stay safe, they are largely if not entirely driven by their immediate comfort and well-being.
As I described above, we find this concept difficult to grasp due to how we view the world. We plan, we have careers, families, we deal with long term issues. We very rarely deal with the moment. When we are constantly living in the future, we never live in the present. Don’t feel bad, I’m as guilty of this as anyone.
“So how is all of this relevant to yawning?”
Yeah, I’m glad you asked. Well recall how I mentioned that horses live life as a series of “in the moment” experiences? Yawning and chewing are behaviours that punctuate these moments. If a lesson as just been performed or a feed or some other experience such as a rub or a brush then a yawn or a chew is to that experience what a full-stop is to a sentence. It signals that they are processing the moment just passed and moving on to the next.
TLDR (Too Long Didn’t Read) summary
I feel that we can learn a lot from this approach to life. We don’t tend to have punctuating moments in life. How often do you hear people talk about being parents for example; spending every moment lost in that undertaking and only lifting their heads up to view the world after 18 years once the kids have moved out from home?
Our work is another example. Decades can pass in the same job doing the same monotonous tasks which tend to dull our perception of the passing of time. There’s nothing to force us to stop what we’re doing, lift our head up for an objective view of the time just passed and then move on to the next moment in life.
We lose large parts of our life in this manner and the horses yawn is a great lesson to us on the importance of constantly taking stock of where we are, what we’re doing right now and a whether that is something we wish to occupy the next moments, days, weeks, months and years doing.
Here’s a quick video of one of our horses doing this after we’d just finished a pleasant time rubbing her and interacting. When we stopped, she started yawning and grinding her teeth. Processing the moment just gone, storing it away in her memory as a pleasant experience before moving on to the next experience, whatever that may be.
It’s sure funny to watch but the lessons behind what’s happening here have great potential for us if incorporated, even if in a small way, in our lives.
Enjoy!