• 3 days ago
'It's we who have entered the equine world and not the other way around, so it's incumbent upon us to learn about it'

Better understanding horses and creating a trusting relationship with them: this is what 'ethological equitation' is all about. And this French stud farm has made it a priority.

Category

🐳
Animals
Transcript
00:00Welcome to Arras-de-la-Sence.
00:02Here, we really want to get to know the horse better,
00:05to get to know its nature, its needs,
00:07and thus be able to establish a real relationship of trust with it.
00:20Ethology is a scientific discipline.
00:22It is the study of animal behavior in its natural environment,
00:25in this case, horses.
00:27Ethology is a method of education,
00:30a way to learn from the horse,
00:32to educate the horse for a better understanding
00:35and a better mutual relationship.
00:37It is still us who have entered the horse's world,
00:40and not the other way around,
00:41so it is up to us to learn to know it,
00:43to be able to have a clear language with it.
00:45So we take time at the beginning,
00:47but in the end, we gain from it later,
00:49because once the horse has understood
00:51and is well in this learning mechanism,
00:53and once the rider also knows this learning mechanism,
00:56it goes much faster.
01:15It is a softer and more just way to work the horse,
01:18more just for the horse,
01:19because we try to understand how the horse learns,
01:22how we can break down the learning
01:25so that it is clear for the horse,
01:27and so that there is as little resistance as possible.
01:39So here we are in the scaly part of the Aras de la Sence,
01:42that is to say all the horses that live in the box,
01:44and we have to pay attention to the habitat of the horse.
01:49Obviously, the horse is made to live outside,
01:51and in its natural state, it lives outside on a daily basis.
01:5424 hours a day.
01:56For practical reasons,
01:58and sometimes also in relation to the horses,
02:00which are sometimes more sensitive,
02:02we put them in the box.
02:04On the other hand, we are careful
02:06that it is still respectful of their needs.
02:10That is to say that when they are not outside,
02:13when they are in their box,
02:14we have made sure that these boxes are already large enough,
02:16bright,
02:17and we see here that there are stables in front
02:19where the horses can go out.
02:21They can have, as we see here,
02:23social contacts,
02:25scratch each other, interact with each other.
02:34I am filling a hay net.
02:36In its natural state,
02:37it burrows very small amounts of grass
02:39throughout the day,
02:40and with this net system,
02:42it slows down the hay intake,
02:44it increases the time of ingestion,
02:46so the hay lasts much longer.
02:48It is still not natural for a horse
02:49to be stopped in a box and to wait,
02:51so it is important to try to stick
02:53as close as possible to what it would do in nature,
02:56even if we are unable to reproduce exactly that.
03:07Here are the daily paddocks
03:08for the horses that live in the box.
03:10They go there every day of the week,
03:13so they really have a full half day
03:17to do what they want to do,
03:19brood,
03:20rest,
03:22communicate with their peers.
03:24It is really an important moment for them,
03:27but it is also important for us
03:29to be able to offer them that,
03:30because we ask them to be attentive,
03:33to work with us,
03:34to be in a relationship with us,
03:37and to give something.
03:39It is also important to be able to offer them
03:41a lifestyle that suits them,
03:43and moments when they can do what they want
03:45and return to their horse state
03:47and do what suits them.