Sarah Fisher is the UK's leading exponent of TTEAM, Tellington Touch Equine Awareness Method. So when Basil, a little Caspian stallion, had a serious case of "don't touch me", we asked Sarah to see what could be done. Clearly, Basil's fear of being handled has health implications since his feet and teeth cannot be dealt with at present. He was bred by Jane Scott at Lanhill, near Chippenham, and has never ' " been shown anything but kindness - so everyone was at a loss to know what caused his problem.
Sarah writes:
HORSES, like humans, can inherit fear from their parents. There is a strong and well-documented interaction between memory and emotions, and this link between the two has a highly important purpose from an evolutionary perspective. Emotional memory has taught us how to evolve, and forms the basis for what is often referred to as instinctive behaviour. Something that is experienced as an emotion or a feeling is also a mechanism for triggering activity simultaneously throughout the brain and the body This then generates a behaviour involving the whole creature. This emotional memory may be as much a part of a horse's genetic makeup as their conformation and temperament. I witnessed this phenomenon first-hand several years ago when working in Montana on a Paso Fino ranch with Linda Tellington Jones. A mare that had been ill-treated was rescued by the owners of the ranch and was, understandably, extremely frightened of humans. She would start shaking when approached - so much so that her hooves would clatter on the ground. If people continued to approach her, and she was unable to flee, the mare would go to the faint reflex and drop to the ground. This response to stress occurs when all other options are removed. It is not a case of the horse throwing itself down in a temper tantrum, which is something I often hear. Fainting is one of at least five responses to stress, and one that is often grossly misunderstood. The central nervous system at this point is so overloaded that it literally shuts down. The owners of the mare decided to turn her away to run with their herd in the mountains to reduce the stress of human interaction, and to give her time to recover from her poor start. The mare bred and produced a filly foal who, later, went on to produce a daughter of her own. Despite a peaceful four years on the ranch, it appeared however that the mare had passed on her fear of humans to her offspring. Although the daughter and granddaughter had never experienced rough handling, nor witnessed ill-treatment of their mother and grandmother, they too would start shaking when approached by humans - which is why we had the pleasure of working with them.