The roadmap to PTSD in horses

When I first started working with horses that had a large amount of stress in their bodies, I realized that there were other controlling factors that needed to be considered and addressed.

Here, the factor PTSD (post-traumatic stress syndrome) was considered and researched for the first time; Before I could begin to help a horse who might be suffering from PTSD, I needed to understand what PTSD is, what caused it, and look at where it might be coming from. When I saw some of the basic research that was being done with people, I realized that it was based on how the brain works and certain aspects or even a certain event in a person's life opened the door to PTSD. At this point, I felt I needed to make a comparison between the human brain and the horse's brain to fully understand how it might affect the horse. What I found in this comparison was quite amazing; What I learned showed me that both brains are just as similar as they are different.

First I discovered that the horse's brain is an average size similar to a large grapefruit; while the human brain occupies most of the available space in the human skull. The next interesting point that was discovered was that each species' ability to think through a given problem (their cognitive abilities) is directly related to the ratio of the size of the brain to the size of the body that contains it. The human brain accounts for almost 1/50 of the total body weight and height, while the horse brain accounts for 1/650 of the body weight and height.

The next logical step was to study how the horse's brain works and it was here that I discovered how and why horses think and react the way they do. Let's start at the very beginning when a horse is born that needs to be equipped from birth for survival, I've heard this called 'ready for life'. What I mean by that is that newborn foals are up and running within the first hour of life. Consequently, at this point in their lives, all of their actions are controlled by their "brainstem" which is an integral part of their "reptilian" part of their brains. This is very important as it is the reptilian part of the brain that becomes the storehouse of additional information as the foal grows and progresses. During this period of development, aspects of balance control along with developing better use of eye and head movements are the most important areas of concern.

As the foal continues to grow and develop, it becomes much more dependent on instinctive responses and group decisions; rather than their own individual thinking. This developmental stage is also controlled by the reptilian part of the brain which understands how the horse's growth pattern is evolving and can then be classified as a "sensory/sentient species" as it is reliance on the senses that ensures their survival.

At some point in the horse's life, a human will begin to interact with it, but before we get too far we need to resort to the human brain so that we can see the area of ​​greatest conflict between the two species.

The human species is classified as a "thinking species" because we tend to use the "frontal lobe" section of our brain; This is the largest part of the brain and the area of ​​the brain that allows us to speak, create, reason, organize our lives, and in some cases, multitask. This part of the human brain has become so much better developed and larger than the horse's brain that it is the most notable difference in the way each species functions and interacts. How well we as humans use our highly developed part of our brains when working with and around horses determines the outcome of each and every interaction.

The method a horse learns is the use of repetition and associated cues or signals that produce a specific response behavior. The answer you get depends entirely on your own action at this point. An important fact is that most horses have very few choices about the environment in which they live.

Returning to the main focus of this article, we will note that horses in general that are a little difficult to handle are most likely suffering from some degree of PTSD to understand that they are a little difficult to handle. Once you start realizing that you are working with that fact, it becomes much easier to work consistently with the problem at hand.

Let's start by looking back at the level of the horse's "cognitive" abilities and that horses' are much less than our own and since they are less we must understand that there is no horse that in the Is able to handle stressful situations just like we do. It was at this point that I personally began to see that it is extremely difficult for horses to engage with our human experiences; this is the main reason horses don't change easily and this is the main reason they react the way they do. As I researched the horse's cognitive abilities, I began to understand that because horses are constantly aware of their surroundings and what is going on around them, much of the stress is being stored in the horse's body.

PTSD is created either by or by witnessing a stressful situation, which then initiates the release of two hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) that trigger an imbalanced state that forces the horse to be in a constant state of vigilance, distrust and, for many, unattainable to be . At this point, the initial situation changes from a stressful situation to a traumatic one. Unprocessed trauma, no matter what caused it or even when or how it came about, has a very strong possibility of leaving emotional scars; Even if the cause of the traumatic incident cannot be identified, it tends to run deep and can devastate both your life and your horse's in the process.

Emotional scars can be treated in horses and are regularly achieved by releasing traumatic muscles which improves muscle tone which then promotes recovery from injury or muscle atrophy which then reduces the spiral of pain and then aids in detoxification as well as aiding in lymphatic drainage through increased drainage of the body system. Working in this manner with horses suffering from various levels of PTSD will start the release of the two "feel good" hormones (serotonin and dopamine) which will then start the process of bringing the horse back into a more balanced state and to counteract the effect produced by the traumatic situation caused by the previously elevated levels of adrenaline and cortisol.

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#roadmap #PTSD #horses

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