What Does an Equine Behavioural Consultant Do?
If you are experiencing an Equine behaviour problem or if your horse is doing something that you do not understand then an Equine Behavioural Consultant is the person you need to help you fix the problem.
Problems that can be helped include - loading problems, leading problems, riding problems such as bucking, rearing and spooking; barging, biting and kicking to name a few.
An Equine Behavioural Consultant will start off by taking a full case history that could take up to a couple of hours.
This is so he / she can build up a true picture of your horses' way of life and routine and can start to work out why the problem began, the triggers for it and most importantly how to solve the problem and make yours and your horses' life better.
A good Equine Behavioural Consultant should be able to then have a look at the horses' behaviour (without putting the owner / handler or rider in any situation that they are unhappy with) in order to make a full diagnosis.
At this point a good consultant will refer a horse to a vet or other professional if he / she feel that the problem is pain related.
Reading body language accurately gives the behaviour consultant the tool of being able to distinguish between confident, learnt misbehaviour and fear, pain and tension.
To be able to read body language accurately takes years of practice and a lot of time has to be taken by the consultant observing horses in different situations.
Once pain has been ruled out as a cause of the problem then the Behavioural Consultant will come up with a training program for the owner, taking in to consideration, time and riding / handling ability.
The idea of this is so that the owners can re train the horse themselves (with advice on hand of course) so that the behaviour is most likely to be changed.
A lot of problems with horses are due to an individual relationship problem between the owner / rider/ handler and the horse, so if the consultant was to retrain the horse themselves, then the problem is likely to come back when the owner takes over again.
A good Behavioural Consultant will be safety conscious, qualified and insured.
Ideally you should look for a behavioural consultant who is also qualified for teaching when dealing with ridden problems.
All qualified, reputable behavioural consultants should be on the Register of Chartered Equine Behaviour Consultants which will be fully up and running for reference by mid 2011.
Problems that can be helped include - loading problems, leading problems, riding problems such as bucking, rearing and spooking; barging, biting and kicking to name a few.
An Equine Behavioural Consultant will start off by taking a full case history that could take up to a couple of hours.
This is so he / she can build up a true picture of your horses' way of life and routine and can start to work out why the problem began, the triggers for it and most importantly how to solve the problem and make yours and your horses' life better.
A good Equine Behavioural Consultant should be able to then have a look at the horses' behaviour (without putting the owner / handler or rider in any situation that they are unhappy with) in order to make a full diagnosis.
At this point a good consultant will refer a horse to a vet or other professional if he / she feel that the problem is pain related.
Reading body language accurately gives the behaviour consultant the tool of being able to distinguish between confident, learnt misbehaviour and fear, pain and tension.
To be able to read body language accurately takes years of practice and a lot of time has to be taken by the consultant observing horses in different situations.
Once pain has been ruled out as a cause of the problem then the Behavioural Consultant will come up with a training program for the owner, taking in to consideration, time and riding / handling ability.
The idea of this is so that the owners can re train the horse themselves (with advice on hand of course) so that the behaviour is most likely to be changed.
A lot of problems with horses are due to an individual relationship problem between the owner / rider/ handler and the horse, so if the consultant was to retrain the horse themselves, then the problem is likely to come back when the owner takes over again.
A good Behavioural Consultant will be safety conscious, qualified and insured.
Ideally you should look for a behavioural consultant who is also qualified for teaching when dealing with ridden problems.
All qualified, reputable behavioural consultants should be on the Register of Chartered Equine Behaviour Consultants which will be fully up and running for reference by mid 2011.
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