Empathy in horses

Do you consider your horse empathic?

So today got me thinking. Because once again, I was being reminded of the horses super empathic nature.

I was getting Rosie ready for our ride. She was happily eating her haylage, when the noise of a horse lorry sounded behind us. Although Rosie carried on eating, I noticed that she was starting to poo a lot – six lots in five minutes. This is what she does when she thinks she is going to be transported somewhere.

“It’s not for you silly” I remarked.

But of course, she was not being silly. That was my trait not hers. For Rosie was well aware that it was not her going on the lorry. After all, this was a green lorry, not our grey one. And I had put all her tack out in front of her, so she was well aware we were going out for a ride.

As the first horse was loaded on the box, she neighed out to him. This is something I notice a lot with horses. They never neigh to horses who are going out on a ride, but they do neigh out to horses who are being loaded on a lorry or trailer. Are they wishing them a safe journey? Is it a “farewell and see you soon?”

It was so clear that Rosie was really empathising with this horse having to travel - to the point that she was feeling anxiety on his behalf. Travelling is hard on horses because they don’t know where they are going and whether they will return. They do feel it!

Even more remarkable is the fact that this horse is kept in a separate stable block to Rosie, and his field is nowhere near hers, so you wouldn’t even count him as a friend. But this is another thing about horses. Even when they are in separate fields/stables, they still seem to be part of a herd. There does seem to be a collective consciousness connecting them all.

Rosie is a beautiful loving, motherly type of horse. When returned to her field, she walked purposefully over to Jazz and gave her a brief hug. I have never before seen a horse do this, but Rosie does this quite often to Jazz. It melts me every time!

But Rosie is no exception. I have seen extraordinary empathy shown by other horses too.

There is the gelding who alerted us that his friend was having a colic attack, even though their fields were separated by a 60 foot menage, a path and a hedge, and so he couldn’t even see her. Even when she was placed in the stable, he wouldn’t stop neighing to her. To appease his concern, someone very kindly swapped stables, so he could be next to her overnight. I can still picture him watching her intently through the bars of the stable; a horse so evidently concerned for the welfare of his friend.    

My own horse Jazz became very protective and clingy with her field mate Silver, in the five days leading up to his laminitis attack. The moment the vet arrived to treat him, she walked away. Her job was done!

Then there was the time that a horse was being clipped a few stables away from Jazz. The clipper lady was being dominant and forceful. Every time she smacked/shouted at the horse, Jazz would wince and react, like it was her own body being violated. She would also neigh to this horse, trying to reassure him. It actually got to the point where I returned her to the field because her empathy for this horse was tearing me up.

These are just a few of many examples I have witnessed. I am willing to bet that you have many of your own stories too.

 So why do so many people still regard empathy as a solely human trait?

It really does animals a disservice not to appreciate this beautiful quality in them.   

I myself have been deeply affected by the empathy that horses have shown towards me. So much so, it changed my life and sent me on a different trajectory. But this is a post for another day.