Horse Brain, Human Brain: The Neuroscience of Horsemanship

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Horses don't just respond to their environment; they feel it. Their emotional brain is as complex as a Shakespearean drama, minus the old English. They experience a range of emotions from joy to fear, and their brain is the director of this emotional symphony. Understanding these emotions can deepen the bond between horse and rider, turning every ride into a mutual understanding that goes beyond mere reins and saddles.

Six years: The corner incisors are in wear and you have the dental star present on the center incisors. The cerebellum (hind brain) of the equine brain is larger than that of a human because it is designed to adapt to predatory environment. It has to learn to survive immediately after birth, and that means being able to coordinate its legs and react to the surroundings.A) Lateral view: Ans: ansate sulcus, ans: ansiform lobule, Cor: coronal sulcus, Dia: diagonal sulcus, Ecs: ectosylvian sulcus, ecs: ectosylvian gyrus, Ectm: ectomarginal sulcus, enrh: endorhinal sulcus, flo: flocculus, ob: olfactory bulb, Obl: oblique sulcus, obl: oblique gyrus, paf: paraflocculus, po: pons, Prr: prorean sulcus, prr: prorean gyrus, Prs: presylvian sulcus, Rfi: rhinal fissure, Sgs: sagittal sulcus, Sss: suprasylvian sulcus, Syl: sylvian fissure, syl: sylvian gyrus, V: trigeminal nerve. (B) Ventral view: cho: optic chiasma, chp: choroid plexus, crc: cerebral crus, dbb: diagonal band of broca, log: lateral olfactory gyrus, ob: olfactory bulb, op: olfactory peduncle, opn: optic nerve, otb: olfactory tubercle, pg: pituitary gland, po: pons, pyr: pyramidal tract, Sgs: sagittal sulcus, slu: semilunar gyrus, tb: trapezoid body. (C) Dorsal view, ans: ansiform lobule, Ans: ansate sulcus, Cor: coronal sulcus, Cru: cruciate sulcus, Ecs: ectosylvian sulcus, Ectm: ectomarginal sulcus, Enm: endomarginal sulcus, Mar: marginal sulcus, ob: olfactory bulb, Obl: oblique sulcus, pml: paramedian lobule, Prs: presylvian sulcus, Sss: suprasylvian sulcus, Syl: sylvian fissure, ver: vermis. (D) Frontal view, Ans: ansate sulcus, Cor: coronal sulcus, Cru: cruciate sulcus, Dia: diagonal sulcus, ob: olfactory bulb, Prs: presylvian sulcus. (E) Midsagittal view, Ans: ansate sulcus, cc: corpus callosum, Cing: cingulate sulcus, Cor: coronal sulcus, Cru: cruciate sulcus, dbb: diagonal band of broca, Eng: endogenual sulcus, Enm: endomarginal sulcus, Ensp: endosplenial sulcus, Gen: genual sulcus, Spl: splenial sulcus, Sspl: suprasplenial sulcus.

People often remark that their horses aren’t nervous. It’s certainly true that there are individual differences: Breed, experience, training, age, and temperament all play a role. But research on trailering and clipping shows that many horses worry about these activities even though their nerves don’t show. They experience increases in heart rate, blood pressure, eye temperature, and cortisol levels. The intervals of their heartbeats vary more from one moment to the next. And all of these internal signs of nervousness occur while the horses display calm outward demeanors!A horse has a reptilian brain. This is the part of the brain responsible for its survival. It is the part that activates flight, fight, and freeze during survival.

While a horse's brain may actually be slightly larger than a large walnut, I also like that comparison because the convoluted surface of a walnut mimics the brain's convolutions. Their goal was to explain why horses do what they do from a neurological standpoint and to use this to work with horses in ways that align with the true nature of the horse rather than against it. Basic Design Neural fatigue—the ways neurons adapt to stimulation and require dynamic change rather than static constancy to drive their action. Just knowing how big is a horse brain is not enough; understand how it influences an animal's behavior. Horses present particular challenges when it comes to handling, but when you understand their thought process, you can adjust your approaches. Undeniably, horses are beautiful animals, which is one reason some people are attracted to them. Even from a distance, the way a horse moves leaves an impression. Keeping a horse is similar on certain fronts to other pets, in that it needs care and love.Horses’ tactile sensation or touch is extremely sensitive. Their entire body is as sensitive as our fingertips. They can feel a fly on one single hair and any movement of the rider. The Mid Brain is made up of several nerve bundles that are constantly sending and receiving messages to and from the cerebral hemisphere.