27/09/2025
Med både barne- og voksengrupper pleier jeg av og til å leke «IKKE PILL»; det vil si at folka får gå inn iblant hesteflokken, kan ha med en krakk hvis de vil, og oppgaven er å bare VÆRE der. Uten å PILLE. De skal ikke røre hestene før hestene selv ber om det (og tro meg; du vet når en hest vil pilles på😇)
Denne forskningen her forklarer meg hvorfor jeg hadde lyst til å gi folk «ikke-pill»oppgaven
Og ikke nok med det - det er faktisk ganske magisk å være sammen med en hest som har lyst til å være med deg🦄
DO HORSES REALLY ENJOY BEING TOUCHED, OR JUST TOLERATE IT?
Touch is part of almost every interaction we have with horses – grooming, routine handling, tacking-up, vet visits, even a pat after a ride. Touch is also a routine feature of equine-assisted services, yet surprisingly little is known about how horses themselves experience it. Do they actually enjoy it, or does their experience depend on having the choice to engage – the freedom to say yes, or no?
A recent study compared two situations using therapy horses who were regularly involved in equine-assisted services. In the ‘forced touch’ condition, horses were tied up and touched continuously on different body areas (neck/shoulder, body, hindquarters) using patting, stroking, or scratching. In the ‘free-choice’ condition, horses were loose in a round pen and could only be touched if they chose to come close enough.
The results showed clear differences. Horses showed more stress-linked behaviours – oral movements, restlessness, and tail swishing – when touched without the option to move away. When free to choose, they often carried their heads lower (a sign of relaxation) and spent over half of the session out of arm’s reach. Stroking was more often linked with relaxed, low head carriage than scratching or patting, and touches on the hindquarters produced fewer stress responses than touches on the neck or body.
The researchers also looked at how the horses responded to different kinds of people. Around experienced handlers, horses were more likely to hold their heads high and showed lower heart-rate variability – signs of vigilance or anticipation, perhaps expecting work. In contrast, their responses with less experienced people were generally more relaxed.
Touches on the hindquarters were linked with fewer stress behaviours, while touches on the neck and body produced more tail swishing and less relaxed postures. Horses were also more likely to lower their heads – a calmer signal – when touched on the body or hindquarters than on the neck.
Why does this matter? Horses in all kinds of contexts – riding schools, competition yards, therapy programmes, or leisure homes – are routinely touched and handled. These findings show that the manner of touch, the part of the body involved, and above all the horse’s ability to choose whether to participate all shape how she/he/they experience the interaction.
The welfare implications are clear: allowing horses more agency in how and when we touch them may reduce stress, strengthen trust, and make interactions safer and more positive for everyone.
For me, the sad part of these findings is that horses are rarely given a choice about when or how they are touched. And many people don’t recognise when touch is causing the horse stress.
Study: Sarrafchi, A., Lassallette, E., & Merkies, K. (2025). The effect of choice on horse behaviour, heart rate and heart rate variability during human–horse touch interactions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science
