EE PROJECT O C 3
3H
(Human Horse Heart)
Working with horses
with the heart in mind
STORY AND PHOTOS BY
Dr. Alessandra Deerinck
M
any are the ways to keep the heart in mind when
working with horses. Some even think that heart rate
can synchronize between equine and human, that they
have a metaphysical connection, and that we should look
up to the horse as an animal with superior qualities.
While working with the heart in mind is a very needed
mean of bringing wellbeing to horses, at Human Horse
Sensing we prefer to stay clear from the wide spread
tendency to give more meaning than it really has to the
correlation between equine and human heart.
Scientifically approaching a subject involves measuring
meaningful values, and then focus on what we measured,
but also not lose track of the complete picture.
When heart rate synchronicity occurs between human
and horse, the correlation does not equal causation. At
Human Horse Sensing we think that heart rate synchronicity
between human and horse can be caused by the situation
of sentient individuals that are interacting, and being in the
same environment seen from the different perspectives of
a human species and a horse species. Horses always have
their senses active in perceiving the environment as well as
our behavior, and can become anxious because of their
perception. Horses would not react to some aspects of a
situation that can be stressful for human beings because
they cannot understand details in the same manner, and
the same is true in reverse for people. For example, physiological
markers like heart rate indicate that active performance
in general impacts the equine metabolism, but the
stress of performing “for an audience”, which is a meaningful
concept for human beings is not additionally stressful for
equines, unless there is physical reason at the time of the
action, and horses can perceive it, or they had a previous
similar experience that was not positive.
An event in the surrounding area can actually distract
an attentive animal from an already happening interaction,
regardless of the character of it being cooperative or
competitive and become the focus of the animal’s attention.
This is very true for horses that naturally are prey
TRAINING & Showing
animals, and all riders have experienced how dangerous it
can be. It is also true that given the time they need, horses
can recognize the difference between objects or threats,
and in this case, they deepen their state of attention and
behave consequently of how they feel about the focus of
their attention. Since we are in the same environment there
are things we can do to influence their sensory perception.
Between human beings we can talk about how we feel,
and exchange information, with an individual of a different
species we cannot have such a detailed immediate verbal
communication. The way we understand how horses feel
about something is by observing their behavior when they
are able to freely express themselves. Animals recognize
information from the environment and act upon it with their
behavior and if we can switch our way to communicate
to behavior instead of language, we can be much more
detailed in our relationship with another animal species.
In the body of an equine and of a human, the heart
rate is controlled by the two branches of the involuntary
autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic nervous
system (SNS) and the parasympathetic nervous system
(PNS). Sympathetic stimulation causes the release of the
neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE) at the neuromuscular
junction of the cardiac nerves which results in an increase
in HR. The parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) releases
the hormone acetylcholine to slow the heart rate.
The heart rate can be influenced by physiological
arousal due to physical activity, but also by psychological
arousal due to anxiety. Exertion arousal comes from within
the individual, anxiety has to have a trigger from sensory
perception of a situation that is happening, or a “bad
memory”. In any animal individual occasional moments
of anxiety are normal, especially if there is an identifiable
cause for it. Problems arise when the anxiety becomes so
overwhelming that it interferes with the ability to function.
This is what happens when an individual is having a fearful
experience, or finds himself in the same fearful situation,
which brings him to a survival mode of action.
68 www.EliteEquestrianMagazine.com
Dressage show
(two month under saddle)
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