Comments for EQUILIBRE Gaiá

Comment on Feral Horses by Victor Ros

Victor Ros — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 08:12:23 +0000

Thanks for your comments, which I actually totally agree with! You are right Takhi are not wild but have been re-introduced after apparently having gone extinct in the wild. However we may look at it, there is great confusion. Although they are all equids, chromosome counts differ. I personally do not call feral horses wild, but there seems to be great movement in the US to consider the feral horse population there wild, it happens to be the case with the Koniks and many other ferals as well. Even the word horses brings some confusion. Are Przewalskii’s horses? Of late I have noticed that the word horse has been used to describe most equids, asses, caballus, przewalskii’s etc… are they really all horses?

The only reason (it may be a wrong one) I have accepted to call ferals wild, is that we know that there are no truly wild horses (caballus) in existence, and all populations seem to have stemmed from once domesticated stock. In Australia and the US, the term feral is a green light for culling and slaughter and for this reasons alone I do not mind that they are considered wild, if one wishes.

As for Przevs,, the convenient story that they are the wild ancestors of caballus no longer stands its ground, and they have now been reduced to mere cousins (subspecies). Behaviourally there has been much fuss, as people studying the behaviour of captive Przewalskii’s have extrapolated these behaviours to be representative of caballus as well.

Przevs are indeed unique and a great effort has been placed in their recovery but they should be treated as a totally unique and distinct species from that of E.caballus and not an ancestor thereof.

Again thanks for your comments,

Victor Ros

Comment on Feral Horses by foxstudio

foxstudio — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 01:12:46 +0000

I would respectfully disagree with your suggestion to call feral horses “wild” since the Przewalski’s horse (takhi) is the only surviving species of genetically wild horse and, with only 2000 or so in existence, I think it is very important that there be no confusion. They are highly endangered, so it is very important that what makes them unique be clearly understood.

I find that Americans who have heard of takhi or Mongol horses almost always have them confused, so I know there is an issue about this.

Also, feral horses, being domestic in origin, can be captured and habituated to humans for riding. Tahki cannot be tamed. There are a few accounts and some photos of captive takhi foals at reserves like Askania Nova in the Crimea being socialized to the point that someone could sit on their back and get them to walk a little, but that’s about it.

Comment on Los Llanos, Venezuela 2011 by Petra Sindelarova

Petra Sindelarova — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:47:09 +0000

Beautiful! <3

Comment on About Equilibre by carmen garcia plaza

carmen garcia plaza — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:55:32 +0000

muy interesante vuestra pajina me gusta un saludo

Comment on Round pens in a Square world by Victor Ros

Victor Ros — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 19:11:23 +0000

I agree, round pens can be very useful and I will surely continue to use them. Round penning, which are techniques used in the round pen are many times questionable, In the end of the day relying on aversive training and restricting possible flight reactions whether in the round pen, a square one, or even just on the lead rope may inevitaby lead to undesirable behaviour, which in turn leads to safety and possibly welfare issues.

Comment on Las pistas redondas en un mundo cuadrado by Victor Ros

Victor Ros — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 12:46:07 +0000

Gracias por tus comentarios y me alegra que hagas esta pregunta. Sabemos que el caballo es animal de presa y su primera reacción ante un estimulo nuevo o amenazante es huir. Se puede decir que sobretodo es un animal de presa y es una presa. Sin embargo, el caballo no se pasa la vida huyendo de todos los estímulos novedosos y su reacción a estos disminuye si no representa consecuencias, esto es la habituacíon. Habituación es la forma mas sencilla y universal de aprendizaje en los organismos y no es asociativa. Un claro ejemplo son caballos en pasto al lado del ferrocarril, al principio es posible que huyan del tren, pero si esto no presenta consecuencias ( refuerzos o castigos ) pronto dejan de huir y se puede decir entonces que la reacción a disminuido ante la estimulación repetida ( No confundir con fatiga o adaptación sensorial). La respuesta según mi opinión aunque la pregunta debería ser contextual, a groso modo; El caballo siempre sera animal de presa pero no siempre tiene que ser presa y menos con humanos, a menos que eso es lo que buscamos en nuestra relación.

Comment on Las pistas redondas en un mundo cuadrado by agusti

agusti — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 10:33:50 +0000

Me parece necesario conocer nuevos estudios y teorias sobre cualquier tema relacionado con el caballo y llevarlos a la práctica (obtener resultados,variaciones y adaptarnos según el trabajo empírico), en la medida de las posibilidaddes de cada uno para ofrecer las mejores condiciones de vida posibles y obtener una comunicación óptima con los caballos en domesticidad, sea cual sea el objetivo de cada propiertario ó jinete con ellos. Gracias, Víctor, por hacernos llegar esta valiosa información de forma continuada.
Una pregunta: biologicamente el caballo ¿es un “animal de presa” ó puede ser “una presa”?
Un abrazo

Comment on Round pens in a Square world by saddlechariot

saddlechariot — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 19:41:57 +0000

I think a round pen can be used to build a relationship, not force a relationship. Sending an animal away in a round pen where it has nowhere to go, risks becoming abusive. Having an animal in a space where you can interact without it just wandering off, or finding something to eat, can be positive. ie you use the boredom factor, “there’s nothing to do, nothing to eat, let’s see if this human is doing anything interesting” can be useful.

Comment on Bienvenidos by bitxet

bitxet — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 06:05:48 +0000

He conegut EquilibreGaiá i torne a casa feliç. Contenta i, per fi, esperançada d’haver trobat un lloc al que de debò s’estima als cavalls. M’he sentit com a casa. També m’he adonat del poc que sabem sobre aquestos animals i el molt que podem aprendre. Així que a seguir fent camí i enhorabona!

Comment on Doma Natural – Notes (English) by horsemanshiptraining

horsemanshiptraining — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:49:35 +0000

Your objective is to keep the horse’s attention on you without making any loud moves. So before something else gets his attention, you want to make just a little bit bigger move to get his attention back to you–jiggle a whip, raise a hand, or walk in a little closer or a little farther back from that shoulder line. his head down and starts eating grass or whatever, you’re going to have to be loud with your actions to get his attention back. You’ll startle him, he’ll run from your “attack,” and it will take longer for him to trust you.