Why unwanted behaviour during tacking up can be tricky to solve
Unwanted behaviour while being tacked up can be a tough nut to crack. The behaviour can sometimes persist, even though you've eliminated pain and discomfort. Here's why and what to do about it.
Neurons that fire together, wire together.
If you've been in the horse world for any length of time, even if you're a beginner rider, I'd be willing to bet you've seen horses acting up when being tacked up. Pinning the ears back, swishing the tail, threatening to bite, moving away, biting at the rail, or simply shutting down. The way in which horses communicate their discomfort while the saddle is being put on, are many. Luckily, there are more and more riders that are aware that these behaviours aren't just »bad manners«, but an indication of discomfort or pain.
And many riders do the right thing and launch a full-scale investigation when they start noticing these behaviours. They call the vet out, the bodyworker, the saddle fitter. They adjust the training programme, teach the horse better posture and make absolutely sure the horse is pain-free. They do the prescribed exercises, work the horse on the ground for a while and then, after every professional has given them the green light, they bring out the saddle again. And the horse acts up again. What's going on here? With some horses, getting rid of pain and discomfort will do the job just fine and the horse will accept the saddle without so much as wincing. But some horses seem to have a much harder time. The reason might lie in the nervous system.
There's a saying in neuroscience – neurons that fire together, wire together. The nervous system is incredibly plastic and efficient. This is a good thing, but in cases of longer lasting pain, this efficiency can lead to pain sticking around longer than it needs to. Let's say you have a back injury that causes you to feel pain every time you bend over to tie your shoes. After a while, your brain will create a connection between the movement and the pain – the neurons for the movement and pain will have fired together so many times that now they are wired together. The pain with this movement might persist long after your back has healed. There is no reason why this mechanism would not be present in horses as well, since, from a nervous system point of view, we are very, very similar.
If that is the case, what do we do about it? How can we re-wire the neurons that are firing together, creating distress when there is no need to? This requires some creativity. It's obviously easier in humans. With horses, it's a little tricky, but one way we could go about it is to create novelty around the experience of being tacked up. We can try finding a way to introduce the tack again in a way that seems unfamiliar to the horse. Maybe we take the horse somewhere else and while he's grazing, place a towel on his back. Maybe we bring out the saddle, but then all we do is groom the horse and take the saddle away. These kinds of interventions take time, so patience is needed, especially if the behaviour was going on for a good while (some horses spend years communicating discomfort before they are heard). The nervous system is a fascinating thing and it holds many answers to complex problems, especially when it comes to chronic pain. If you would like to learn more on this topic, I highly recommend Todd Hargrove's book A guide to better movement.