Species Identification
The species I chose for the Social Deconstruction of
Animals Project is the horse. It is a domesticated odd-toed ungulate mammal belonging
to one of two existing subspecies of Equus ferus.
There are advantages to understanding the horse’s emotional and intellectual capacity. One important advantage is that it helps in horse training by giving humans a familiar framework for relating to horses. It is easier to understand their behavior if it can be related to our own. If the horse acts in a way that seems frightened, we can assume he is afraid of whatever is happening around him and can handle the situation accordingly. Another advantage of assuming horses have the capacity to feel is that we must then accord appropriate respect to them. We must keep in mind their emotional well-being, which is not necessary if we think of them as lacking feelings. Thinking of horses as having emotions requires us to have a certain amount of consideration which we might not otherwise feel like we need to provide. The end result is a higher and more humane standard of care for horses, benefiting horses and society in general. On the minus side, where do we draw the line? If our horse kicks for no apparent reason, do we assume that horses know the difference between "right" and "wrong," and hold him accountable for behaving without conscience? Because he has emotional capacity, does he also have a code of morality? These questions occur and limit us in furthering our research towards the intellect of nonhuman animals.
Through my research, I found few legitimate scientific articles in regards to the horse’s emotional and intellectual capacity. Many summarized that horses are in fact highly reactive emotional animals due to human breeding, management and activities. Furthermore, horses are capable of belonging to something bigger as a herd. Examples of data illustrating the horse’s ability to cognitively respond includes: semi-feral horse observations, and observations emphasizing how human cues affect horses’ state of attention. Other articles emphasized the importance of understanding the horse’s cognitive way of learning so we can than improve its welfare. The most consistent information I found in regards to applied equine cognitive ethology dealt with long term memory. Many stories and experiences seem to confirm that horses can recover stored information over a long-term period of latency. As long as a horse has not become indifferent towards its surroundings, it will remember our interactions with it. This primary emotion is extremely important for survival. One thing is certain: we must give the horse the opportunity to explore for itself.
Social History/Domestication
Our relationship with
horses dates back to 30,000 BCE. Proof of the foundation for this relationship was primarily based on cave art of the wild ancestors of today’s domesticated
horses. The Paleolithic cave drawings illustrated the use of wild horse meat
for human survival and nourishment. The origin of horse domestication is highly
controversial. Although it is difficult for researchers to put an exact
location and date on the domestication process, most can agree on a few
positions. The horse was necessary for meat and transportation. The
clearest evidence of means of transportation is from chariot burials dated c.
2000 BCE. Researchers also narrowed down
domestication to the Neolithic, Eneolithic, or Early Bronze Age in the Ukraine,
Kazakhstan, Eastern Europe, and Western Europe.
What exactly is
domestication? The definition of domestication has proven to be a critical concept
in deciphering horse domestication. Whether it is human control over breeding,
morphology, skeletal and dental activity, weapons, art, and spiritual
artifacts, or lifestyle patterns of humans—domestication evidence used as proof
of horse domestication can be highly variable and subjective. Furthermore, one
can classify evidence of early horse husbandry as either direct or indirect.
The direct category refers to artistic, textual, and funerary evidence. On the other hand, the indirect category
infers information based on characteristics of bone and artifacts. Although there is no direct evidence for the
origins of horse domestication, and no one type of indirect data can lead us to
pin point domestication, these indicators allow us to put together a vague
timeline.
One problem with
dating domestication on analysis of physical remains or through genetic studies
is the assumption that there is a separation of the wild and domestic
populations’ genotype. Although this separation has occurred, results can only
estimate the latest possible date of domestication. Further controversy rests
within the idea of feral horses. Today’s horse populations can revert back to a
feral state and all feral horses descend from ancestors who are of domestic
types.
Although the origins of
horse domestication are a complex process to describe, one main theory has
derived: domestication followed the taming of horses for human use. It is
important to note that all domesticated animals are tamed animals, but not all
tamed animals are domesticated. The distinct difference between a tame horse and
a domesticated horse lies within generations. Wild horses were most likely
captured, tamed, ridden, slaughtered, and eaten. Following this, orphaned foals
were most likely taken in by families who adopted them as pets. This eventually
led to the realization that these pets could be put to work. This process would
have taken a long time to develop and would have depended on genetic changes
that allowed the horse to breed in captivity. Considering this idea, horse
domestication could have been initiated by the horse itself to an extent. Other
scenarios include, but are not limited to: human and horses ended up evolving
together, and highly developed human understanding of horse behavior enabled
horses to reproduce in captivity.
In conclusion, the
process of horse domestication is a complicated one. Historically, horses were
an important use for warfare, transportation, and food. Today, they provide
humans with comfort as companion animals, and entertainment as a major leader
in sports and leisure industries. We may not be able to prove distinct causes
and effects of domestication, but one thing remains certain: the human-horse
relationship has developed, changed, and positively affected our society.
Current Social Perceptions
The domestication of
horses and their progressive adaptation to changing human life styles has
influenced the many roles horses have played throughout history. At first the
horse was used as a source of food for peoples. As time passed, horses were
kept and improved by selective breeding to maximize their usefulness for transportation
of people and goods. Eventually, technical innovations replaced work horses, and
agricultural land became more profitable by producing more food. In today’s
society, the horse’s role has dramatically changed. It is no longer crucial for
survival by providing us with food and transportation. Today, our relationships
with horses are less necessity based, and now influenced by our emotions and
even through economic profit. Some roles that horses fulfill in today’s society
include recreation, show, racing, traditional work, breeding, and pets.
Society uses horses recreationally through pleasure riding. Recreational riding is used predominantly for personal enjoyment. Specifically, the American West uses the term trail riding to describe pleasure riding on public lands. The recreational use of horses has evolved a leading misconception that horse ownership is only for the wealthy. This misunderstanding shows how high society places horses within our culture.
Horses are often seen as companion animals. A companion animal is simply defined as a pet or other domestic animal. As a companion animal, the presence of a horse can provide humans with health benefits such as improvements in mental, social, and physiologic health status. The human-companion animal bond is not only beneficial to the human, but provides benefits for the horse too.
Show horse is another role that horses have fulfilled in today’s society. Showing includes any of the non-racing riding disciplines. Specific examples include Western riding, English riding, endurance riding, and polo. Western riding includes: barrel racing, reining, roping, cutting, and pleasure. English riding is done in dressage, hunters and jumpers, fox hunting, saddle seat, and combined training.
Society uses horses recreationally through pleasure riding. Recreational riding is used predominantly for personal enjoyment. Specifically, the American West uses the term trail riding to describe pleasure riding on public lands. The recreational use of horses has evolved a leading misconception that horse ownership is only for the wealthy. This misunderstanding shows how high society places horses within our culture.
Horses are often seen as companion animals. A companion animal is simply defined as a pet or other domestic animal. As a companion animal, the presence of a horse can provide humans with health benefits such as improvements in mental, social, and physiologic health status. The human-companion animal bond is not only beneficial to the human, but provides benefits for the horse too.
Show horse is another role that horses have fulfilled in today’s society. Showing includes any of the non-racing riding disciplines. Specific examples include Western riding, English riding, endurance riding, and polo. Western riding includes: barrel racing, reining, roping, cutting, and pleasure. English riding is done in dressage, hunters and jumpers, fox hunting, saddle seat, and combined training.
Although horse racing is an equestrian sport
with a long history, race horses are a source of economic profit in today’s
society. They make money in the form of gambling proceeds, increase in their
prices when sold, and enhanced value for breeding fees. The style of racing,
the distances and the type of events vary significantly by the country in which
the race is occurring, and many countries offer different types of horse
races. Various types of racing have given rise to horse breeds that
excel in the specific disciplines of each sport.
Finally, today’s horses provide humans assistance
with traditional work on farms, ranches, forests, and cities.Farm and ranch
work includes working cattle, ploughing, hauling, pulling equipment, carrying
packs, and rodeo. City work includes pulling carts and carriages, and police
work. They provide income to their owners by carrying out the work of the jobs
that need to be done. Growing up, I lived in a small rural farming town of
1,700 people. It may be no surprise that my views on horses are predominantly
influenced by their usage in traditional work. My only contact with horses
prior to college was on my friends’ farms where they were described as
practical.
Ethology
The
horse is a social species that we don’t fully understand. If we disregard our
horse's emotional well-being, it leads to a host of problems that can be
avoided simply by just giving credit where it's due. These problems most likely
result because science has not caught up to find a way to measure the emotional
aspect of the horse’s behavior. Behavior
science is no longer subjective, and when studying animals, scientists have to
observe, quantify and explain specific aspects of their behavior without adding
personal interpretation. Furthermore, two different people can look at the same
equine behavior, but come up with two entirely different interpretations.. Only
motivations that can be proved are legitimate explanations for behavior within
the scientific method. Placing emotional responses on animals may not be wrong,
but it cannot be proved to be right, either. For this reason, ascribing human
emotion to animal behavior is considered to be unscientific and is generally
not done. Most of what animals do gets explained by two basic and proven animal
drives: survival, and to breed and nurture offspring. Seeking food, water,
shelter and mates can all be accounted for by the drives to survive and
reproduce. On the other hand, if a horse does something that seems like an
emotional behavior, it's still pretty difficult to prove his motives.
There are advantages to understanding the horse’s emotional and intellectual capacity. One important advantage is that it helps in horse training by giving humans a familiar framework for relating to horses. It is easier to understand their behavior if it can be related to our own. If the horse acts in a way that seems frightened, we can assume he is afraid of whatever is happening around him and can handle the situation accordingly. Another advantage of assuming horses have the capacity to feel is that we must then accord appropriate respect to them. We must keep in mind their emotional well-being, which is not necessary if we think of them as lacking feelings. Thinking of horses as having emotions requires us to have a certain amount of consideration which we might not otherwise feel like we need to provide. The end result is a higher and more humane standard of care for horses, benefiting horses and society in general. On the minus side, where do we draw the line? If our horse kicks for no apparent reason, do we assume that horses know the difference between "right" and "wrong," and hold him accountable for behaving without conscience? Because he has emotional capacity, does he also have a code of morality? These questions occur and limit us in furthering our research towards the intellect of nonhuman animals.
Through my research, I found few legitimate scientific articles in regards to the horse’s emotional and intellectual capacity. Many summarized that horses are in fact highly reactive emotional animals due to human breeding, management and activities. Furthermore, horses are capable of belonging to something bigger as a herd. Examples of data illustrating the horse’s ability to cognitively respond includes: semi-feral horse observations, and observations emphasizing how human cues affect horses’ state of attention. Other articles emphasized the importance of understanding the horse’s cognitive way of learning so we can than improve its welfare. The most consistent information I found in regards to applied equine cognitive ethology dealt with long term memory. Many stories and experiences seem to confirm that horses can recover stored information over a long-term period of latency. As long as a horse has not become indifferent towards its surroundings, it will remember our interactions with it. This primary emotion is extremely important for survival. One thing is certain: we must give the horse the opportunity to explore for itself.
Resources:
Specieism
Today,
the majority of interactions we have with nonhuman animals come from two
places: pets and animal product. It is extremely interesting that the horse
fits within both of these categories in today’s society. As a pet, the horse
fulfills our instinctual need to connect with nature. They provide us with
companionship. We show our affection towards horses by getting to know them as
individuals with personalities. We want to attribute them with human
characteristics. In fact, most people consider horses as members of their
family. They may not sit at the dinner table, have conversations, or be able to
sleep in the house, but horses can provide humans with companionship and
structure which we than relate to our own species. As a working animal, we use
horses to help us complete tasks and daily chores. On the other hand in some
parts of the world, horses are still utilized as a source of meat. The idea of
using horses as a source of meat is highly controversial. The 2013 meat adulteration scandal in
Europe caused for a lot of concern; foods advertised as containing beef
actually contained horse meat. This news upset many Americans. I think this
example illustrates that we see the horse as more than just a way to survive,
and we have deep emotional attachment to the species. In conclusion, the horse
is an animal we can relate to, but by doing so we also understand that it has a
practical role in today’s society.
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