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Welcome to the Behaviour and Handling achievement badge!!

By the end of this topic you will understand why horses behave in certain ways and how to handle them correctly!

You will learn about:

Wild Ponies

Domesticated Ponies

Body Language

Senses

Handling

Handling in the Field

Vices

Horse behaviour and handling

The topic of horse behaviour is so interesting! We are obviously unable to have a verbal conversation with a horse so understanding how they can react to things and how they communicate with humans and other horses is important. If we understand their behaviours, we can diagnose problems much more quickly and more easily! For example, if a horse puts his ears back and swishes his tail when being tacked up, this could be a sign that his saddle is hurting him or he might have a problem with his digestive tract.

Handling horses in the correct way is very important for your safety! Horses are such large and powerful animals and we must remember that they have their own brain so we cannot always predict what they are going to do. Therefore, being able to handle a horse properly can prepare you for unexpected situations.

Before you start this topic, try testing your knowledge in the quiz to see how much you already know about behaviour and handling!