Does it hurt a horse a lot if someone smaks them with their hand if they are misbehaving?

Question

Does it hurt a horse a lot if someone smaks them with their hand if they are misbehaving?

Answer 1

A slap on an area of thick skin is more likely to startle the horse than to hurt it.  The same slap on the more sensitive belly, or on the face will hurt.  So, a slap on the rump is not painful...on the area over the ribs, it will be somewhat painful...and so on.  Horses don't enjoy being patted, but they do enjoy being stroked. Also, some breeds have thinner skin and are more sensitive, like thoroughbreds and arabians...draft breeds are the least sensitive.

Answer 2

Yes. Poor horses !

Answer 3

Oh my...smacking a horse when they are misbehaving is NOT cruelty! When I bought my horse she was never corrected in her bad behavior and I got a biting, kicking, charging, rude mare! I quickly put a stop to that, by yes, smacking the heck out of her! (But not in the face) If I couldnt reach her, then she would get hit with whatever could (lead rope etc).  Sorry, but I would rather have a brush or whatever thrown at my horse then have someone get bit.  And before anyone says that I am abusing my horse, my horse is my best friend.  Where she used to charge in the pasture, now she comes over to the fence to wait for me.

Answer 4

no horses have a thick hide. some horses take it diffrently though, some may  strighten up and be lie okay i learned my lesson, some may keep doing it, and some may even get deffensive and bite or kick xP but no it doesn't hurt the horse physically if you hit them with you hand...just maybe their feelings lol xD

Answer 5

Depends on how hard you slap it. They can feel a fly landing on their skin but so can you - if your friend slaps you while you're messing about does it hurt ?

It's usually more the noise of a flat handed slap that makes them take notice. Bear in mind that it's a herd animal and they have a pecking order, if it overstepped it's rank in a herd it would be bitten or kicked.

Answer 6

It depends on how hard you hit them. Obviously, if you slap them across the face, they're going to be pissed, but a smack on the shoulder and a firm "NO" will be more effective.

edit: I once had a trainer tell me to 'treat a horse like a woman' and used examples like stroking, not patting, soft, gentle tones, not harsh loud ones, etc. I thought it was pretty funny (and true!).

Answer 7

If you mean hitting them with an open hand and the neck or rump - no it doesn't hurt them, it just gets their attention.  They might get a bit of an attitude from it but it's not because it hurt.

Answer 8

Let me start by saying I think most people know abuse when they see it. But lets consider a couple of things. First of all:

1) How much do you weigh

2) How much does your horse weigh

3) How do horses behave amongst themselves?

The answers to my first two questions, regardless of specifics, come down to the basic fact that a horse is  A LOT bigger and stronger than you are. So a typical smack with the hand is not going to hurt your horse. If you go beat your horse with a steel bar, well yep that is going to hurt and is abuse. But smacking her with your hand is going to get her attention but not hurt her.

Let me leave #3 alone for a minute. I would suggest poking your horse with your finger-something that really gets her attention.

But moving on to my question about how horses behave amongst themselves, I think there is a better way to approach things instead of smacking them. Go observe horses out in the pasture. Dominant horses (the alpha mare or stallion) MOVE THE OTHER HORSES AROUND. You can use this observation to your advantage. If a horse misbehaves, MAKE THEM MOVE. A simple way you can do this is just make them back up. Your horse misbehaves, then get the lead rope and shake it so they have to back up 3-4 steps. If they keep it up, then lunge them a couple of times.

Also, you might notice that horses aren't that nice to each other in the pasture. They routinely kick and bite each other. So a smack from a human is not going to be that big of a deal and unlikely to cause injury. That being said, try moving the horse to improve their behavior first. Chances are you will find your horse will stop misbehaving after a few backups.

Cheers,

David

http://gentlenaturalhorseman.blogspot.co...

Answer 9

It might make them flinch. They'll be fine, humans aren't strong enough to hurt a horse by just smacking.

Answer 10

no it is not like smaking human flesh. There skin is a lot tougher I am sure getting bit by one of those gargantuan horse flies far surpasses a smack.

Answer 11

Depends on where you are smacking it.

Don't smack a horse on the face. All that will do is make them afraid of you. They'll be tense, they'll jerk away from you.

I actually don't reccomend smacking them at all. Just put a halter and a rope on them. Hold the rope steady and tell them they've been a bad boy/girl in a stern voice.

Horses are very smart animals. They know when they've dissapointed you.

Answer 12

it doesn't hurt as bad as you think, and it also doesn't make a darn but of sense to the horse.

there is no good horsemanship in that, there are too many effective alternatives to smacking a horse.

Answer 13

Juliane and I must have had the same teacher! My teacher always told me I couldn't possibly hit my horse as hard as he could kick me. So I say why do it? It is just your anger coming out and that never solves anything.  I feel using your voice in a very stern way telling them "BAD BOY" does wonders and they do learn. They do not like to have us upset with them. My Arab gets his feelings hurt very easy if I get upset with him. My paint knows when he has been bad. I think hitting is kind of silly and more of a release for us.  I don't agree that horses have very tough skin - horses do have very sensitive skin. They can feel a fly anywhere on their body and a very light horse will barely need a touch from you for a cue.

Answer 14

Consider this - you might weight what 100-200 lbs?  A horse weighs what 1000- 1500 lbs?  10X your weight.

You CAN hurt a horse by hitting it - a good hard fist can cause a bruise.

However, the truth of the matter is, smacking a horse with one's hand when they are mis-behaving is not the proper way to fix the problem.  Whether it hurts or not, it doesn't instill trust and confidence in the horse.  Horses don't hit and rarely touch each other - they reprimand through body language - they don't even talk, so shouting to reprimand isn't the right way either.  One must know the horse's learning ability and understand the proper way to stop mis-behaviour in order to correct it.  If they are slapping the horse, they likely do not know or don't have the patience to enact the proper correction.

Answer 15

No... horses get kicked all the time...ill give a smack for some disapline at times when it is nessessary. like biting or kicking at other horses.

Answer 16

Lord no......

Answer 17

no, exept for the face

but some horses that have been abused or had a bad experience or are just sensitive will react badly to it.

Answer 18

Depends on where they hit them and how hard.

If you were to smack a horse with the palm of your hand on it's rump, it would not hurt him.  I pat my horse quite hard on his shoulders and rump all the time.  Their sides are also typically quite tough.  If someone is hitting a horse on the head, ears, legs, or belly, they might hurt him quite badly, and that would be considered animal abuse, and would result in a very scared, mean horse.  There's no excuse for hitting a horse, there are many proper training methods that don't involve physical pain.

Answer 19

It may or may not hurt , but I suggest heightening your voice toward the horse . Abuse toward the animal is cruel in any state of mind. Look up positive  reinforcement , that could probablly help.

Answer 20

Horses necks are coated in layers and layer of muscle they can't feel a thing its the sound that startles them

Answer 21

I dont think it hurts. But i bet it scares them.

It would be like using a whip, but in the wrong way. And if you want your horse (not litterly saying you) to stop misbehaving thats the worst thing you could do.

Answer 22

They might feel it but I really don't thing it would hurt them at all. My geldings play all the time out in the pasture and just gnaw on each other and they both keep coming back for more. If you think about it, horses enjoy grooming each other and their grooming entails them biting each other. That would hurt me so much but they seem to love it.

If you're talking about psychological hurting the horse  then it just depends. I will smack my horses on occasion for inappropriate behavior such as biting but it is a quick and fair consequence that they can easily understand and then i forget about it as soon as its done. i think it all depends on energy. i use it as an immediate consequence without any anger or hurt feelings involved. i think if someone is mad or upset and uses that kind of punishment when they are in an unstable state of mind they could do some psychological damage to the horse. of course one or two times of this would probably result in no more that a horse that is slightly head shy for the next couple of minutes, but this behavior continued could result in more significant damage. like i said, a smack will not hurt a horse and as long as its used correctly, as a quick and fair consequence devoid of any emotion, it shouldn't hurt them psychologically either.

Answer 23

You shouldn't smack a horse for misbehaving! That's just wrong, but I'm sure it doesn't hurt too bad because some riders use crops.

Answer 24

No

Answer 25

Its been my experience that smacking my horse with my hand when he misbehaves hurts my hand way more than it hurts the horse!

That said, I still continue to discipline him (when necessary) so that he continues to be a well behaved horse. I think that making noise by yelling at him and acting mad drive the point home more than the smack, but that you still need to smack them sometimes to make the point that whatever they just did is not acceptable.

Answer 26

You could never hit a horse as hard as another horse could kick it.  That doesn't mean the horse doesn't feel it, but I don't think it hurts them.  Horses are pretty tough.

Horses don't speak english.  Just telling them "no" does nothing.  You need to speak their language.  This doesn't mean you need to beat them but I firmly believe in getting after them when they do something wrong and showing them who is boss.