When I tell people what I do for a living a common response is, “Wow. You must see a lot of different types of horses in your work.”
That’s true. But what is equally true is that I see a lot of different types of people. The variety of horses I meet is matched by the variety of people.
At a guess, I think I meet 4 or 5 people a year who tell me that their horse hates men. Almost always the horse is a mare. They tell me how cranky their horse behaves when handled by men. They may even cite instances of aggression towards men. It’s very rare to hear reports of a horse hating women. I can’t think of anyone ever telling me they owned a horse that hated women.
When I first heard of this phenomenon I began to wonder how could a horse distinguish a human male from a female. Nothing seemed to fit. Mannerisms, voice, body shape, size, odour, physical energy and strength, dress, etc could all be discounted by the fact that there was no consistent difference between men and women. All the features I can think of that might distinguish men from women have a huge variability and I strongly doubt would give a horse a clear signal that “this person is a man and this person is a woman.” Besides, what would be so bothersome to a horse about the physical features of men as to turn them into men-haters?
Similarly, from the sample of people who tell me their horse hated men, most did not think their horse had issues with younger people. Was there a change in their horse’s behaviour when boys transitioned into men?
I recall at one clinic, the owner told me how her horse hated men. Whenever the farrier or the dentist or the vet came to visit the horse would become anxious. Her horse also did not get along with her instructor. They were all men. But her horse loved the female masseuse. She concluded that the problem was gender, not the horse’s experience and handling by these experts.
On another occasion, a woman came to her first clinic with a very nervous and worried horse. She told me the mare hated men. Even her husband upset her horse. I noted that the woman did not mention how anxious the horse was by being with her. Anyway, I asked if I could play with her horse. Fifteen minutes later the horse was following me around like a puppy. I remember thinking, “I guess I am not man enough for this mare because she doesn’t seem to hate me.”
I have yet to meet a horse that I am convinced its anxiety stems from a person's gender. I know certain people have a knack for triggering trouble inside a horse. But I have never witnessed a case where this could not be reversed by good work. I believe the problem is not chromosome-based, but handling based.
