You might have heard of “little t” and “big T” trauma. These psychology terms describe the two types of stressors that impact one’s ability to cope mentally or emotionally. “Little t trauma” involves stressors that are very unpleasant but don’t threaten the person’s life or cause serious bodily harm. “Big T Trauma” involves profoundly stressful, life-threatening, dangerous, and disempowering experiences over which the person has no control.
It’s well understood, for both people and horses, that highly stressful events and traumatic experiences can result in negative consequences. For example, multiple “little t” traumas or stressors experienced close together can impair an individual’s ability to function emotionally. A single “big T” trauma can cause extreme psychological distress and overwhelm the individual’s ability to function in daily life.
While “little t” and “big T” trauma are terms used in human psychology, they provide a useful analogy for understanding how different intensities of frightening experiences might affect horses.
Fear Responses in Horses
Feeling fear, although unpleasant, is a normal part of life. Without the ability to feel fear, no animal would live long enough to become a juvenile. When an animal perceives something harmful might happen to them, it triggers sympathetic nervous system activation. These rapid and involuntary neurologic and physiological responses prompt the animal to try to survive the situation. The emotion of fear initiates that survival instinct, causing the animal to flee, fight, or freeze—all behavioral strategies that could help the animal escape safely. The emotional arousal that occurs when fear is triggered also enhances memory consolidation. This makes it likely that fear will be triggered even faster the next time the animal is exposed to that situation.
This “little f” fear response is normally adaptive. This means it helps the animal survive an encounter, and the fear dissipates when the experience is over. What helps animals “get over” the frightening event is determined in part by genetics and prior life experiences. Other factors include how much perceived control the animal felt they had over the situation and whether the experience unfolded in a somewhat predictable way.
However, when an animal is exposed to a frightening experience that is very unpredictable or where they perceive little to no control over the outcome, they might struggle to cope. Difficulty coping is associated with nervous system changes that can lead to maladaptive fear responses. This increases the likelihood of fear being triggered and altering how the animal behaves in similar situations and everyday life.
What Is a Conditioned (Learned) Fear Response?
Experiencing this type of “big F” fear is what leads horses to develop issues such as needle phobias (aka needle-shyness) or other extreme fearful responses. With just one highly unpleasant experience, such as a frightening needle injection, a horse can develop a conditioned (learned) fear of a specific thing or event (e.g., injections, a veterinarian occluding the jugular vein). Afterward, not only does the horse’s brain mark all injection attempts as extremely dangerous, but it might also create negative associations about other seemingly innocuous things simply present when the injection occurred, such as the smell of the veterinarian or restraint from the handler.
The learning process by which conditioned fears develop is called classical conditioning. In short, it’s an involuntary “this predicts that” sort of learning. An attempt to vaccinate a horse (“this”) by handling the horse roughly, causing feelings of pain and fear (“that”), teaches the horse that vaccine attempts predict pain and fear. Understandably, the frightened horse then panics and tries to escape the terrifying situation.
Unfortunately, it’s not difficult to accidentally create one of these powerful, negative associations for horses. One simply pairs the experience of pain and/or strong fear with any thing or event. Without specialized treatment, these conditioned fears can persist long-term. The brains of all animals are hardwired to remember such negative experiences. It’s impossible to know in advance if a certain horse is more or less susceptible to developing a conditioned fear. Factors such as genetics, life experiences, and the animal’s current mental and physical state also affect their susceptibility.
Take-Home Message
As with much in life, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. By understanding how both “little f” and “big F” fears impact horses, we can minimize the chances horses will develop conditioned fears. This knowledge can also guide us should we see “big F” fears in our horses. Remember, early, qualified help can significantly improve a horse’s chances of recovery.
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Lauren Fraser, MSc, FFCP, has helped people understand horse behavior problems since 2006. With a background working as a horse trainer, an MSc in clinical animal behavior, and more than a decade working as an equine behavior consultant, Lauren’s approach gets to the heart of why horses behave the way they do and addresses issues using low-stress methods. Lauren also guest lectures at universities, presents at conferences, and creates educational programs for horse owners and equine professionals.
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