Scent Work for Horse Enrichment
Satisfying, challenging, fun, and so much more…
Think of the foal who finds his mother’s nipple moments after he is born, drinking milk to survive, who is later able to find water, grasses, and herbs, and who knows which plants to avoid because they are poisonous. Together with other senses, like sight and hearing, smell enables the horse to detect danger, as well as allowing him to find family members and herd mates.
Our modern-day horses no longer perform many of these tracking tasks. Certainly, the ability to detect danger has not disappeared, to which many a rider or handler will attest. Who does not regularly see their horse raise his head, tense his muscles, perk up his ears, and flare his nostrils in order to take in and work out what he is - smelling, or seeing, or hearing? For the most part though, we humans tend to take over most of the horse’s tracking tasks. We put feed (rich in minerals and vitamins) right there in his trough, put down or hang up hay, make sure there is always fresh water nearby.
We put him in a fenced pasture or paddock and manage his interaction with other horses. And it goes without saying that our domesticated horse must always have enough food and water, contact with suitable other horses, and time at pasture; we try to prevent any and all pain and discomfort. However, reintroducing or stimulating your horse’s urge to track is an immensely powerful tool that has many benefits.
Speaking is researcher and behaviour consultant Rachaël Draaisma. She has been a full-time behaviourist since 2003, first working with dogs and, these past years, focussing exclusively on horses. In 2013, under the mentorship of Turid Rugaas, she began a study into the communicative and Calming Signals of horses. This research is ongoing. The initial findings resulted in a book called ‘Language Signs & Calming Signals of Horses’. In our recent interview, Rachaël spoke of the Calming Signals, their applications, and about empowering your horse through Enriched Environments. In this article, she shines a light on one of the other major pillars of her work - tracking with horses.
Rachaël Draaisma: “I started doing it in 2003 as a dog trainer and canine behaviour therapist and have developed tracking over these past few years so that it can also be used with horses. It is fully in line with my method of training horses in such a way that they handle the human world’s stimuli independently, autonomously, and in homeostasis. Using tracking as a fully-fledged technique in living and working with horses supports this and produces many benefits.”
The benefits of tracking
Tracking allows your horse to socialise optimally. He smells, tastes, and discovers the things he comes into contact with.
Tracking enables the production of dopamine, a hormone that produces a feeling of positivity and well-being.
Tracking calms a horse. If you regularly track for longer periods of time, you will see this calming effect last longer as well, meaning your horse shows, for instance, fewer fright responses in the days after a tracking session.
Tracking can be used as a tool to tackle various behavioural problems in horses. It is a good counter to fear, and it is well-suited in a programme designed for horses who have a fear of abandonment, for instance.
Tracking teaches a horse to concentrate for longer stretches of time and to calm himself down more quickly in case of agitation.
Tracking is lots of fun for both the rider or handler and the horse. It increases team spirit and your trust in your horse.
Tracking enables the horse to behave with a kind of freedom. This is a nice contrast with his usual, often highly controlled living environment.
Tracking is a good tool for determining if your horse is in homeostasis. If your horse is too tense or too tired, tracking is much more difficult, or even impossible.
Tracking is something you can do with horses you cannot or do not want to ride anymore.
Tracking is also something you can do with horses who only have a small pasture or paddock or who (temporarily) are not allowed to move much. You could even do it inside the stables.
Good biomechanics during tracking
When you look at a horse that is following a scent trail, you will notice a number of distinctive body features. The horse tracks in active relaxation. His back muscles, the muscles on his hindquarters, and his neck muscles are long and soft. His back is fully elongated, allowing his hindquarters to be fully engaged, which “carries” his body and relieves pressure from his forelegs. This enables the horse to flex and also fully relax his abdominal muscles, which optimises breathing. His hind legs step deeply underneath the horse's body. His buttocks, back and head are swaying from left to right due to his active relaxation. You also see this looseness of movement in the upper part of his neck, near his head. The head is carried during tracking, but the point where his neck and head meet is loose and relaxed.
Rachaël says: “It could be that, at first, your horse is still looking for the right physical posture, active relaxation, and cognitive calm he needs in order to track. If this is the case, he will, for instance, take a little longer to pick up the tracking, or only be able to follow short scent trails at first. So far, it has been my experience that, by tracking, horses also make physical and cognitive progress. They learn to adopt the active relaxation needed for tracking and learn to stick with it for longer and longer. You can imagine, however, that horses with certain physical problems (diagnosed or not) can also present a different picture during tracking. Recognising these differences is important, of course, and it is also the subject of a future study.”
Tracking activities
Rachaël says: “Turid Rugaas’s’ International Dog Trainers Education’ and Anne Lill Kvam’s ‘Nosework Education’ explore amongst others the following three tracking activities. They are also suitable for horses, with some adjustments. I use them a lot.”
Scent Garden
The Scent Garden is a very good socialisation tool. It involves gathering various scents and substances and scattering them around a paddock or pasture, like an Enriched Environment. You do not want to overwhelm your horse with scents. You distribute the scents in such a way, at the end of the pasture or paddock, that your horse has the option of approaching them or not.
There are lots of scents to be found in your own kitchen. You could bring tea leaves in various flavours and spread them around the pasture. You could save the juices from a jar of pickles or a can of sausages and dribble it on the ground. This can also be done with, for instance, milk or beer, or a bit of ketchup or mayonnaise. It is important, however, to dilute the substances with water before dribbling them around the pasture. The scent should be weak enough for the horse to be able to handle it and become curious enough to investigate instead of walking away from it. After all, you do not want your horse to have a negative reaction to a new scent. If your horse does not have much experience, use one scent at a time.
Treat Search
For a Treat Search, you put down multiple pieces of food over a larger area. Be careful to cut the food into narrow pieces so the horse does not choke on it. You can choose to scatter the food when the horse is looking, or when he is not. You can use apples, bananas, or certain hay nuggets. Of these, cut apples have the strongest scent. You can also spread out food over an increasingly large area.
It is not healthy for your horse to imbibe sand when he’s eating snacks. If your horse is housed on sand or if you want to have him track in a sandy arena, go to a fish-bait shop and buy plastic containers meant for live worms. These containers have lids that have air holes in them. You can place the food inside one of these containers and hide it in the sand, making sure the air holes are above the surface so the scent gets released. Your horse can then search for the containers, which, once he’s found them, you can open for him. Of course, you can also make (paper) containers yourself and punch holes in them.
It could be that you start a Treat Search, scattering some bits of apple and carrot, and your horse does not begin to track, staying by your side instead. He could be associating the food with you because you usually hand him food, and he is now waiting to receive it from you. It could be that he has learned that he should stand still when he is around you, meaning he does not take initiative. If this happens, see if your horse will start searching if you keep your distance and have someone else scatter the food around the paddock or pasture. If there are more horses in the pasture, you can only do this if none of them have a tendency to defend food. If your horse starts searching at that point, you will know that he is capable of it, and you can slowly start to reintroduce yourself into the process. You can do this step by step by coming a bit closer every time the other person puts down the food until your horse has gotten used to the fact that you are there when he does this. Another way to do it is to hold some food in your hand, then slowly lower the hand down to the ground, and once your horse is following it down, put the food on the ground. If he eats it, you slowly rise again. Then, scatter the rest of the food step by step.
For both the Scent Garden and the Treat Search, you can let your horse loose in the paddock or pasture and observe him. You can also hold him on a long rope and walk with him. In that case, the horse takes the lead. He indicates what he does or does not want to eat or explore. You follow him. Only do this if it can be done safely, of course. I am assuming that the horse is used to walking on a long rope and that you can accompany him safely from multiple positions. I also assume that his emotions are not so highly strung that he unexpectedly wants to flee.
You can also have more than one horse explore scents or search for snacks at the same time. Whether you want to do this or not depends on your goal. If your horse gets a lot of support from other horses, it can be a good leg up to do it together. On the other hand, you can also choose to have your horse do it alone in order to increase his self-confidence.
Gradually build up the tracking and the gradations within it. If a horse has to track an item that has very little value to him and that he has a great deal of trouble finding (it takes too long and the search is too difficult), he will give up.
Scent Trailing
In Scent Trailing, you teach your horse to follow a person’s footprints. With some practice, he will be able to follow a longer trail in the paddock, as well as in places like the woods or a field. In this way, you can teach your horse to search for a hidden bag of food or missing persons or animals. In Scent Trailing, you can walk behind or beside your horse.
Rachaël says: “It is a fantastic experience to follow your horse as he is following a trail and wondering if he is going to find the bag, animal, or person. When he does, the horse, his handler, and I are always ecstatic.”
Do not force your horse
When you are riding or walking your horse, you can pressure him to do something he otherwise would not do by means of spurs, a whip, or pressure on the bit. The beauty of tracking is that this does not work at all. You cannot force your horse to start smelling and tracking. This presents the handler and the dynamic between man and horse with a wonderful challenge.
It is much more difficult for horses untrained in tracking to track when they are stressed or cognitively or physically tired. So, as a handler, you should plan your horse’s life and training in such a way that he is physically and cognitively content. For this, a good observation technique is crucial. A horse is able to track well when he feels safe in his environment, so good socialisation is necessary.
You must also train your horse in such a way that he is not afraid to take initiative on his own and that he has the courage to follow a trail with you following instead of leading. Another guiding principle is, of course, that the handler must have or acquire knowledge of learning techniques, motivations, and emotions in order to gauge which subsequent steps he will take when it comes to tracking with his horse.
Rachaël: “I think tracking should be an integral part of our lives with horses, regardless of the horse’s level of training. Every horse, owner, handler, trainer, and behavioural therapist can benefit from its many rewards.”
Pictures:
Picture caption: Rachaël follows Vosje during a tracking session in the arena. Photographer: Gijs Timmers Photography
Picture caption: Indy follows a trail in the arena. Rachaël follows her. Photographer: Gijs Timmers Photography
Picture caption: Ristin and Indy working in the woods. Indy is following my footprints and has almost found me!
The first time: Henk Jan, Hope’s owner, rides her while she tracks in the arena.
Picture caption: Vosje found a plastic container with a banana in it and is bringing it to the surface with a single scrape.
Author:
Rachaël Draaisma is a renowned equine behavioural consultant and author who has revolutionized our understanding of horse communication. After beginning her career as a dog trainer in 2002, she expanded her expertise to horses, conducting groundbreaking research on equine calming signals. Her 2017 book "Language Signs and Calming Signals of Horses" has been translated into multiple languages, including Chinese, Czech, Dutch, French, and Polish. Draaisma pioneered innovative methods in equine mental stimulation and scent work, detailed in her 2021 book "Scentwork for Horses."
She travels globally as an international lecturer and workshop leader, sharing her expertise with universities and educational institutions. Her work focuses on understanding horse body language and tension levels and developing methods to expand horses' comfort zones. Draaisma is a patron of International Equine Professionals and Nurtured in Nature CIC, continuing to advance equine behavioural science through her ongoing research and educational programs.