EP 152: Behavior Motivators for Horses

About this episode

This episode discusses the six primary behavior motivators for horses and how understanding them can lead to better horse care and cooperation.

There are six primary behavior motivators for horses: 1) Food 2) Water 3) Safety 4) Comfort 5) Companionship 6) Reproduction To understand why a horse does something (good, bad, or indifferent), it is important to first think of the behavior as belonging to one of these six categories. When you identify which of the six motivators are influencing your horse in any given moment, it becomes much, much easier to meet their needs. And, when you meet their needs, they become much more cooperative. And yes, we want cooperation, not control. Listen in!

People in this episode

Host: Helena Harris

Topics covered

• horse behavior
• animal motivation
• equine care
• horsekeeping
• animal welfare

Keywords

• behavior motivators
• horses
• animal behavior
• equine
• horse care
• needs
• cooperation

More episodes of Stall and Stable: Ideas for Happy Horsekeeping

• EP 153: Horse Welfare and Behavior Discussion with Buck & Helena · February 1, 2026 · 1h 5m
• EP 151: What Happened to Helena? · June 8, 2025 · 28 min
• EP 150: Goodbye and Thank You, I'm Off to Learn Nerdy, Cool Things · August 19, 2024 · 37 min
• EP 149: Understanding Horses from Their Point of View · August 7, 2024 · 44 min
• EP 148: Triple Crown Spotlight July 2024 · August 1, 2024 · 30 min
• EP 147: The Snuffle Pasture for Stabled Horses · July 24, 2024 · 35 min