Can Horses Be Bi-polar? By Don Jessop
Can your horse be black and white? What I mean is, can your horse change from one extreme, to another? Is it possible that some horses are bi-polar?
Bi-polar typically means manic/depressive. At least in our human world. The one we call manic leads a person to think they are bullet-proof in a sense. The bio-chemical shift in a persons body who's experiencing the manic state, causes them to believe they can, and probably should, do anything their heart desires. Many fearless entrepreneurs have manic episodes in which they rapidly develop their business. The flip side is depressive, which, in some cases borders on suicidal. My closest friend suffers from manic/depressive swings. And the triggers that set off those swings are still not completely understood. But what it makes me think, is... are some horses burdened with this same bio-chemical disease.
From what animal science I've studied, there are only a few animal species besides humans that have the cognitive understanding of suicide and the ability to go that deep into depression. Dolphins, we now know, have the ability to commit suicide by drowning themselves. (Sorry- not a very nice mental picture.) Horses, on the other hand, in my experience, have never been so depressed that they revert to jumping off a cliff or overdosing on poisonous substances. So I don't think you'd see a horse go from dominant, bomb-proof, energetic, all the way down to suicidal. But I have seen many horses make dramatic swings in mood. So dramatic in fact that I begin to wonder if horses do in fact suffer from a different kind of bi-polar. Such as super confident, to super scared. Like a switch goes off and they don't know how to shut down that natural inclination to save their own life no matter what gets in their path.
These horses can lull you into thinking they are happy, calm, confident, then one day, out of the seemingly blue, they turn on you, and throw you out of the saddle without any thought to your safety or previous training. Then they continue to try to throw the saddle away too. Then they run through the nearest fence and the subsequent fencing in between them and freedom from whatever just grabbed hold of their fragile mind.
I can tell you of only a handful of these extreme horses in my career who I would describe as bi-polar. Most horses, with a little training, realize they can trust the human world to a certain extent and apart from the rare, but natural, kick or buck or bite, they just act like regular horses. I think in most extreme cases, if the horse has any negative history with humans, it might not be bi-polar. It could be chalked up to post traumatic stress dis-order. read my article on horses that suffer from PTSD.
So the answer to, "do horses suffer from bi-polar disease?" is a resounding maybe. I'd like to see some scientists tackle this new question in real clinic trials.
Comment below to tell me your story of drastically emotionally shifting horses. Tell me what you think of the title question.
If you have specific questions. leave them in the comments and I'll respond via email to your request.
6 Responses
Ashton
My horse Willy is definitely bipolar, I’ve know for years and have been working on it with him. he is a 17 year old Morgan section B welsh he is super broke and u can do anything with him. On his good days he is loping around like the Reiner he is with his head on the ground or he does amazing at barrels and then other days he acts like he’s never been lunged before or knows how to work the bit. And he can barely walk in a straight line or do anything but then the next day he switches and is super good. Like he should be super good all the time but I don’t know anymore
Jocilyn
I’m in need of help, I’m at a loss and not sure what to do. I bought a 2 yo filly from a family about a year ago. They had bought her mother already pregnant from an auction lot and had her since the day she was born. One minute she’ll be the sweetest thing in the world and the next she’ll pin you in a corner and try to kick or bite as aggressively as she can. Everyone has gotten after her, she’s had multiple exercising lessons in round pens and on lung line, and she’s been saddled. It doesn’t matter how much each person gets after her. Out of the blue she will just flip a switch, it’s almost stud like behavior. She went after my face when I was trying to tie her in the trailer. I’ve become so let down that no amount of corrective behavior is working, anyone with a tip is welcome to share
NICOLE FOWLER
My sweet girl saharra. She is an 8yo appendix mixed with unknown as she was part of a 2 for 1 deal. Ive had her since the day she was born. She is a perfect example of what i imagine a bipolar horse looks like. She is calm and steady and eager one week. The next she turns and kicks with the intention of harming. One week she ties just fine. The next, she will break the hitching post and throw herself on the ground. Both have happened. There is no rhyme or reason as to why or what builds up to it. I can usually tell when i go to catch her. We ride her regularly and she works both on lunge and in round pen. She really is a gamble.
Now the catch. Sharra was exposed to pzp in utero. Pzp is a form of birth control used on wild horses to control population. The rescue i adopted from requires pzp for 5 years until the horse becomes sterile. Saharra recieved all but her last shot. When i looked into the drug, there have been no studies on domesticated horses. Only wild horses. It is claimed that there are no side effects from the drug. If you are not working with the horse in hand how are you sure there are no impacts?
I love my crazy girl and have learned to read her for the most part amd base my day off what i see. I try to prevent getting in situations where she acts like a demon.
Dian
I am asking the bi-polar question as I have a beautiful pinto Arabian gelding named Chase. He normally responds well to me and loves people, although he is easily spooked when riding him. What really concerns me is that he has periods of acting like a lunatic and going into kicking fits while lunging him. Even went so far as to turn and back up kicking at me, which he has never done before until the other day. He started acting up while riding him also and I am almost afraid of him as far as riding him anymore. I have had horses all my life and trained all my own horses. I am really stumped and upset.
BARBARA STEELE
People who are bipolar can benefit greatly from the simple mineral magnesium. Look at info on Mag.org Almost all symptoms can be alleviated with magnesium. Please tell your friend who is bipolar this! Horses who have odd behaviors like weaving, chewing spooking etc can also benefit from it. As an experiment, I recently gave magnesium to one of my dogs who had become so frightened during thunderstorms which are frequent here that I was afraid he would have a heart attack. I have been putting powdered form of mag on his food and it has helped a great deal. He is now able to keep calm duirng storms. Im enjoying all your blogs. Hopefully life will allow me be more involved in the near future.
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Ginny Augustine
October 02, 2023
I have a 15 yr old old that I’ve had for about 7 yrs. He’s been pastured with an alpha horse that he became extremely attached to even though the alpha horse treated him like crap. Nothing extreme, just mostly just hazing and nipping. Every now and again I would them kick at each other. The alpha horse just passed a few days ago and and this horse went ballistic when we buried him. Just running and whinnying for him for 2 days straight. I found and older very calm, laid back gelding to put in with him and for about 24 hrs they did great. However this morning out of the blue in a split second he turned on the new horse, knocked him down and tried to pin him to the ground. I got him run off of him and within seconds it was like it never happened. He’s always been a little paranoid with some bipolar tendencies but nothing even close to this extreme. I’m still trying to figure it out because there was absolutely no warning before he charged and attacked him.