Avoidance vs Shut Down

When I taught my nervous system clinic recently, an observation arose from a horse owner that caught me a little off guard. I had to think through it for a while before I realised how the misconception had arisen. The owner was adamant that her horse’s grazing behaviour was a shut down response having heard

The Freeze Response – A Biological Process

An understanding of the nervous system, and it’s most severe response under threat – the immobility response – provides a useful guide for training horses.