Donkeys and me: equine behaviourist, Ben Hart

Ben Hart is an Equine Behaviourist and the Senior Lead in Behaviour and Human Behaviour Change at The Donkey Sanctuary. He shares with us why understanding the science of human behaviour is the only way to improve welfare for animals.

What does your work involve?

I lead a behaviour team who engage across the Sanctuary and globe with people whose donkeys have behavioural issues. We give the donkey a better experience by encouraging people’s understanding of donkey behaviour. 

Behaviour is in everything we do, from direct interventions, to culture change and educational work, to give people a better understanding of animal sentience and perception of the world from the animal’s point of view.

In practice, we are out working with donkeys and equid hybrids helping them learn, and overcome behaviour issues they have picked up on their journey. We answer emails from individuals all over the world that say, “My donkey does this. What can I do?”. We also are involved in wider projects, inside and outside the organisation, that have a behaviour or human behaviour element.

Outside the Sanctuary, I do the same, just with a different title. I’m an equine behaviourist and my elevator pitch is that I help organisations, animals and individuals reach their potential through understanding learning and behaviour. It involves the same sorts of things - educational work, teaching, and encouraging people to try new things.

My specialist element in both roles is human behaviour change. It’s about understanding the practical application of the science of changing human behaviour - this is core to all the work I do.

Are there behavioural differences between horses and donkeys?

There are definite behavioural differences between horses, donkeys, mules and hinnies, based on their evolutionary ancestry. Much of our work involves highlighting this difference, as the donkey appears to be a small horse with big ears. 

People misread their behaviour, because they’re trying to read them on the horse body language scale. It’s where their reputation for being stubborn comes through, and it’s completely unjust. It’s a misunderstanding of their more subtle, minimal body language, stoic nature and sense of self-preservation.

However, if we apply the science of behaviour for learning, then the behaviour of horses and donkeys is not that different. 

The science of behaviour applies to everything, whether we’re talking about children, people learning at work, the donkey or the dog. The motivations might be different - it’s harder to get a child to work for a carrot than it is a donkey - but it is the same principles of positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and shaping behaviour.

When we’re using the science of behaviour, we tend to be working at what I would loosely call ‘mule level’. There’s an old saying which is, ‘You can tell a horse what to do, you have to ask a donkey and you negotiate with a mule’.

The science of behaviour means that we’re always negotiating with all three species. And, therefore, it isn’t really any different to train a donkey or a horse.

Is the science of behaviour on an individual or species level?

Species level is your foundation - “What does a dog do, what does a horse do, what does a donkey do?”

Then there are breed differences. Your spaniel behaves differently from your greyhound, your cob from your thoroughbred, your poitou from your miniature donkey. And then, at the top, there’s the individual differences based on genetics, history, experience, current environment and all those sorts of things.

The science of behaviour takes you into that top level, which is, “What does this individual animal experience of the world? What’s their perception? What do they need as an individual?”

Behaviour change sounds like it takes time to get right.

Donkey handlers sometimes expect donkeys to get over their fears - of the farrier, vet, trailer, or anything else - pretty rapidly. But most humans carry around fears that they have had for years, perhaps a lifetime, and have never sought to remove them. We’re asking donkeys to do things that we have not done ourselves.

If you had a public speaking phobia, we can help you but it takes time. You wouldn’t like me to do it by putting you in front of a crowd of 100 people to get you started. 

Similarly, if you had a fear of spiders, would you trust me if I lost my patience and threw a spider at you partway through the training? So what happens when we lose our patience with our donkey and try to force them to do what they clearly fear? We lose all the trust.

What is the relationship between behaviour work and consent?

There is a tension between complete consent and the need for treatment and care, because our donkeys live in domestic environments. We need to trim their feet, check their teeth and give vaccinations. If we’re really honest, there isn’t complete consent because the donkey would say no. 

What we have to do is try to make the experience of the things that have to be done as positive as possible. Then everything else that isn’t necessary becomes about consent, like taking them for a walk or pulling a cart. If they don’t want to, then they’re probably not suited to it.

How did you end up working in this field?

My father was a policeman but he was into heavy horses. I grew up around Percherons, which are a French breed of heavy horse, and other livestock and animals. I always helped friends with horses. I didn’t know what I was doing, but if I took enough time and was patient enough, we could make improvements. 

I was fortunate enough to get a chance to work with a famous “horse whisperer” in America. That’s when the learning started, because I had the best teachers - not people but the horses themselves. I had access to a lot of equines from mustangs to racehorses to thoroughbreds to Arabs. That’s where I discovered the difference between training methods and the science of behaviour.

I was working with an Arab halter horse. They’re taught in conflict, afraid they’re going to get hit. This horse had been third in the National Championships as a yearling. He was worth a lot of money for breeding, but he’d stopped being able to be trained. The trainer’s method at the time for a horse that bit, was to gently tap them on the coronet band of the hoof with your foot to disrupt the flow of information.

He bit me. I tapped his coronet band, then a second time, a third time. I thought, “I’m training horses”, you know. Fourth time I probably thought I was a horse whisperer or something. And the fifth time, he just looked me in the face, bent down and bit my foot. 

That’s the moment that changed my life. It led me into looking at the science of behaviour, because I suddenly figured out I better have 10 different solutions to one problem, rather than the method approach of having one solution to 10 different problems.

I started learning, reading, working with the animals, and applying the principles from textbooks. Everything was self-taught. When I started, which was 25 years ago, there weren’t really courses available to become a behaviourist. This is where my interest in practical application came in. There can be really long words in science papers, but what does that mean when you’re holding a horse that wants to bite you, what do you actually do?

I also soon discovered that to work with equine behaviour, you had to work with human behaviour. Some trainers will say that humans are always the problem. I say that they are always part of the solution.

In order to improve animal, donkey and horse welfare, you have to work with the human. The owners deserve the same respect and understanding that I’m giving to the animal. We look at where someone is in their journey, their confidence levels, and how we can talk to them in a way to meet them where they are and as who they are.

When I returned to the UK, The Donkey Sanctuary asked if I worked with donkeys and I said, “I don’t know, let’s find out.” I spent a couple of years working with them and studying, then the opportunity came to take up a role.

Do you find that your work is similar across the world?

Yes and no. We’re all humans, so we have fears, worries and concerns. 

One challenge is when I say I’m going abroad for work, people in the horse world in the UK will often say, “Oh it’s terrible how they treat their animals. They whip them.” Yes they do, but sometimes they are doing that because they feel they need to get the work done to avoid being whipped themselves or to feed their family. You can go to a show anywhere in the UK and people are whipping their horse just to win a rosette. 

You can apply the same to food. “They don’t feed their animals.” You might be feeding a load of cereals and your horse is fat. That’s also a welfare issue. 

“They hobble their animals.” And you keep yours in a stable 23 hours a day. There are welfare issues wherever you go. It’s how you look at those, and try and educate in different ways.

Wherever you go in the world, humans are trying to figure it out. It’s important not to judge, nobody, in my opinion, is trying to do the wrong thing. But generally, as a species, we don’t like to change, and when we try to change we feel uncomfortable.

What do you enjoy the most about your work?

Seeing animals and people reach their potential. Whatever that is, at whatever level. 

The stories you get back from people who have done the work and now are able to do something they couldn’t do before, like their donkeys having the farrier visit without being fearful. That’s the biggest driver for me.

What would you like to see happen now?

The equine world’s understanding of behaviour is changing, but I would really like to see a much greater understanding, and much more acceptance, of equines as sentient individuals that take time to overcome problems.

It’s tough seeing animals that have had a fear for 10 years where, if people had reached out for help nine years ago, the problem would be gone. I’d like people to reach out earlier, and get help, support and resources from The Donkey Sanctuary. Sometimes they don’t need a full behavioural visit, just the piece of information that fits their jigsaw - “That’s why he is doing it, okay I got it, I’m away.”

I’d really like to put myself out of a job, where we don’t need behaviourists because everyone has got it!