01/12/2025
I have borrowed this from a horse training site. It provides a brilliant explanation of polyvagal theory, one of the underpinning theories of my therapeutic work at Ayla therapies. While the post references co-regulation between horses and humans in a training partnership, the same connection is present in all mammalian relationships - and particularly interesting if applied to our relationships with children.
Most people underestimate what actually happens in the brain when stress, fear or overwhelm hits. We often talk about “mindset,” “self-control,” or “staying calm,” as if these are conscious choices always available. But biology doesn’t work that way.
There is a predictable, measurable sequence that occurs in any mammal under threat:
the limbic system takes control,
and higher-order thinking becomes limited or unavailable.
Once this shift happens, neither humans nor horses can reason, learn, or “behave better.” The body has already decided that survival comes first.
In humans, the prefrontal cortex is the seat of reasoning, planning, impulse control and reflective thinking. People assume it’s always accessible, but it only functions well when the nervous system feels safe.
During high sympathetic arousal -the classic fight-or-flight response - neural activity shifts away from the prefrontal cortex toward the faster, reactive survival circuits. Blood flow changes, stress hormones surge, and processing becomes rapid and instinctive rather than thoughtful.
Psychology sometimes calls this an amygdala hijack. It isn’t a literal hijacking, but it’s a helpful shorthand for limbic dominance overriding the slower, deliberate thinking pathways.
This is why a person in panic cannot “think their way out of it.”
Their thinking brain isn’t available.
Their biology is louder than your words.
So what happens in Dorsal Vagal | Shutdown?
In dorsal vagal states - freeze, collapse, dissociation - cognitive access is also reduced, but for different reasons. Instead of hyperarousal, the system goes into metabolic conservation. Energy and neural resources withdraw. Sensation dulls. Awareness shrinks. The person disconnects internally and externally.
Different pathway. Same outcome: limited access to higher cognition.
This isn’t a behavioural choice - it’s an autonomic reflex.
Horses also have an amygdala and limbic system that guide their threat responses. But their cognitive architecture is not like ours. They do not rely on a human-like prefrontal cortex for abstract reasoning, conceptual interpretation or narrative processing.
Their cognition is:
• immediate
• sensory-driven
• movement-oriented
• deeply tied to safety
So when a horse enters a sympathetic state - the spook, bolt, brace, reactive movement, heightened startle - nothing is being “hijacked.” There is no “thinking brain” to override in the human sense.
Their survival circuits simply take full priority.
They are not being stubborn or disrespectful.
They are over their THRESHOLD.
A horse in a limbic-driven state may respond to pressure or cues, but that isn’t learning. That is reflex. Behavioural compliance in high arousal happens through survival reflexes, not understanding.
High sympathetic activation produces:
• reflexive movement
• startle responses
• defensive behaviours
• impulsive decisions
Learning requires access to exploratory, social, perceptive pathways - the parts of the brain that only activate when the nervous system is regulated enough.
A horse in a survival state is not being disobedient. They are being biologically accurate.
Why does your nervous system matter to your horse?
When a horse is overwhelmed, they look for safety cues through:
• your breathing
• your muscle tension
• your posture
• your rhythm and movement
• your internal steadiness or lack of it
This is supported by research on social buffering and emotional contagion in herd animals. Horses read nervous systems, not instructions. If you escalate - tightening, shouting, pulling, bracing - you amplify the horse’s threat response. Their system mirrors yours.
Regulation is not passivity.
It’s grounded action instead of reactive action.
When you regulate:
• their heart rate shifts
• their startle threshold lowers
• their sensory field widens
• curiosity reappears
• movement becomes organised instead of chaotic
The nervous system returns to learning only when it feels safe.
You cannot instruct it back into place.
Why "CALM DOWN" doesn't work us or horses...
A person in panic cannot access higher reasoning.
A horse in sympathetic overload cannot “listen” or process cues.
Calm is not a command. Calm is a physiological state.
You cannot talk someone out of limbic dominance.
You cannot train a horse out of survival activation.
Both systems must come back into regulation first.
And for horses, the fastest pathway back to regulation is your nervous system.
This is an important nuance: Learning doesn't only happen in calm.
There is a healthy, regulated form of sympathetic activation where learning thrives - alert, engaged, energised, curious. The body is active, but the system is not overwhelmed.
This is where:
• play
• exploration
• liberty
• movement-based learning
• athletic training
• problem-solving
naturally occur.
Over-arousal shuts learning down. Healthy activation supports it.
The goal is not to force calm. The goal is to stay within the window where the system is “switched on” but still able to process information.
We are not anthropomorphising, we are talking biology here.
Everything described here is grounded in measurable physiology:
• vagal tone
• cortisol levels
• heart-rate variability
• limbic activation
• muscle tension patterns
• attentional narrowing
• metabolic shifts
This is not softness or emotion or opinion. This is mammalian survival architecture.
When you understand this:
• you stop blaming horses for being afraid
• you stop personalising behaviour
• you stop expecting logic in a survival state
• you stop fighting biology
• you start working with the nervous system
This is the foundation of compassionate, ethical, effective horsemanship.
At The Whole Horse Journey, this is exactly what we teach:
work with the nervous system, not against it.
Safety first. Connection first. Biology first.
