What do you extrapolate from this article? What about trainers who smoke, drink, or eat lots of garlic daily? Does this provide any advantage in that they consistently smell of those things, masking occasional nervousness?
What about women wearing fragrance daily? In J. Frank Dobie’s classic 1952 book, The Mustangs (a non-fiction must read for all horse people), the esteemed author tells of a horse who specifically recognized and responded positively to a woman’s fragrance.
Lastly, horse people who have started mustangs, or horses raised feral, swear those equines respond better when the trainers showed up unshowered. I tried this with a little mare who was almost never handled for her first six years. I remain unsure if it helped, but certainly it did no harm in the process of gaining her trust. (Follow her story on Instagram @alwayszawsa)
#horselifeinlexington wants your comments, thoughts, and experiences on this!