HORSE BEHAVIOUR

1
HORSE BEHAVIOUR
2
Horse Senses

• Diurnal animals of the day
• Precocial
• Good sensory perception
• Good distance vision, 350 degree vision,60-70
  overlap with 2 eyes giving binocular vision,
  color vision and better night vision than humans
• Olfaction well developed
• Hearing good
• Tactile well developed ppt upper lip and use of
  twitch for counter irritation to aid restraint

3
Horse Behavioural Patterns

• Sleep
• Ingestive
• Sexual
• Maternal
• Social

• Territorial
• Communication
• Aggressive
• Agonistic

4
SLEEP BEHAVIOUR

• Usually 6-7 hours rest/day
• Can sleep standing up stay mechanism but no REM
  sleep while standing
• Spend approx. 2.5 hrs or less in recumbency /day
  but usually not in 1 session, need this for REM
  sleep
• WHY recumbency places a horse in a vulnerable
  position
• Horses usually leap to their feet as soon as they
  hear anything approaching

5
Sleep behaviour cont

• At night a group horses drowse in separate
  periods
• During the day the horse is awake and alert for
  over 80 of the time
• Horse lie down less when ill WHY?
• Horses exhibit deep sleep
• Drowsing is a resting method ( state between
  wakefulness and slow wave sleep
• Average 85 of drowsing in a 24 hr period which
  can be as short as 3.7 minutes

6
Sleep behaviour cont

• It is unusual to see all members of a group of
  horses lying down at one time
• Interruption of the sleep behaviour can be a
  cause of stress

7
INGESTIVE BEHAVIOUR

• Influenced greatly by type food
• For example if fed hay they spend 40 of their
  day eating and if fed concentrates they spend 10
  of the day eating
• If give concentrates eating time reduced and may
  lead to boredom and health problems
• They avoid eating some poisoning plants but not
  all
• Grazing usually daytime activity, most active at
  sunrise, at night occasionally when hot ( avoids
  heat and flies)

8
Ingestive behaviour cont

• Horses walk while they
• graze, taking 1 step at a
• time
• They avoid patches that
• are soiled with urine and feces
• Unless they are a bonded pair,
• they distance themselves from
• each other when grazing in large
• numbers
• Group usually does not split up
• unless there is a food shortage
• Coprophagia normal in foals
• to acquire digestive bacteria

9
(No Transcript)
10
SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR

• Stallions only show interest in a mare when she
  is willing
• She may drift past the stallion with an uplifted
  tail in order for him to smell her urine,
  lowering her pelvis and winking, spreading her
  hindlegs
• The stallion may arch his neck and prance around
  to see how the mare responds
• Stallion may groom her neck and withers,
  scratching, nibbling and nuzzling at her, working
  his way back to her flanks.

11
Sexual behaviour cont

• When she allows him near her rump, he stands to
  one side to avoid the kicks
• The stallion sniffs, licks, nibbles and nips at
  the mares tail and back leg
• The mare may find the stallion too forceful and
  she may stamp, kick or squeal and start high
  stepping and urinating again
• This usually sends the stallion off dancing in
  circles

12
Sexual behaviour cont

• The stallion may hold the mares shoulders in his
  teeth when he mounts
• A vigorous stallion is ready to mate again in 10
  minutes but the pair usually drift apart and mate
  later that day
• Domestic mares have broken out of their pastures
  to look for a stallion
• Domestic mares may refuse to stand when as
  stallion is brought to them as the normal
  courtship behaviours have not been exchanged

13
Sexual behaviour cont

• In the wild a jealous and aggressive mare may
  prevent other mares from mating even if she is
  not in season by chasing them away or standing
  between the stallion and mare
• Wild stallions show a color prejudice to mares
• In domestication they do not usually get a choice
  and this may result in poor reproductive
  performance
• In the wild the stallion separates the mare
  several days before estrus, keeping her under
  surveillance to determine when standing estrus
  occurs
• The herd stallion keeps other males away from the
  mare during this time.
• This may lead to fights between stallions

14
Sexual behaviour cont

• The mares behaviour is altered when she is in
  season such as a reduction in ingestive and
  resting behaviour and an increase in vocal and
  investigative behaviour
• Domestication has resulting in shorter heat
  periods
• Stallions reared in isolation from females can
  experience behavioural problems such as mounting
  other males or other species
• If there is no stallion around the mare may not
  show receptive behaviour even though in season
  may need teasing eg pony

15
Maternal behaviour

• Innate behaviour due to hormones and
  physiological changes
• Once the foal is expelled the mare will then
  smell, touch and lick the foal
• Licking dries and stimulates the foal and
  allows the mare to smell and taste the foal to
  begin the process of imprinting. Early human
  interference can disrupt this process and cause
  foal rejection
• The mare assists the foal to its feet and guides
  the foal to the teats
• It is normal for the mare to leave to foaling
  area after the first feed. It encourages the foal
  to follow and reinforces imprinting and bonding
• The foal stays close to the mother for 1 week and
  suckles at will
• The foal recognizes
• mum by odour and
• whinny ( call )

16
Cont. maternal behaviour

• During this period the mare only grazes when the
  foal is asleep
• Mares are protective of foals- driving of other
  horses or handlers
• After the first few days the closest companions
  of the mare are allowed access to the foal
• As time goes on the mare will start to restrict
  nursing and slightly aggressive towards the foal
  and this cycles continues until the foal is
  weaned
• The foal is responsible for the eventual
  separation
• The mare may relate to the foal for up to 2 years
• Better adjusted foals if reared naturally c/f
  human raising

17
INVESTIGATIVE BEHAVIOUR

• Starts couple hours after birth
• Very acute

18
Social behaviour

• Prefer family groups but do form relationships
  with non- relatives
• In the wild usually 1 stallion to 1-3 mares and
  their offspring
• Have a strong tendency to seek social contact
• Two horses interacting for the first time show
  exploratory behaviour
• Investigating each others head, body and
  hindquarters
• Excessive social contact can result in
  restlessness, fighting and disruption of daily
  routines
• Acceptance/ comfort is lip licking and head
  lowering as if grazing
• SOCIAL animals
• Dominance hierarchy maintained by subtle
  threats, urinating and defecating over the wastes
  of subordinates, gestures such as bumping,
  nipping and refusing to be caught ( done to
  humans to dominate handlers )

19
Social behaviour cont.

• The members of a group like to maintain contact
• Biting of the mane and withers are examples of
  unsettled dominance
• Best not to change social group
• Horses rank humans like other horses
• Very sensitive to touch so humans use this to
  dominate

20
Territorial behaviour

• Seem to have preferred areas but generally do not
  defend it
• Males can mark territories urinate and
  defecate( this also primes the females sexual
  responses by the pheromones liberated at these
  sites) Called elimination behaviour

21
Horse Territorial Behaviour

• Home range
• Core area
• Basal territory
• Individual space
• Social space
• Security space

22
Home range

• Area which the horse or group occupy and patrol,
  wander
• Meets all needs
• Within this range are the other areas
• Domesticated horses may accept a paddock as a
  home range and will stay despite sagging fences
  and open gates if it meets all its needs

23
Core area

• Area of greatest regular use
• Lounging, sheltering, sleeping but not eating

24
Basal territory

• Regular use for grazing, watering and exercising

25
Individual space

• The physical space required for a horse to
  perform basic movements such as lying down,
  rising, standing, stretching and scratching

26
Social space

• This is the minimum distance the horse keeps
  between itself and other horses that are not of
  preferred associate status
• Each horse has a close neighbour and a second
  nearest neighbour which is several meters away
  during non- social activities such as grazing

27
Security space

• This is determined by the flight/fright distance
• The distance a
• horse will allow
• a potential predator
• to approach before
• taking flight

28
Communication behaviour

• Horses can recognise their companions by their
  neighs
• This is important in keeping the group together
• Stallions neighs contain an extra grunt at the
  end
• Squeals heard during courtship is warning the
  male the female is not completely ready to mate
• Squeals and foot stomping on meeting strangers,
  alerts other horses to the presence of strangers

29
Communication behaviour cont

• Snorts
• Alarm and challenge signals
• Alerts rest of herd
• Intimidate opposition
• Screams roars
• Rare occurrence
• Express rage and fear during fighting
• Grunts
• Extreme effort e.g pain or distress

30
Communication behaviour cont

• High Blowing Nose Blowing
• Settled and relaxed
• Body Postures
• Relaxed Horse
• Dozing
• Ears drooping
• Head sagging
• Tail low
• Excited horse
• Pricked ears
• High head
• Arched neck

31
Communication behaviour cont

• Postures cont
• Excited Hose cont
• Swelling of muscles
• High tail
• Tail demonstrations
• Lashings
• Sign of annoyance and irritation, frustration or
  conflict
• Kinked
• Tension
• Ear positions
• Drooping
• Non-attentive
• Turned half back
• Submission
• Flattened backwards
• Frightened horse

32
Communication behaviour cont

• Mouth positions
• Tight mouth
• Fear, upset, conflict confusion
• Saggy mouth
• Dozing relaxed or exhaustion or deep pain
• Nose
• Flared nostrils
• Arousal
• Nose wrinkling
• Annoyance, pain or irritation

33
Communication behaviour cont

• Head movement
• Head thrust
• Aggressive
• Nudge
• Attention seeking
• Shaking
• Remove annoying or frustrating problems e.g. a
  bit in the mouth
• Pheromones
• Urination
• Common when mares in season
• Defecation
• Indicates stallions presence
• Covering of female stools by males to repel
  intruders

34
Aggressive Behaviour

• Uncommon behaviour
• Number of reasons
• Saving energy for other functions
• Decrease risks to animal
• Against the social bond
• Usually manifests around sexual themes
• Colts around mares
• Mare has foaled recently
• Can arise when resources scarce or overcrowding
• Can arise when individuals removed from group
• Door kicking
• Redirected aggression e.g. wood chewing, wind
  sucking or cribbing
• Domestication if not socialized, boredom, poor
  handling lead aggressive behaviour towards humans

35
Abnormal Equine Behaviour

• Crib Biting fix top incisors on solid object,
  then stiffen neck, usually then become wind
  suckers
• Wind Sucking ( aerophagia ) swallow air
• Weaving rhythmic side to side swaying movements
  ( stereotypic behaviour )
• Stall walking, kicking, digging
• Nipping, rearing, striking, rearing, kicking,
  charging, crowding
• Rope and gear chewing
• Eating bedding and faeces ( coprophagia )
• Nervous drinking ( polydipsia nervosa )

36
TREATMENT

• Application of foul tasting chemicals to objects
  used for crib biting
• Prevent access of objects to bite eg collars
  /tethers
• Reduce boredom such as more exercise increase
  eating ( grazing ) time by providing more hay
• Installing radio/television
• Providing pet/ company cat, goat, horses
• Environmental stimulation - hanging bags for hay
• Exercise increase, out of stable to paddock

37
Learning behaviour

• Best trained as a routine for 5 15 minute
  sessions
• Early handling best
• Best to avoid brutal methods

38
Bibliography

• Fraser, F.A. 1992, The Behaviour of the Horse,
  Redwood Press Ltd, Melksham, UK
• Worthington, K.M.1987, The Behaviour of
  Horses, Butler Tanner Ltd, Frome London, UK
• Mills, S.D. Nankervis, J.K 1999, Equine
  Behaviour Principles Practice, MPG Books Ltd,
  Bodmin, Cornwall, UK.