Horse behavior

Their first reaction to a threat is often to flee, although sometimes they stand their ground and defend themselves or their offspring in cases where flight is untenable, such as when a foal would be threatened.

On the other hand, most light horse riding breeds were developed for speed, agility, alertness, and endurance; building on natural qualities that extended from their wild ancestors.

Horses evolved from small mammals whose survival depended on their ability to flee from predators (for example: wolves, big cats, bears).

Many of the horse's natural behavior patterns, such as herd-formation and social facilitation of activities, are directly related to their being a prey species.

[6][7][8] Catecholamine hormones, such as epinephrine and norepinephrine, facilitate immediate physical reactions associated with a preparation for violent muscular action.

[20] The reproductive success of the lead stallion is determined in part by his ability to prevent other males from mating with the mares of his harem.

"[25] A recent supplemental theory posits that there is "distributed leadership", and no single individual is a universal herd leader.

With use of artificial insemination, one stallion could potentially sire thousands of offspring annually, though in practice, economic considerations usually limit the number of foals produced.

To avoid stable vices associated with isolation, some stallions are provided with a non-horse companion, such as a castrated donkey or a goat (the Godolphin Arabian was particularly fond of a barn cat[citation needed]).

There are also studies suggesting that a foal will "inherit" or perhaps imprint dominance behavior from its dam, and at maturity seek to obtain the same rank in a later herd that its mother held when the horse was young.

[30] Horses communicate in various ways, including vocalizations such as nickering, squealing or whinnying; touch, through mutual grooming or nuzzling; smell; and body language.

Horses use a combination of ear position, neck and head height, movement, and foot stomping or tail swishing to communicate.

In most cases, the animal that successfully causes another to move is dominant, whether it uses only body language or adds physical reinforcement.

Humans do not always understand this, however, and may behave in a way, particularly if using aggressive discipline, that resembles an attacking predator and triggers the horse's fight-or-flight response.

Human handlers are more successful if they learn to properly interpret a horse's body language and temper their own responses accordingly.

This behavior is often observed in horses while working with humans, where they need to simultaneously focus attention on both their handler and their surroundings.

To focus on an object close by, and especially on the ground, the horse will lower its nose and carry its head in a near-vertical position.

Sometimes ears laid back, especially when accompanied by a strongly swishing tail or stomping or pawing with the feet are signals used by the horse to express discomfort, irritation, impatience, or anxiety.

However, horses with ears slightly turned back but in a loose position, may be drowsing, bored, fatigued, or simply relaxed.

The horse may demonstrate tension or excitement by raising its tail, but also by flaring its nostrils, snorting, and intently focusing its eyes and ears on the source of concern.

Horses, particularly foals, sometimes indicate appeasement of a more aggressive herd member by extending their necks and clacking their teeth.

[34] Horses are able to sleep standing up because a "stay apparatus" in their legs allows them to relax their muscles and doze without collapsing.

In the front legs, their equine forelimb anatomy automatically engages the stay apparatus when their muscles relax.

[35] The horse engages the stay apparatus in the hind legs by shifting its hip position to lock the patella in place.

[37] However, if a horse is never allowed to lie down, after several days it will become sleep-deprived, and in rare cases may suddenly collapse as it involuntarily slips into REM sleep while still standing.

Horses and other equids evolved as grazing animals, adapted to eating small amounts of the same kind of food all day long.

In the wild, the horse adapted to eating prairie grasses in semi-arid regions and traveling significant distances each day in order to obtain adequate nutrition.

[41] Thus, they are "trickle eaters," meaning they have to have an almost constant supply of food to keep their digestive system working properly.

When confined with insufficient companionship, exercise or stimulation, horses may develop stable vices, an assortment of compulsive stereotypies considered bad habits, mostly psychological in origin, that include wood chewing, stall walking (walking in circles stressfully in the stall), wall kicking, "weaving" (rocking back and forth) and other problems.

These have been linked to a number of possible causal factors, including a lack of environmental stimulation and early weaning practices.