THE BASICS OF HORSE BEHAVIOR

Because horses use their senses to interact with their environment, this section includes definitions and a brief overview of horse senses. Horses have unique and fascinating behavioral characteristics which have contributed to their development, survival and present-day value as a companion to people.

The successful 4-H Horse Project member should learn to understand horse behavior, and apply this knowledge to all facets of interaction with horses. 

 Ethology is the scientific study of animal behavior. Technically, ethology is the study of animals in their natural habitat, but most behaviorists agree that the behavioral traits of domestic horses are relatively similar to horses before domestication. 

 Behavior can be defined as the animal’s response to its environment. 

Because domestic horses exist in a relatively controlled environment, their response is fairly predictable.

Several things make a horse unique in the animal kingdom.

 • Horses are strongly social. They are herd animals, which are at a higher comfort level when they maintain a visual contact with other horses.

 • Horses are herbivores. They eat plants. They rely on grazing grasses and leaves for feed.

 • Horses typically show a tendency for imitation between young and old.

 • Horses are seasonal breeders and, as a consequence, foaling patterns occur.

 • Males tend to form a separate male sub-group structure at certain times of the year.

 • Horses are considered prey species within the animal kingdom.

 • Horses are capable of strong pairbond relationships.

Much of what makes a horse behaviorally unique is related to being a herbivore (plant-eating animal) and a prey species. To understand this, consider a how horse’s feeding behavior differs from a carnivore’s (meat-eating animal) feeding behavior. Carnivores spend a greater proportion of their time stalking food and less time consuming food. Horses spend a greater proportion of their time consuming food and less time searching for food. Carnivores typically must attack and subdue their food before consuming it; horses merely graze and browse.

These and many other feeding behavioral traits can be logically assumed to provide a basis for much of what makes horses different from carnivores. Carnivores are aggressive, horses passive. Carnivores are anatomically suited for killing other animals; horses are anatomically ideal for grazing and browsing. Carnivores can kill horses. Horses are less likely to kill carnivores and are more likely to try to escape from a carnivorous threat.

TYPES OF HORSE BEHAVIOR

Animal behaviorists have classified the social behavior of horses (and other animals) into the following categories:

 Contactual Behavior - behavior related to seeking affection, protection or other benefits by contact with other animals.

 Communication behavior (see the section on communication) is sometimes considered as a separate category.

 Ingestive Behavior - behavioral activities associated with eating and drinking.

 Eliminative Behavior - behavioral activities associated with defecation and urination. Sexual Behavior - behavior related to mating between males and females.

 Epimeletic Behavior - behavior related to giving care and attention, most common between a mare and foal, but also between other horses, such as horses standing together under shade and “switching” flies from one another.

 Allelomimetic Behavior - behavior related to mimicry; contagious or infectious behavior such as when one horse copies the behavior of another. If one horse starts running, for example, others are likely to join in. This may be a defense maneuver that is typical of wild horses.

 Investigative Behavior - behavioral activities associated with curiosity; the exploration of the surroundings or objects. Horses are noted for using all their senses to thoroughly “check out” any new item, horse or place with which they are presented.

 Agonistic Behavior - behavior associated with conflict or fighting, including anger, aggression, submission and flight from conflict. Sometimes behaviorists separate this into two categories (aggression and fearfulness).

 Dominance \ Submission - behavioral activities often referred to as “pecking order,” because the early behavioral work in this area was done with poultry. Dominance hierarchies are extremely prevalent in the social order of horses.

 Dominance is generally established through agonistic behavior, and may be extremely violent (such as fighting between stallions) or as simple as threatening looks (ear pinned back, squeals, sudden moves in the direction of the submissive animal). If the lower-ranked (submissive) animal has room to escape, there will often be no contact, and the hierarchy is therefore established or maintained with little or no fighting.

Related Article : Understanding a Horse's Senses