Equine Behvaiour

Question 1

what types of groups can be found in horses?

Answer 1

single male harem bands most common
stable hierarchcies - particularly females
multi-male bands, but only dominant stallion breeds
bachelor

Question 2

what are home ranges and why are they needed

Answer 2

spacial ranges that they protect
use it for food source, water and shelter

Question 3

how does the size of the group fluctuate

Answer 3

depends on where they are and climate
the bigger the group the more control they have over resources
- types: mountain and desert groups and island groups (limited resources)

Question 4

what typical behaviours are shown with high insect populations

Answer 4

they are close together to keep from getting bitten

Question 5

what causes changes in groups

Answer 5

death or birth
young moving from one band to another

Question 6

how does age effect group structure

Answer 6

young mares - driven out by older mares or taken by other stallions
young stallions - leave voluntarily or driven out by stallion

Question 7

What happens when ranges overlap

Answer 7

stallions fighting (usually mock fighting) - in confinement where males cannot escape, leads to real fighting and injury

Question 8

what types of hierarchies can be seen

Answer 8

feral - stallions dominant over femals
commericial - sometimes geldings dominant

Question 9

what can rank be effected by

Answer 9

prior fighting experience
skill
strength
stamina
rank appears to be inherited
tollerance and attachment relationships

Question 10

what happens in male to male interactions

Answer 10

dominant stallions do most of the breeding - some younger mares might be allowed to breed with younger stallions
dominant stallions patrols by defending the edges

Question 11

what happens in male-female interactions

Answer 11

mating purposes
more interested by the male preceding oestrus
approaches the mare (high ppsture, exaggerated gait whinnies and nickers)
either accepts

Question 12

what happens in female - female interactions

Answer 12

pair bonds - grooming
big part of group cohesion

Question 13

how do horses see

Answer 13

large eyes on either side of their heads - wide visual field
2 blind spots - right behind, where rider would sit
right infront, what they are eating
they have monocular vision - wide field of vision to watch herd and watch for prey

Question 14

how can head postion effect vision

Answer 14

head down the near vision is good
head up - the horse can see long distances

Question 15

what is the difference between cones and rods

Answer 15

rods - good for night vision, important for predator control and group cohesion during the night period

cones - colours - but large disagreement as to what colours are seen

Question 16

how do horses communicate? what visual signals should you look for

Answer 16

facial movements - relaxing or tensing of muscles around nostile, mouth and chin
clenched jaw, dilated nostrils
fixed stare

Question 17

what levels of aggression are there and what are the signs

Answer 17

mild - lating back both ears and moving mouth towards stimulus (might bite)
tail swish - irritation (if this doesnt work they may kick with back legs )
high arousal state - head and tail held high, elevated paces

Question 18

what does dropping head/tail ?

Answer 18

depression, pain or distress

Question 19

what are the facial expressions

Answer 19

wrinkled nose - before a bite
drooping lower lip - relaxed
shape of mouth, eyelids and nostils can change during certain encounters

Question 20

why do ears rotate

Answer 20

determine the location of sound

Question 21

4 basic types of vocaliztion

Answer 21

nicker - low pitched pulsating, closed mouth (greeting maintaining contact before feeding)
whinny (neigh) - loud
squeal - agressive contacts (mating)
groan - confort or distress and discomfort

Question 22

other sounds

Answer 22

snort
blow

Question 23

what are the smell and taste

Answer 23

scent mark
use scetn to identify their young
groups scents
hating - mares indicate receptivity through pheromones in urine

Question 24

what is smell used for

Answer 24

to identify environemtn - sniff through long nasal passages - intensifies the smell
vomeronasal organ - pheromone detection

Question 25

what are the two types of social groupings

Answer 25

managing sport horses - usually involving exercise control, restricted feeding regimes, restricted housing
housinf ranges - from tethered stalls to range - depends on purpose, cultural conditions availability

Question 26

what is a tie stall

Answer 26

limiting normal behaviour

Question 27

what is a box stall

Answer 27

move better then tie stalls
highly onvinient - cleaned once a day
the horses can see each other

Question 28

what is loose housing

Answer 28

many in a pen
more contact and social behaviour

Question 29

what effects of group size and space allowance

Answer 29

• horses wont stay in groups all their lives
• requires reestablishment of hierarchy
• aggression particularly a problem when supplimentary feed is provided for these changing groups of horses
  aggression increases as space decreases unavoidable confrontations

Question 30

what effect does separation have

Answer 30

breaking social bonds
for breeding practices/ early managment - weening (major trauma)

Question 31

what separation problems occur

Answer 31

stallions do not learn social skills
abnormal breeding - resulting in reduction of interest in male s

Question 32

what abnormal behaviour is present

Answer 32

locomotory or oral stereotypies
separation anxiety, frustration

Question 33

what types of steriotypies can be seen

Answer 33

weaving
eating non food - wind suckling wind sucking, crib biting