Horses have spent 55 million years evolving as prey species. One may immediately recognize that horses have a “fight or flight” response. This is the extent of many equestrians’ equine behavior knowledge.
But what other behaviors can we witness in horses? How do they interact in a herd, determine who’s in charge, or form relationships? Read on to find out!
To start to get a better understanding of equine behavior, let’s examine how horses exist in the wild. Horses exist in a social hierarchy (“pecking order”) both in the wild and domestically. Let’s consider why that is:
- Protection – someone needs to defend the herd from predators
- Resource allocation – someone has to determine how much food each member of the herd gets
- Procreation – someone has to breed to produce the next generation
- Movement – someone has to decide where and when the herd will move
The next thing we need to examine is who does all these things in the herd. Typically, a herd contains one dominant (alpha) mare, one dominant stallion, subordinate mares, and offspring.
The alpha mare is typically an older, established mare whose main role in the herd is leading. She determines where and when the herd moves and is always in front of the herd.
The dominant stallion usually doesn’t last very long as he has to prove his worth by fighting off other males. His roles include breeding the mares, protecting the herd, and driving the herd. It is his job to make sure that everyone sticks together.
Subordinate mares are simply other mares in the herd that have less “decision-making roles”. Wild herd hierarchy rarely shuffles by fighting. It only changes through new member addition or when a member dies.
Offspring include colts and fillies that stay with their mothers for 1-2 years. Then, they are either driven off by the stallion or simply leave to join/establish their own herds. This helps prevent inbreeding in the herd.
10 Categories of Equine Behavior
1. Reactive
I would believe that this is the main behavior numerous equestrians are familiar with. Reactive behavior is any behavior that allows a horse to adjust to changes and stimuli in their environment.
Your horse hears a sudden twig snap? They will most likely want to get away from that noise. It all ties back to horses being prey animals. Most horses will be highly reactive to new stimuli.
Reactive behavior is also subtly expressed through ear movement. A horse’s ears prick up and acknowledge noises. This equine behavior is beneficial when we are trying to get that perfect photo by crinkling a peppermint wrapper. š
Communication and vocalization are also included in this category. As herd animals, horses will alert their fellow herd members to any dangers they sense. Snorting, whinnying, and squealing are all examples of these.
2. Caregiving/Seeking
This behavior, also known as “Epimiletic behavior”, includes swatting flies for each other, nibbling necks (grooming), licking, whinnying or nickering for each other, and foal nursing.
All of these behaviors increase the bond between herd members and can be seen even when horses are with other animals. Horses can demonstrate these behaviors with non-equine companions such as goats, sheep, cattle, and even chickens!
3. Agonistic
Not to be confused with antagonistic, this equine behavior includes any reactions associated with conflict and fighting. Horses often demonstrate these behaviors through pinned ears, flared nostrils, kicking, biting, striking, and holding heads up high.
Horse fights often involve one horse kicking another. The kick receiver will often exhibit a tightened neck and clamp their tail to their butt, tucking it under to lessen the blow.
4. Ingestive
This equine behavior includes eating, drinking, and, for foals, suckling. The average horse weighs 1000 pounds and will consume 2% of its bodyweight per day. That’s 20 pounds of dry matter! Per day!
In order to consume this amount of feed, horses generally spend the majority of their day eating. Wild horses spend approximately 19 hours a day grazing.
It is important to understand that they do not consume a lot of feed at one time. They graze slowly throughout the day (hence the long grazing time).
5. Eliminative
This behavior simply includes urination and defecation. There isn’t much to say about this behavior. On average, horses defecate around 50 pounds per day. That’s a lot of manure! No wonder those dry lots get so messy so fast.
As for urination, horses will urinate around 2 gallons per day. Interestingly, racehorses are often taught to urinate on command or given diuretics before races. This is because there can be a 10 pound difference in the horse’s weight before and after they urinate. Crazy!
6. Sexual
This behavior includes breeding behaviors which differ for the mare and the stallion. Stallion exhibit sexual behavior through vocalizing, sniffing, nuzzling, nipping, and pushing against the mare. Stallions also often flex their necks and exhibit a flehman response.
As for sexual behavior in mares, we often see vocalizing, urinating, “winking” of the vulva (visual stimuli for the stallion), and standing calmly for the stallion to mount. When mares are not in heat and the stallion propositions them, they typically do not respond well and often give him a little bit of a butt whooping.
7. Investigative
This type of behavior is exhibited any time a horse is in a new environment or is introduced to a novelty. Horses will often move their ears forward, sniff, paw, or nibble.
You may notice this behavior when your horse is checking to see if you have any treats in your pocket. They will move their lip on your jacket near your pockets or even pull on you. This is all investigative behavior. They are investigating if you have any more snacks.
8. Mimicry
Also known as allelomimetic behavior, mimicry is one of the easiest behaviors to spot among horses. This includes horses “copying” other horses’ behavior which is learned at a young age.
This behavior is extremely important because it increases bonding within the herd. Examples of this behavior include multiple horses rolling, laying down, drinking, or walking in a line.
9. Self-Grooming
Besides mutual grooming, horses also enjoy grooming themselves. According to Enriching Equines, “horses groom themselves to scratch itches, remove parasites, and generally improve the condition of their skin and coat”.
You may observe your horses rubbing on a tree, shaking their heads at insects, or rolling in the dirt/mud. These are all examples of self-grooming and are important for a horse’s physical and psychological well-being.
10. Sleep and Rest
Horses sleep in two different ways. “Brain sleep” or slow-wave sleep occurs when the brain emits slower electrical waves but the muscles are not relaxed. This way, by “locking” their knees, horses are able to sleep standing up.
The other kind of sleep is known as “body sleep” or REM sleep and is a true, deep sleep. Horses typically spend 2 hours per day in brain sleep and 2-3 hours a day for REM sleep. In order to achieve true REM sleep, the horse must be laying down on their side.
Importance of Understanding Equine Behavior
I assume that most of my readers will be interacting with horses or already do on a daily basis. An understanding of equine behavior is necessary in order to work with horses safely and effectively.
Think of it as trying to learn something from someone who doesn’t speak your language. Things would be much easier if you had a basic understanding of their language. Same goes for horses. Things go a lot smoother when you have some semblance of how horses behave and interact with the world around them.
I would love to go more in depth on equine behavior in the future but I hope this gave you a small introduction into the topic.
Thank you so much for reading about the basics of equine behavior. Let me know if any of the information in this post surprised you! Iād love to hear from you.
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