Psychology Wiki

Horse behavior

Redirected from Practical equine psychology

34,200pages on
this wiki




Nonetheless, because their physiology is also suited to the accomplishment of a number of work- and entertainment-related tasks, humans domesticated horses thousands of years ago and they have served humans ever since. Through selective breeding, some breeds of horses have been bred to be quite docile, particularly certain large draft horses. 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 as herd animalsEdit

Mustang Utah 2005 2

Free-roaming mustangs (Utah, 2005)

Horses are highly social herd animals that prefer to live in a group. Like all creatures, equine social behavior developed to help the species survive.


When anxiety over separation occurs while a horse is being handled by human, the horse is called being "herd-bound". However, through proper training, horses learn to be comfortable away from other horses, often because they learn to trust a human handler, essentially ranking humans as a dominant member of a "herd."

Herd behavior in the wildEdit

Feral and wild horse herds are usually made up of small bands led by a dominant mare, containing additional mares, their foals, and immature horses of both sexes. There is usually one herd stallion, though occasionally a few less-dominant males may remain with the group.

Horse "herds" in the wild are best described as groups of several small bands who share a common territory. Bands are usually on the small side, as few as three to five animals, but sometimes over a dozen. The makeup of bands shifts over time as young animals are driven out of the band they were born into and join other bands, or as young stallions challenge older males for dominance. However, in a given closed ecosystem such as the isolated refuges in which most wild horses live today, to maintain genetic diversity the minimum size for a sustainable wild horse or burro population is 150-200 animals.[1]

Hierarchical structureEdit

Survival dictates that the herd members ultimately cooperate and stick together. As with many animals that live in large groups, establishment of a stable hierarchy or "pecking order" is important to smooth group functioning. Contention for dominance can be risky since one well-placed kick to a leg could cripple another horse to such an extent that it would be defenseless, exposed, and possibly unable to get to food or water. Therefore, another job of higher-ranked animals is to exercise control and moderate aggressive behavior in the herd.

In times of stress, whether from predators or extreme weather, the center of the herd is the safest because it offers the most protection from the elements and is further away from predators than any other part. Because of this, "punishment" of misbehaving members is sometimes delivered in the form of expulsion from the herd--temporarily or sometimes permanently.

Most young horses in the wild are allowed to stay with the herd until sometime in their yearling or 2-year old year, when they reach full sexual maturity. Studies of wild herds have shown that the herd stallion will usually drive out both young colts and fillies. This probably is an instinct that prevents inbreeding, so that the herd stallion does not mate with his own female offspring. The fillies usually join another band in fairly short order, and the young colts driven out from various herds usually join together for safety in small "bachelor" groups until they are each able to establish dominance over an older stallion in another herd.

Role of the lead mareEdit

Contrary to human anthropomorphism, the traditionally portrayed the dominant stallion as the ruler of a "harem" of females, the actual leader of a wild or feral herd is the alpha or dominant mare, commonly known as the "boss mare" or "lead mare." She is usually one of the more mature animals, responsible for the overall safety of the herd, familiar with the terrain and resources available. She takes the lead when the herd travels, determines the best route, when to move from one place to another, and claims the right to drink first from watering holes and stake out the best location for grazing.

Role of the herd stallionEdit

As a rule, the edge of the herd is where the lowest animals in the herd's social order are found, but also is the domain of the herd stallion, who must fight off both predators and other males. When the herd travels, the stallion brings up the rear, watching for predators and driving straggling herd members on, keeping the group together. By living on the periphery of the herd, exposed to weather, predators, and other risks, the herd stallion endures a somewhat vulnerable existence. His value to the herd exists only as long as he is healthy and can retain his dominance. Because there are generally younger, unattached stallions about, he can be challenged and replaced by a stronger successor at any time.

Interestingly, a herd stallion will occasionally tolerate one young stallion to live at the edge of the herd, possibly as a sort of designated successor, even though the young horse will eventually gain mastery over the older stallion and claim the herd.

Ratio of stallions and maresEdit

Biologically, and depending on the physical environment available to a herd in the wild, there is only a need for one stallion for every 10 to 20 mares, though most bands are smaller than this. Domesticated stallions, with careful human management, often "cover" more mares in a year than is possible in the wild. Traditionally, Thoroughbred stud farms limited stallions to breeding between 40 and 60 mares a year. Today, by carefully breeding mares only when at the peak of their Estrous cycle, a few thoroughbred stallions have "covered" over 200 mares per year. With use of technologies such as artificial insemination one stallion could sire thousands of offspring annually, though in actual practice, economic considerations usually limit the number of foals produced.[2]

Domesticated stallion behaviorEdit

Main article: Horse breeding

Some horse breeders keep horses in semi-natural conditions, allowing a single stallion to run with a group of mares referred to as "pasture breeding," and keep young stallions who are not of breeding age in a separate "bachelor herd." While this has advantages of less intensive labor for human caretakers, and full time turnout may be psychologically healthy for the horses, pasture breeding presents a risk of injury to valuable breeding stock, both stallions and mares, particularly when unfamiliar animals are added to the herd. It also raises questions of when or if a mare is bred, and may also raise questions as to parentage of ensuing foals. Thus, keeping stallions in a natural herd is not particularly common, especially on breeding farms standing multiple stallions to outside mares. It is more often seen on farms with closed herds; only one or a few stallions with a stable mare herd and few, if any, outside mares.

More often, mature domesticated stallions are commonly kept by themselves in a stable or small paddock with a strong, high fence that prevents escape.

When multiple stallions, especially animals who are unfamiliar to each other, are stabled together, such as at large breeding farms, horse shows or at a racetrack, they are usually kept from smelling or touching one another. If they have access to paddocks, there often is a corridor between the paddocks so the stallions cannot touch or sniff one another. Stallions are often kept well away from mares as well, except when breeding, both to avoid unintentional or unplanned matings, but also to minimize their instincts to fight one another for dominance when in the presence of mares.

However, even stallions have a need for social contact with other creatures, and isolation can lead to stable vices. To alleviate this problem, some stallions, though not all, do well when stabled with a non-horse companion, such as a gelded donkey or a goat. (The Godolphin Arabian was said to be particularly fond of a barn cat). While many domesticated stallions become too aggressive to tolerate the close presence of any other male horse without fighting, some tolerate a gelding as a companion, particularly one that has a very calm, unflappable temperament. One example of this was the racehorse Seabiscuit, who lived with a gelding companion named "Pumpkin." Other stallions may tolerate the close presence of an immature and thus less dominant stallion.

When stallions are stabled in such a way that they can both see each other and touch nose to nose, such as through bars or a grill, they will challenge one another. Strange stallions are not stabled in this fashion due to risk of injury and disruption to the rest of the stable. However, some farms feel that social contact benefits stallions and with careful management can keep generally well-tempered stallions who will be kept together for a long period of time in closer proximity. Usually, in these settings more dominant animals are kept apart by a young or less dominant stallion in the stall between them. Sometimes a stallion raised in isolation from other horses cannot be stabled in this fashion at all due to aggressive behavior. This method of stabling is generally used only by experienced stable managers.

Dominance in domesticated herdsEdit




Horses communicate in various ways, including vocalizations such as nickering, squealing or whinnying; touch, through mutual grooming or nuzzling; smell; and body language. Body language is probably the predominant means of communication. Horses use ear position, neck and head height, movement, and foot stomping or tail swishing to communicate with each other. Discipline is also maintained in the herd first through body language and gestures, then, if needed, through physical contact such as biting, kicking, nudging, or other means of forcing a misbehaving herd member to move. In most cases, the animal that successfully causes another to move is dominant, whether is uses just body language or adds physical means.

Horses and humansEdit

White horse

Horse human interaction

Horses are creatures of habit and have excellent memories, which make consistent training extremely important to the horse. Untrained young horses, even with top bloodlines, can be bought for relatively little money compared to those with training. Once a horse is started under saddle and demonstrates that it is trainable, ridable and has some athletic talent for its work, the price easily triples.

To a wild horse, humans are usually viewed as potential predators. However, horses are also innately curious and may investigate any creature that is interesting but not threatening.







Sleep patternsEdit


When horses lie down to sleep, others in the herd remain standing, awake or in a light doze, in order to keep watch. Here, the dominant mare is standing, a younger mare is laying down





Horses must lie down to reach REM sleep. They only have to lie down for an hour or two every few days to meet their minimum REM sleep requirements.[7] 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.[9] This condition differs from narcolepsy, though horses may also suffer from that disorder.[10]

Horses sleep better when in groups because some animals will sleep while others stand guard to watch for predators. A horse kept entirely alone will not sleep well because its instincts are to keep a constant eye out for danger.[7]

Psychological disordersEdit

Main article: Stable vices



  1. Wild Horse Genetic Diversity and Viability: Management Toward Extinction
  2. Bergstein, Stan. "We Have the Technology..." originally published in Daily Racing Form, March 12, 2002.
  4. Do Horses Sleep Standing Up? Web site, accessed March 23, 2007
  5. How Horses Sleep Web Site, accessed March 23, 2007
  6. "How can horses sleep when standing?" Web site, accessed March 23, 2007
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 "How Horses Sleep, Pt. 2 - Power Naps" Web site, accessed March 23, 2007
  8. "Did you hear the one about the policeman's horse?" Web site, accessed March 23, 2007
  9. Equine Sleep Disorder videos. Web site accessed March 23, 2007

See alsoEdit

External links Edit


Around Wikia's network

Random Wiki