CHAPTER 30. Behavior
Rebecca S. McConnico
SOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF THE HORSE
I. Wild or feral horses live in two types of herds or bands
A. Family bands (or harem bands): Made up of a group of mares and their offspring, led by a dominant male stallion. Offspring are usually younger than 3 years of age. Bands are as large as 20 herd mates or as few as three. Multimale bands have one dominant male and larger numbers. Young fillies leave the herd at the onset of sexual maturity or remain in the band and may be bred by their sires
B. Bachelor bands are unstable in make up and vary in size from 1 to 16. Young males either leave the herd on their own, or they are run off by aggressive stallions
II. Behavior types
A. Aggression
1. Dominance aggression: Defined as behavior that causes injury to another or that may be followed by injury to another to establish superiority
a. Examples of dominant behavior
(1) Bite
(2) Threat to bite
(3) Head strike
(4) Chase
(5) Supplant
(6) Squeel
(7) Bunt
(8) Tail swish
(9) Smack
b. Used to establish pecking order in a herd
(1) New horse susceptible to injury when introduced into a new herd situation
(2) Feeding stations can affect or bring out aggression
(3) Small pasture or paddocks can contribute to aggression
2. Pain-induced or fear aggression
a. Horse behavior is either fight or flight. If a horse cannot flee, it will often switch to fight
b. Common situation associated with veterinary care
c. Veterinarian should have good restraint (halter) and then incur as little pain as possible
d. If veterinarian-associated aggression occurs with a horse, counter conditioning or “desensitization” techniques may be effective
(1) Desensitization involves exposing the horse to fear-inducing stimulus at a very low level that does not give the same response
(2) Counter conditioning involves inducing a response that is behaviorally and physiologically incompatible with the undesired response (such as grooming and causing relaxation)
3. Intermale aggression
a. Aggression between intact males
b. Remedied by gelding males, who will not be used for breeding
4. Sexual aggression: Diestrous and anaestrus mares will kick, bite, or strike at males who try to come near them
5. Maternal aggression: Foals older than a month of age begin to socialize with others and are sometimes met with aggression of mares protecting their own offspring
6. Learned aggression
a. Aggressive behavior followed by a given result; for example, a horse turns hindquarters toward human bringing a saddle or bridal into the stall; horse nips or nibbles when constantly given candy or treats
b. Use positive reinforcement
B. Affiliative
1. Associating with other horses in general
2. Allogrooming: Mutual grooming
a. Withers
b. Back
c. Shoulder
d. Dorsal edge of neck
C. Sexual behavior
1. Mare in full estrus
2. Clitoral winking
3. Tail raising
4. Urination
5. Mare may compete with another mare
6. Stallion will have nasal or oral contact with vaginal secretions, and urine and will then show the flehmen response
7. Stallion sexual behavior problems include ejaculatory failure, excessive aggression, low interest or slow arousal, masturbation, bouncing the penis against the belly, sour or stale attitude, overuse or traumatic experiences, and inconsistent performance; some stallions require a specific human to become sexually aroused
D. Maternal behavior
1. Parturition (in Northern hemisphere it occurs in April, May, June)
a. First-stage labor: Uterine contractions are occurring before chorioallantois rupturing
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