UNDERSTANDING EQUINE BEHAVIOR
Instructor: Dr. Jennifer Williams
Lesson Five
Aggressive and Defensive Behaviors
and
Gender Differences in Behavior
The
previous lessons on the Language of Horses, Feral Horse Behavior, and Herd Dynamics
all give you background to better understand this lesson’s topics: Aggressive and Defensive Behaviors and Gender
Differences in Behavior. Understanding
aggressive and defensive behaviors will help keep you safer around horses, and
understanding gender differences will allow you to better understand why horses
behave differently.
Previous Lesson Summary
In
Lesson Four, we covered two different, yet related, topics: Feral Horse Behavior and Herd Dynamics. Feral
horse behavior is the behavior of mustangs and other horses descended from
domestic horses, but now live as wild horses.
Studying feral horse behavior is important because it shows us how
horses behave in nature, when they’re living without human interference.
In
my opinion, the social structure of
feral horses is one of the most critical things to understand. This explains how horses live together. In the wild, you’ll rarely find a horse
living alone because horses crave companionship and live in groups for
protection against predators. The
overriding social group is the herd which
is made up of all harems, bachelor bands, mare/foal bands, and single
horses living in a particular area.
The members of individual harems and bands don’t group together, but the
herd structure allows individual groups to live in the same territory, sharing
watering holes and movement patterns.
The intra-band dominance (dominance hierarchy between the bands and
harems in a herd) displayed by groups in a herd allows them to come in contact
with less conflict.
We also discussed dominance hierarchy, the roles of various members of the herd, and other behaviors displayed by feral horses. I also covered grazing and resting in feral horses. We reviewed a study by the USGS that found that feral horses spend 45-65% of their time grazing and 20-30% of their time resting. Horses spend more time grazing (and less time resting) on ranges with poor food. When the quality or amount of food is poor, feral horses had to range further to find enough food, and this accounted for the longer time spent grazing. The study found that most feral horses spend between 13 and 18 hours grazing.
Finally,
we examined the life cycle of feral horses.
Identifying the average length of time feral horses live is hard, but
many feral horses are subject to harsh climates, predation, and limited amounts
of nutritious foods. It makes sense that
their life spans are shorter than domestic horses. Some studies estimate that the average feral
horse lifespan is 15-20 years with high mortality rates for foals and older
horses. However, when feral horses live
in protected environments with plentiful food, their average life span is
likely much longer.
Lesson
Four also covered herd dynamics in
domestic horses. Understanding herd dynamics,
or how individual horses in a herd relate to and interact with each other,
helps you make good decisions about how to house horses in your care. Understanding an individual horse’s place in
the herd hierarchy also enables you
to tailor your training and handling methods to best suit his needs.
There
are several positions in domestic horse herds:
·
Herd stallion: He’s in charge of the herd and
provides protection to herd members. If there are no stallions in a domestic herd,
this position may be held by a gelding.
·
Alpha mare: This is the mare that holds top
position in the herd. She gets the best
resources (hay, grain, resting places), and she tells the herd when to move on
and where to go. In herds where there’s
no natural alpha mare, another mare may be forced into the alpha role. I call these “bad alpha mares”, and they
often don’t have the finesse of an alpha.
Instead of putting other horses in place by merely pinning their ears,
these mares constantly chase, bite, or kick other horses in an effort to prove
their dominance.
·
Second in command mare: She is
submissive only to the alpha mare and herd stallion. She often acts as the alpha’s enforcer with
other horses, putting them in their place when they misbehave.
·
Middle mares: These mares either have no
aspiration to be in charge or are former alpha mares that have slipped in the
herd hierarchy.
·
Submissive mare: This mare is at the bottom of
the herd hierarchy, and she’s submissive to every other herd member. She may tend to stay a little apart from the
others, and she is the last to get to eat, drink or rest.
·
Geldings: Geldings don’t occur in nature,
but in domestic horse herds they may take the place of the herd stallion or
they may be found somewhere in the middle or at the bottom of the herd
hierarchy.
Aggressive and Defensive Behaviors
Understanding
and being able to differentiate between aggressive and defensive behaviors of
horses keeps you safer when you are handling and training them, and it gives you
insight into what the horse is thinking.
When you understand what the horse is thinking, you’ll understand the
motivation for his behavior and be able to respond appropriately. Unfortunately sometimes it can be difficult
to decide whether a behavior is aggressive or defensive, so you’ll have to pay
attention to what’s going on around your horse as well as his verbal and
non-verbal body language.
Both
aggressive and defensive behaviors can be dangerous, resulting in injuries or
death to humans or other horses. Aggressive behaviors in horses are
often more violent than defensive behaviors.
They occur when the horse is asserting his will or dominance. I see these behaviors more with herd
stallions and alpha mares when they’re trying to control other herd members or
humans.
Example: If you
watch a group of horses in pasture, you may see one mare pin her ears and
charge at another. If the other horse
doesn’t run away, the charging mare will either snap at the horse or whirl
around and kick. That behavior is very
aggressive and often occurs because the dominant mare wants something the other
horse has: food, a better resting spot, access to pets from people. Often the less dominant horse avoids injury
by moving out of the way. However both
bites and kicks can break skin, and a well-placed kick
can break bones.
Fortunately,
dominant horses performing aggressive behaviors toward humans or other horses
often give a sign that the aggressive behavior is coming. It may be something subtle such as tension
around the eyes or muzzle, but it is often much more obvious: pinned ears, bared teeth, or a raised
hoof. The horse may raise his head and
roll his eyes, or he may lower his head and “snake” it back and forth. This gives the other horse a chance to move
away and avoid more aggressive behaviors.
If you are handling an aggressive horse, these signs give you a chance
to decide whether you want to move out of the horse’s way, distract the horse
by putting him to work, or defend yourself and punish the horse for his
behavior.
Sometimes severely abused horses become
aggressive. In those cases, it is as if
they feel that they must be constantly on the offensive, starting fights with
humans before the human can start a fight with them.
Example: I once
kept a horse for the rescue that had been removed from a negligent owner. He was emaciated at the time. From the scars covering his body, it appeared
that he had been badly beaten more than once in his life. He quickly recovered
physically, but as he felt better he also became aggressive. He bit, kicked, reared, and struck at
humans. One day, I was standing outside
his paddock talking to someone when he walked up to the fence and snapped his
teeth at my throat. A few days later,
the barn manager walked into his stall to feed him. He reared and struck at her, then whirled
around, looked over his shoulder, aimed, and let fly with both back legs. Fortunately she had already moved out of the
way and was not hurt. He was an extreme
case, but he illustrates how deadly aggressive behaviors can be.
Formerly
abused horses who become aggressive often give few signs that they’re about to
perform an aggressive behavior. This can
make them quite dangerous. The abused
rescue horse that I discussed above was this way. He held his ears forward, his eyes were soft,
and he had no discernible tension in his body when he approached a human. He would strike or bite at the human in front
of him with no warning. This was
extremely dangerous as anyone who handled him had no time to prepare for his
behavior or defend themselves from it.
When you handled this horse, you had to be constantly on guard.
Defensive behaviors are no less
dangerous, but they’re prompted by fear rather than anger or dominance. As we’ve discussed before, when horses feel
threatened their first choice is flee the situation. But when we’re working with a horse, we have
him confined to a stall or pen or on the end of a rope or rein. He can’t always flee, so sometimes he
fights. Fortunately horses often give
their human handlers several warnings before performing defensive
behaviors. These include agitation,
movement, tension in the body, trembling or attempts
to flee.
This is one of the reasons that paying attention to
your horse’s non-verbal communication (body language) is so important: it can tell you that he’s about to react
defensively. By reading your horse’s
body language and noticing when he becomes fearful and defensive, you can
diffuse the situation by backing off and letting him settle down, distracting
him with a new task, or physically blocking him from hurting you when he
performs a defensive behavior.
Example: I had a
weanling colt in my barn who had been teased by
children and adults. Because no one was
ever kind to him, he was defensive around humans. He also learned that if he snapped at the
people who teased him, they would go away and leave him alone. While handling him, I had to be vigilant. I
watched him for signs that what I was asking him was too much for him and that
he was about to snap at me. He often
rolled his eyes and wrinkled his eyelid before snapping, and when I saw that
behavior I moved out of the way. However
I didn’t want him to “win” by constantly driving me away, so I would move to
the edge of his comfort zone and then approach him again. Over time, he learned that humans could be
kind and he began to relax around us.
Today, he’s a much beloved pet and companion – and never displays that
defensive behavior that used to be a big part of his day.
While
some dangerous behaviors tend to be performed only by aggressive or defensive
horses, some can be performed by both.
It is important to know the horse you are working with, pay attention to
what’s going on around you, and understand his body language so you can
interpret which type of behavior he’s performing. You’ll need to identify whether he’s being
aggressive or defensive so that you can respond appropriately.
·
Bolting tends to be a defensive behavior.
When a horse bolts, he’s fleeing a situation that’s scared him. He may do this in the pasture, while you are
working him in hand, or when he’s being ridden.
When a horse bolts, he’s running often with no regard for what’s in
front of him or who is on his back.
Bolting horses may run over people or into other horses.
Often if one horse bolts, the others around him try to
follow. They know he’s scared and don’t
want to fall victim to whatever scared him.
This originates from wild horse behavior: if one horse takes off running, he’s probably
seen a predator such as a mountain lion.
His herd mates don’t want to stick around to see if the mountain lion
attacks them, so they run with him.
When
a horse bolts, he normally removes himself from the situation that scares him and
stops once he’s a safe distance away.
Some horses, however, get so scared while bolting that they keep going
until someone or something stops them.
This is likely to happen if the horse is bolting because he’s scared of
something he can’t easily escape (a rider, something on the saddle, etc.). Once the horse has stopped, the best thing
you can do for him is slowly reintroduce him to the thing or situation that
scared him and desensitize him to it.
·
Charging is almost always an aggressive behavior.
When a horse charges, he runs directly toward a horse or human with the intent to make the person or human
move. If the horse or human doesn’t
move, the charging horse may run them over, bite them, strike at them or grab
them.
·
There’s
often little warning that a horse is about to charge. In some cases, he raises his head above its
normal position, and in other cases he lowers his head close to the ground and
moves it back and forth (called ‘snaking’).
He may snort, and if you are paying close attention you may detect
tension throughout his body.
·
Since the
signs are so subtle, it often appears the horse charged with no warning. Charging can be an extremely dangerous
behavior and horses that have a habit of charging need to be handled only by
the most experienced professionals.
·
Biting can be either aggressive or defensive.
An aggressive horse may bite to get someone to leave him alone, or he
may bite as part of an attack that includes charging. When an aggressive horse bites, he often does
so with the intention to do harm, and he may even hold onto the person or horse
and shake him.
Defensive horses tend to snap and posture more, and they
only bite when the horse or human they’re scared of doesn’t move out of the way
or leave them alone. Both type of bite
can break skin, and severe bites can cause permanent disfigurement. Horses that are about to bite may wrinkle
their eyelid, hold tension around their muzzles or
eyes or roll their eyes. If you see a
bite coming, your best bet is to move out of the way. If you cannot get away, protect your face
with your arms.
·
Kicking is another behavior that can be aggressive or defensive, and like biting
it is used to drive people or horses away.
Your horse may kick out toward you when you are working on the
ground. That type of kick is a display
of displeasure (“I don’t want to do that!”) or warning (“If you don’t back off,
I’m going to kick harder!”).
·
Your horse may kick out to the side with his
hind leg (sometimes called a cow kick) because he’s irritated that you are
tightening the girth too quickly or tickling his belly with the brush you are
using. The most dangerous type of kick
is one in which your horse kicks with one or both legs when they’re almost fully
extended. That kick is the most powerful
kick he has, and it can kill a human.
Aggressive
kicks may happen as part of a charge, or your horse may whirl around and kick
with both back legs (commonly called a “double barrel” kick). I also think it is an aggressive act when a horse
kicks at you in the round pen or longe line. He’s basically telling you to back off and
leave him alone.
Defensive
kicks occur when your horse is scared or hurt, and they are more likely to be
less severe. The sideways kick when you
are tightening the girth is normally defensive, and
the warning kick can be defensive. When
your horse is feeling defensive, he’s going to be tense. He may also cock a back leg, telling you he’s
thinking about kicking.
·
Rearing can also be aggressive or defensive. Aggressive horses often rear as a prelude to a
bite or strike. In the wild, stallions
will rear and strike at each other or rear and attempt to bite each other on
the neck or throat. An aggressive horse
also rears to intimidate another horse or the person who is handling him. Defensive horses rear to escape physical or
mental/emotional pressure. Defensive
horses normally don’t intend to hurt another horse or a human when they rear,
but you can easily be hit by the horse’s hoof and if you are riding a rearing
horse that flips over, you can be badly injured (or killed).
Before
rearing, a horse is normally tense. He
may raise his head higher than normal and snort, or he may make small tiny
rears (coming off the ground only a few inches) before finally rearing several
feet off the ground. Often defensive
horses who rear have tried to escape already and when those attempts don’t
work, they rear.
·
Striking is another behavior you may see when horses are being aggressive or
defensive. When a horse strikes, he
reaches out with one front hoof to hit or kick someone (horse or human) that is
in front of him. Some horses strike when
standing, while other horses rear and strike while they’re still in the air. Horses are amazingly powerful with their
front legs, and a strike can cause serious injuries to horses and humans (a
strike to the head can be deadly).
Like
most other aggressive behaviors, a strike is used to cause harm and drive the
other horse or human away. Defensive
strikes are generally intended to make the intimidating horse or human go
away. However, even defensive strikes
can cause harm.
Before
striking, most horses appear tense: you
may see the tension in their entire bodies, or only around their eyes or their
muzzle. They may make a small strike
first and strike harder when you ignore their initial warnings.
In my experience, horses tend to be more prone to
one or two types of behavior. That
doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t use a variety of behaviors to display
aggression or defend themselves, but they tend to have one or two “go to”
behaviors that work for them.
Example: I am
currently working with a Saddlebred cross mare that came from a neglect
case. She was six years old when she
arrived and had not been handled before coming into the rescue. She went to a trainer for halter training,
and then she moved into a foster home.
Whenever she felt too pressured by her handler/trainer, she would first
tense her entire body and if the pressure continued, she reared. In the beginning, it didn’t take much
pressure for her to rear: It might be
something as simple as asking her to walk someplace new or asking her to stand
for grooming. She never kicked, bit, or
struck at humans and she only occasionally tried to bolt. Rearing was her defensive mechanism for
anything she deemed too scary.
Example: I’ve
mentioned the abused colt I fostered who had been teased before. His default defensive behavior was to
bite. If you got too close to him, he
would lash out with his teeth. Although
he could easily swing around to kick, he never did.
Example: Several
years ago, I worked with a mare who had a very dominant personality and who had
been spoiled by her previous owners. She
treated them like other horses: she
pinned her ears at them and expected them to get out of her way. If that didn’t work, she bit or kicked at
them. Before long, they would see her
pin her ears and would back off. When I
did not back off, she tried to run me away by biting and kicking. She was a very aggressive mare who had to
learn to live with humans (without biting and kicking us all the time!).
Fortunately, you can work with most horses to help
them overcome their need for either aggressive or defensive behaviors. There are exceptions, though. Often the horses that have been badly abused
in the past and have become aggressive in an attempt to avoid further abuse
have a hard time overcoming those behaviors.
In each of the above examples, I or a trainer was
able to work the horse past their need for defensive or aggressive
behaviors. With the two defensive
horses, I took things slowly and carefully.
I pushed up to the edge of the horse’s comfort zone, let him/her relax,
and then asked for more. As they settled
in, I increased the mental pressure by asking for a little more each time. The colt learned within a few months that we
weren’t going to hurt or tease him, and he abandoned his biting habit. It took the unhandled mare much longer to adjust,
and she still occasionally rears if she gets confused.
I handled the aggressive mare a little
differently. First, I never backed off
when she pinned her ears. Unfortunately
this meant she bit and kicked at me often in the beginning. I was always careful to stay out of her range
and keep myself safe. When she bit or
kicked, she was punished with a quick smack, a firm tap
of the whip, or harder work. When she
behaved, her workload was easy and she was praised. Over time, the frequency of her aggression
decreased and after several months she abandoned her aggressive behavior
altogether.
I believe that aggression is less common than
defensive behavior, and defensive horses often don’t intend to harm their
handler/trainer. This doesn’t mean that they
never intend harm or might not
accidentally harm you.
I do think these behaviors are also easier to work
through.
Pay attention to your horse, what’s going on around
him, and when he performs these behaviors and you will understand whether he’s
being aggressive or defensive. Then you
can make a plan to deal with the behaviors and decrease their frequency (and
hopefully eventually eliminate them).
The key to dealing with these behaviors is to be vigilant while around
the horse to keep yourself safe and to be consistent in how you deal with the
behaviors.
Example: If you are
dealing with an aggressive behavior, figure out what triggers the behavior and
what signs the horse gives that he’s about to perform the behavior. When you see the behavior coming, keep
yourself safe (block the horse from getting to you or move out of his
way). Then immediately punish the horse
for the behavior. You must administer
punishment immediately after the
behavior every time he performs it for the punishment to be effective. If you wait several seconds or a minute to
punish the horse, he doesn’t know what you are punishing him for and may become
more aggressive. And
if one day you are tired and don’t feel like punishing him, the lack of
punishment actually reinforces the behavior because the behavior worked for the
horse on that day.
Example: Horses often give off several subtle signals that they’re feeling
defensive, so figure out what those signals are for the horse you are
handling. When you see the horse begin
to get defensive, back off a bit and focus on another task you know the horse
can accomplish without fear or defensiveness.
Then move back to the edge of the horse’s comfort zone and work until he
relaxes. Do this each time he becomes
defensive – the consistency will help him relax, understand what to expect, and
overcome his defensive tendencies.
Gender and Age Differences in Behavior
Mares, stallions, and foals all perform behaviors unique
to their gender and age. These behaviors have a biological basis that you will
understand when you have a good knowledge of wild and feral horse behavior
(from lesson 4).
As
we discussed in Lesson 4, stallions
have two jobs in the wild: to breed
mares and to protect the harem, and those biological drives and the behaviors
that support them don’t disappear just because we bring a stallion into the
barn and domesticate him. Our domestic stallions’ behavior would quickly
revert to that of their wild counterparts if we allowed them the
opportunity.
Wild
stallions spend most of their day moving – following the herd to grazing land
or water holes, scouting out potential predators, fighting with other stallions
or breeding mares.
It is hard on the stallion when we put him in a barn
away from mares and expect him to live there quietly. Housing horses in this manner often causes
them to act out. They may begin weaving,
pacing or pawing as a way to vent their frustration and meet their need for
movement. Sometimes stallions become
aggressive when they’re kept up: they scream and charge the stall wall whenever
anyone passes them, or they begin biting, rearing, or striking.
The best
stallion managers keep their stallions in herds – either groups
of stallions who can live together like a bachelor band or in separate pastures
where each stallion can form a harem with his own group of mares. If that’s not possible, house your stallion
where he can see other horses. Some
facilities house all stallions in a barn where they can interact with each
other through grates in the walls or across paddock fences. Other facilities house a stallion in a barn
with mares he’ll be breeding. Either
way, stallions do best when their neighbors are stable: there will be more fighting if you
continually change which horses live in the stalls or paddocks next to the
stallion.
When riding or handling a stallion, you must always
be vigilant about his behavior, and you must pay attention to what’s going on
around you. His first instinct is to
leave you and find mares to breed and protect.
This means that many stallions are quick to take advantage of their handler, so always
insist on good behavior. If you let him
get away with poor behavior once, he may continue to test you to see what else
he can get away with. It is too easy to
turn a nice stallion into an unmanageable, dangerous animal.
·
Keep your attention on the stallion.
This lets you know whether he’s paying attention to you or to a nearby
mare. If he’s not paying attention to
you, get his attention – talk to him, tap him on the side, or give a gentle tug
on his lead. When he’s paying attention
to you, he isn’t focusing on nearby mares he would like to breed or on other stallions
(or geldings) that he might want to drive away.
·
Insist on good manners. While
some horse people feel that kicking, striking, or rearing is acceptable
behavior for stallions, these behaviors are dangerous and should not be
tolerated. If you allow your stallion to
display these behaviors without reprimand, his behavior may continue to
deteriorate until one day you find yourself with a stallion you cannot handle –
or worse, a stallion who seriously injures you or someone else.
·
Pay attention to your surroundings.
This includes other horses around you.
If you are riding your stallion and a mare comes into the arena, be
aware of her location and be sure to give her plenty of room.
·
Don’t let your stallion ‘talk’ to the mares or challenge other
stallions. Unless you are in the
breeding shed, your stallion should be quiet.
If he talks to the mares, reprimand him.
Don’t let him walk up to other stallions (and certainly don’t lead him
up to other stallions) and let him challenge them. If he calls a challenge to another horse,
paws, rears, or strikes quickly reprimand him and move him away from that
horse.
·
Don’t let your stallion drop his penis. If he “drops”, often a verbal
reprimand and a tap on his belly will remind him that he’s working. I’ve seen people hit or kick their stallion’s
penis – don’t do this as it could injure him.
·
Discipline your stallion immediately for any dangerous behaviors
(kicking, striking, biting, rearing), and start doing this when your stallion
is still a young colt. For colts, you can mimics
a mare’s treatment of her foal when he misbehaves by walking away from
him. If poor behavior persists, push
him away from you or thump him on the rump, again mimicking mare behavior. Treating him like this isn’t cruel; it’s
crueler to allow colts to behave poorly when they’re young as you may need
stiffer punishments to eliminate bad habits later.
If you are training a
stallion, your goal is to make him safe to handle, ride and show. But at some point, he’ll probably be destined
for the breeding shed (there’s no other reason to keep a stallion aside from
the desire and ability to further a breeding program and improve the breed), so
it is also important to understand breeding behavior. It starts with courtship in which the stallion
approaches the mare with a prancing gait.
His head is up, his neck is arched, and his tail is probably
raised. He may whinny loudly or nicker
at the mare, and he may stop to paw or stomp as he approaches.
If the mare isn’t
receptive, he may bite her shoulders, flank or neck and if she remains
unreceptive he’ll likely move away from her.
If she’s receptive, he’ll sniff, nuzzle, lick or nibble her head or
body. He may perform flehmen
after coming in contact with her urine, manure or vaginal secretions. If she remains receptive, he’ll mount her and
grab her barrel with his forelegs. He’ll
thrust a few times and may squeal. He
will then drop his head, and he will flag his tail (raise it and wave it back
and forth quickly) when he ejaculates.
He’ll then dismount and may sniff or nibble at the mare’s hindquarters
before moving off.
Domestic stallions need to learn
to differentiate between when it is time to breed and when it is not. When it is time to breed a mare or be
collected from a breeding dummy, allow him to act like a stallion. While rearing, striking, kicking, or biting a
human handler still should not be tolerated, let him nicker at the mare he will
breed, nuzzle her, and focus his attention on her.
There
are several ways to teach a stallion to differentiate between when it is time
to be quiet and work and when it is time to breed:
·
Have one person
handle him when it is time to breed and another handle him when it is time to
work. Some stallions refuse to breed in
the presence of the person who trains or shows them because that person has
reprimanded them for displaying stallion-like characteristics.
·
Use a breeding shed
for breeding, an arena for training, and a separate paddock for turn out. When your stallion is in the arena, he learns
to focus his attention on you, but when he’s in the breeding shed he learns
that it is time to breed a mare. The
paddock is his turnout time, and he learns that he can play, run or rest when
he’s there.
·
Designate one routine
that leads up to breeding and another one that leads up to training. Some people will put a nylon halter with a
lead shank over the nose when they’re leading the stallion to breed and a
leather halter with lead shank under the chin when they lead him to work. Other people will lead the stallion out of
his stall and turn to the right to go to the breeding shed, but turn to the
left if they’re going to the grooming area or wash rack. When there are different routines, your
stallion learns to associate the routine with what will come next and he knows
to act accordingly.
It
may sound like I don’t like stallions, but that’s not the case. I own an
excellent stallion, but he’s never allowed to misbehave when he’s being
handled. When he’s in his stall, paddock
or pasture he can nicker at the mares he sees and he can rear, buck, play, etc.
(as long as I’m not with him). When I’m
handling him, though, I expect him to stay quiet and listen to me. If you take on the responsibility of
training and housing a stallion, you need to be prepared to put in the extra
time it takes to make and keep your stallion safe.
Geldings
are unique
since they don’t occur in nature. Some
geldings quickly morph into hormoneless horses that
aren’t driven by their instincts. These
geldings tend to be easier to train and house as they’re not constantly
thinking about how to get access to mares.
Often, though, horses that are gelded after the age
of about four tend to act more like stallions, especially if they were allowed
to breed mares. The older the horse is
when he’s gelded and the longer he was a breeding stallion before being gelded,
the more likely he is to continue acting like a stallion after gelding. That’s because the behaviors he’s performing
are no longer solely driven by his hormones, they’ve become learned behaviors
that he performs in certain situations.
These geldings have to be handled and housed like stallions. Sometimes they’ll eventually stop performing
these behaviors and other times they’ll keep them up throughout life.
In the wild, the purpose of mares is to
create more horses. We discussed the
various positions mares hold in the herd hierarchy in Lesson 4 and how those
positions influence their behavior. In
this lesson, I’ll focus on breeding and maternal behaviors.
Unlike stallions that are ready to breed all the
time, mares are only willing to stand to be bred when they’re in estrus
(commonly called “in heat”). Estrus is
the part of the mare’s reproductive cycle (called her estrous cycle) when she
ovulates and can conceive. The entire
estrous cycle is about 21 days (there’s variation among mares), and estrus
itself lasts about seven days (there’s various among mares). The estrous cycle (and estrus) is
controlled by the fluctuations of several different hormones.
If a stallion approaches a mare when she’s not in
estrus, her response will vary depending on what part of the estrous cycle the
mare is experiencing. Mares are
receptive to being bred when experiencing estrus. Some mares are more restless, moving around
their pastures or stalls more than usual.
They may be more sensitive on their flanks as estrus causes mild
discomfort or pain for some mares. Mares
in estrus also urinate frequent, small amounts, squat,
hold their tail to the side, and expose their clitoris (called “winking”). This signals to the stallion that they’re
willing to be bred and will not fight him when he approaches.
During the time right before and right after
estrus, the mare may act receptive toward the stallion (she may urinate, squat,
and/or hold her tail to the side), but if the stallion approaches her she
squeals, kicks, or runs away. When a
mare isn’t in estrus, she may avoid stallions and kick, bite, or squeal if one
approaches.
Mares do not cycle continually throughout the
year: they begin cycling as the days get
longer and stop cycling when the days get shorter. This type of seasonal cycle evolved to
prevent foals from being born during the harshest part of the winter when
survival would be toughest.
Once a mare conceives, she often doesn’t show any
behavioral changes, aside from no longer being receptive to any stallion’s
breeding attempts. If approached by a
stallion, she’ll behavior similarly to a mare that is not in estrus: she may run away or squeal and kick at
him. As her pregnancy progresses, she
may become irritable due to hormonal fluctuations. And while some mares are fine with being
ridden and working right up until foaling, other mares become uncomfortable and
may act out by bucking, biting or kicking.
This is a time to take things at the mare’s speed and give her time off
from work if needed.
When foaling nears,
most mares separate themselves from the herd.
They become restless, especially those confined in stalls or small paddocks,
and may pace. In the final few days
before foaling, the mare may lie down, groan, and strain as if trying to
foal. Many mares fool their caregivers
into thinking that foaling is about to occur only to jump up and start eating
hay again (the first mare I foaled out did this – three nights in a row! Each
time I was certain she was about to foal).
Most mares foal at
night or in the early hours of the morning, and the night she foals she’ll be
restless. She may paw a hole or
indention and may lie down, get up, reposition herself, and then lie down
again. You may notice sweating on her
flanks and she may look at or nip at her sides.
The early signs of labor look a lot like a horse who is mildly colicking. She may
also appear to strain either when standing or lying down, and the first few
contractions occur when she’s on her feet.
The placenta normally
ruptures while she’s standing, discharging amniotic fluid (it may appear that
she’s urinating until you realize that she’s expelling far more liquid than she
would if she were urinating), and she’ll then lie for the final few
contractions.
Once the foal is born,
the mare may spend a few minutes resting, but she quickly begins nickering to
her foal. She will often remain lying down, but will call the foal close to her
so she can lick him (to clean off the amniotic fluid and dry him). If the foal doesn’t move within a few minutes
and make attempts to stand within 20-30 minutes, she may push him with her
muzzle, nip his rump or nudge him with a hoof.
Occasionally maiden
mares (those who are foaling for the first time) will be scared of their
foal. They may not lick him or muzzle
him, and they may spin away from him when he tries to nurse. You can help these mares by holding them
still while someone holds the foal in front of them and then moves the foal
back to nurse. In extreme cases, mares
reject their foal: they refuse to allow
him to nurse and even kick or bite him if he comes near them.
There’s a great deal of
difference in the way each mare interacts with her foal, with other horses and
with humans. Some experienced broodmares
are pretty easy-going and don’t mind anyone approaching, petting, or handling
their foal while other mares bite, kick or strike anyone (horse or human) who
gets too close to their foal, especially when he’s just a few hours or days
old.
Mares in the wild
rejoin their harem once the foal can stand, walk, and trot – normally within
about two hours of birth (standing and walking should occur within an hour of
birth and trotting follows shortly after).
For the first few weeks, the mare keeps her foal close by. If he strays, she nickers to draw him
close. As he grows, she lets him move
further and further away from her while still keeping an eye on him.
Since horses are prey animals, foals are active almost immediately after birth. Within seconds of birth, the foal lifts his
head and rolls over until he’s sternally
recumbent. This should break the
amniotic sac, and he should be breathing on his own about 30 seconds after he’s
born. Once he’s breathing regularly,
he’ll begin pulling himself forward with his legs. At this time, protective mares often start
nickering to their foal.
About 30-45 minutes after a foal is born, he tries
to stand. The first few attempts can be
hair-raising for those who haven’t been around foals: he may flop over, fall to the ground or
wobble back and forth once he gets to his feet.
Most foals tumble down at least a few times. Resist the urge to help him: he needs to figure out how to walk and stand
on his own.
After he can stand for a few minutes without
toppling over, he’ll start taking his first wobbly steps. Most foals are walking steadily about an hour
to hour and a half after they’re born, and they can
trot and gallop by the time they’re two hours old. This ability is important since foals are
very vulnerable to predators in the wild.
If they were unable to gallop shortly after birth, they would be killed
by wolves, mountain lions or other predators.
Once the foal can walk, he starts seeking his dam’s
udder so that he can nurse. He’ll
explore any surface he comes into contact with his muzzle and will make
suckling noses. When he finds the teats,
he will latch on and nurse for 30-60 seconds – and he needs to do that within
the first two hours he’s alive. For the
first week, he’ll nurse frequently, maybe 3-4 times per hour. As he ages, the frequency of nursing
decreases.
Once he’s been able to walk around and have a meal,
most foals take a brief thirty minute nap.
His attempts to lie down won’t be coordinated or graceful in the
beginning, and some foals simply collapse or throw themselves on their sides. He’ll continue taking several brief naps each
day, and he’ll figure out how to gracefully lie down for these naps with
practice. As he ages, the frequency and
duration of naps decreases.
Most foals tend to stick close to their dam and
play by themselves for the first several weeks of life. They can buck, run, spin and leap into the
air. You’ll see your foal performing
flawless roll backs, spins, and airs above the ground with no prompting – just
for the joy of it. Watching young foals
play is one of the best parts of horse ownership (or stewardship).
After a few weeks to a month, foals move further
and further away from their dam and start playing with other foals if there are
any available. It is best to keep
mare/foal pairs together on pasture as the foals learn how to interact with
others and fit into a herd.
As foals mature, both colts and fillies play. The colts may divide into pairs and fight
mock battles where they rear, strike and bite at each other. These battles may look vicious to humans, but
the colts hold back and are not attempting to hurt each other (much like young
boys rough-housing around). They’ll also
take turns being the instigator and the defender. Some scientists think that play gives young
animals a chance to practice survival skills, and this kind of play certainly
seems that way. The colts get to
practice the moves they could one day need in a fight with another
stallion.
Other scientists believe that play really serves no
purpose other than to have fun. If you watch
colts and fillies in pasture, you’ll see them leap into the air, kick out, spin
around, and run circles around their dams.
Sometimes foals seem to play ‘tag’ – one will run up, nip or bump
another foal on the rump, and that foal will then give chase. Unless these foals are practicing for a life
as a race horse or a future Spanish Riding School horse, these fancy moves
really have no purpose (other than to possibly help them build strength and
agility), but the foals are having fun.
As foals age, they spend less time in play and more time grazing,
socializing with other horses, etc. – although occasionally you’ll meet an
adult horse who still likes to leap into the air or play ‘tag’ with others in
the pasture.