Breaking ice....instinctive or learned?

[Enfys]

I was watched the horses pawing a hole in the frozen pond in their field today (despite having a heated water trough) the arab must have been at it for a good 20 minutes. I got to wondering whether this is something they do instinctively or that they'd learned from the example of others at some time?

When I went to look they'd gone out on solid ice for about 10' to a patch of thinner ice (pond is only about a foot deep in the centre, just a very large puddle really) and had broken through a good 4" of ice to make a hole literally just big enough to fit a bucket into. Daughter will be unimpressed, her "ice rink" now has a hole in it.

 

[dieseldog]

I don't know, it doesn't get cold enough in england to need heated water troughs - what a fab idea though. My OH on his farm in South Africa leave donkeys out in the fields with the sheep as the sheep aren't strong enough to break the ice by themselves.

 

[Olliedog]

Could be a bit of both. The young horse could learn from the herd, but you would suppose they instinctively know that the water is there?!
Sorry i couldn't come up with a better answer than that, i'm pondering while I type

 

[Marbs]

Think it's mostly instinctive. One of the field troughs used to get really thick ice on it when it was cold, and my old Polish lad used to just bite his way through it and then use his nose! Looked odd but he was very good at it (but looked a bit cold...so used to beat him to it and break the ice first with a big pole)

 

[Thistle]

One of mine lifts his leg and stamps in the water trough to break ice when it is frozen. I bred him and have never seen any of the others do it, nor his mum. So I guess it is instinctive.

 

[MagicMelon]

Yeah, I dont know if its learnt or just instinctive. I guess all things are taught to a degree in the animal world arent they? Ive seen 3 of mine do it. 1 especially does it really well! He seems to be able to put his hoof in and then pull out the whole slab of ice clearing the trough! He also holds hay down with a hoof to eat!