FourWhiteSocks
Active Member
Stay with me on this one people, it’s a journey! If this is TLDR for you, then essentially, I am asking if horses have theory of mind. Specifically the ability to perceive the perspective of another species, and use this to influence another being.
For context, these three horses have been on their current field for two days, and that particular field hasn’t been grazed since April, so they are definitely not starving, but likely more hungry than usual as grass is poor due weather conditions. Regardless, grass in the adjoining ‘corridor’ to the field is relatively lush in comparison to the horses’ field.
Yesterday afternoon, I fed the horses after coming home from a week away. I took the owners mare out of the field, fed her in the corridor, and fed the other two (grey mare and my loan horse, a gelding) in their field, spaced far apart. The grey mare and gelding finish their feeds at the same time, and the bay mare takes longer to chew, so they were both watching the bay mare intently as she finished her feed. They were not reacting in any visible way, just staring, standing still. This is a normal part of the owner’s feeding routine.
The bay mare finished eating and moved to graze. At the moment the bay mare’s face touched the grass, the grey mare snorted, jumped up with a spin and cantered across the field and back. The bay mare was spooked by the movement and put her head up. I laughed, assuming that the grey mare was responding with frustration at the bay mare’s opportunity to graze on richer grass.
I would usually return the bay mare to the field immediately after she finishes her feed, then fetch my loan gelding in for a hack. However, today, she was more determined than usual to graze despite the shenanigans. The moment the bay mare reached back down to the grass, the gelding came at the grey mare in the field, ears back, head swinging and dodged away at the last moment. He cantered around the field bunny hopping. The grey mare joined him for a circle of canter and he chased her around. They both came to a halt near the bay mare, and stared at us. No big deal, I thought. I have seen horses respond with envy before, as we all probably have. But then things got weirder.
The gelding cantered around in another circle, this time turning to bite a spot on the left side of his belly three times, a few seconds spaced apart. I immediately thought that he might have a wasp or hornet stuck in his fly rug. I quickly returned the bay mare to the horses’ field and approached the gelding. I was inwardly panicked because I am severely allergic to alkaline stings including wasp and hornet, and did not have my EpiPen.
The gelding stood very quietly while I lifted the left side of his fly rug to see the spot he had been biting at. Nothing. I stripped the rug and threw it on the floor. I checked his side for lumps or a stinger, and found nothing. He is a thin-skinned Arab cross and when stung before, has swollen up immediately after the sting, and danced around until the sting was bathed and soothed. None of that today, he stood still and relaxed, showing no sign of the agitation he had just shown bucking around his field. I checked very carefully around his entire body, ears and mouth, and all was completely normal.
I dragged the rug (which I still thought to be wasp-filled) to the edge of the field. The gelding followed the rug so closely that he almost stepped on it. While I cackhandedly tried to exit the field, the gelding came through with me. He was very careful, did not touch me, but moved so quickly it was unbelievable, jumping over his rug to get out. He trotted off to the lushest part of grass and began to graze. I checked the fly rug carefully for signs of an insect or thistle or anything caught in the mesh. Nothing.
I checked the horse over again. Watched him for the next hour. Nothing to report except that he likes eating dandelions, a lot. I let the owner (who lives on site) know about the horses’ behaviour as I worried that particularly the gelding biting at himself could be sign of colic or perhaps worse. The very experienced owner has seen the horses and is happy that nothing is wrong with any of them. Gelding has eaten, drunk and is acting as normal 24 hours later.
Reflecting on the gelding’s behaviour, and my response to it, I remembered that when he was stung before, I ran over (inwardly panicking due to my allergy) and stripped his fly rug immediately as he arrived at the yard. I could see what was happening to him but, despite his dancing around and trying to bite at his side, the person with him could not, as she was leading two horses. He was very stressed at that time, and I feel that he probably remembers the moment when I whipped his rug off and removed the wasp and sting, bathed his side and generally treated him like a precious prince for a whole afternoon. Are there any equine behaviour people who could explain if this stressful memory could, in part, explain his behaviour yesterday? I am interested to know if it’s possible that the gelding bit at his side with the intention of tricking me into thinking that I needed to remove his rug. Is this sophisticated behaviour possible in horses or might I be anthropomorphising and interpreting coincidence behaviour? I would love to know if others have similar experiences to share?
For context, these three horses have been on their current field for two days, and that particular field hasn’t been grazed since April, so they are definitely not starving, but likely more hungry than usual as grass is poor due weather conditions. Regardless, grass in the adjoining ‘corridor’ to the field is relatively lush in comparison to the horses’ field.
Yesterday afternoon, I fed the horses after coming home from a week away. I took the owners mare out of the field, fed her in the corridor, and fed the other two (grey mare and my loan horse, a gelding) in their field, spaced far apart. The grey mare and gelding finish their feeds at the same time, and the bay mare takes longer to chew, so they were both watching the bay mare intently as she finished her feed. They were not reacting in any visible way, just staring, standing still. This is a normal part of the owner’s feeding routine.
The bay mare finished eating and moved to graze. At the moment the bay mare’s face touched the grass, the grey mare snorted, jumped up with a spin and cantered across the field and back. The bay mare was spooked by the movement and put her head up. I laughed, assuming that the grey mare was responding with frustration at the bay mare’s opportunity to graze on richer grass.
I would usually return the bay mare to the field immediately after she finishes her feed, then fetch my loan gelding in for a hack. However, today, she was more determined than usual to graze despite the shenanigans. The moment the bay mare reached back down to the grass, the gelding came at the grey mare in the field, ears back, head swinging and dodged away at the last moment. He cantered around the field bunny hopping. The grey mare joined him for a circle of canter and he chased her around. They both came to a halt near the bay mare, and stared at us. No big deal, I thought. I have seen horses respond with envy before, as we all probably have. But then things got weirder.
The gelding cantered around in another circle, this time turning to bite a spot on the left side of his belly three times, a few seconds spaced apart. I immediately thought that he might have a wasp or hornet stuck in his fly rug. I quickly returned the bay mare to the horses’ field and approached the gelding. I was inwardly panicked because I am severely allergic to alkaline stings including wasp and hornet, and did not have my EpiPen.
The gelding stood very quietly while I lifted the left side of his fly rug to see the spot he had been biting at. Nothing. I stripped the rug and threw it on the floor. I checked his side for lumps or a stinger, and found nothing. He is a thin-skinned Arab cross and when stung before, has swollen up immediately after the sting, and danced around until the sting was bathed and soothed. None of that today, he stood still and relaxed, showing no sign of the agitation he had just shown bucking around his field. I checked very carefully around his entire body, ears and mouth, and all was completely normal.
I dragged the rug (which I still thought to be wasp-filled) to the edge of the field. The gelding followed the rug so closely that he almost stepped on it. While I cackhandedly tried to exit the field, the gelding came through with me. He was very careful, did not touch me, but moved so quickly it was unbelievable, jumping over his rug to get out. He trotted off to the lushest part of grass and began to graze. I checked the fly rug carefully for signs of an insect or thistle or anything caught in the mesh. Nothing.
I checked the horse over again. Watched him for the next hour. Nothing to report except that he likes eating dandelions, a lot. I let the owner (who lives on site) know about the horses’ behaviour as I worried that particularly the gelding biting at himself could be sign of colic or perhaps worse. The very experienced owner has seen the horses and is happy that nothing is wrong with any of them. Gelding has eaten, drunk and is acting as normal 24 hours later.
Reflecting on the gelding’s behaviour, and my response to it, I remembered that when he was stung before, I ran over (inwardly panicking due to my allergy) and stripped his fly rug immediately as he arrived at the yard. I could see what was happening to him but, despite his dancing around and trying to bite at his side, the person with him could not, as she was leading two horses. He was very stressed at that time, and I feel that he probably remembers the moment when I whipped his rug off and removed the wasp and sting, bathed his side and generally treated him like a precious prince for a whole afternoon. Are there any equine behaviour people who could explain if this stressful memory could, in part, explain his behaviour yesterday? I am interested to know if it’s possible that the gelding bit at his side with the intention of tricking me into thinking that I needed to remove his rug. Is this sophisticated behaviour possible in horses or might I be anthropomorphising and interpreting coincidence behaviour? I would love to know if others have similar experiences to share?