Do horses mimic others in regards to stable vices ???

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jess2353

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my mare has started to weave after 14 weeks of having her :/

Not sure wether she's unhappy or she's watching the horse infront who's a weaver & always very anxious (not sure how likely that is) but was thinking along the lines if the other horse is stressed maybe mine is picking up some bad vibes :/
 
I used to think so but then I went to a yard where one of the horses was a terrible weaver. But none of the others weaved.

Like above, have you stabled her and her old owners not? Maybe shes bored?
 
I believe research shows that horses do not copy with regards to stable vices but that the environment creates the need for an outlet that causes the vices.

If this is correct then you need to look at the yard set up and management of the horses in it

my 5yr old has been around box walkers, weavers and cribbers since she was 2yrs and she has not copied any but she lives out mostly
 
in this weeks horse and hound there is an article on a scientific study which claims horses do not have the capability to copy behaviour off one another.

my horse used to be stables right across the way from a wind sucker. he never picked up this habit.
 
Its correct, horses do not copy vices from each other, did an interesting study on this as part of an HND. As others have said she is weaving because she's stressed about something, does she only do at at specific times, feeding, when others go out etc? Or is it more general? More turnout would probably be the best option, but if you can't change her management, some weavers respond well to stable mirrors, but you must introduce them carefully as some horses really hate them! Good luck.
 
My horse started to copy his neighbour by pawing every time they knew dinner was coming. He never did it before and now he always does it so yeah i think they do but it could just depend on the horse ect, mine was only a youngster at the time
 
yeah mines only rising 4 :/

She was turned away as a baby brougt in & stabled for 5 months solid whilst they broke her in to pull a cart.

but I spent quite abit of time with her up her stable before I brought her & she never did it then.

I've had her a good 14 weeks actually might be evening more than that thinking about but only within the last 2 weeks she's started doing it,there's no general pattern when she does it either.

I'm already looking into finding a New yard, she came from a very quite place had quite a few horses but was surprisingly quieter then where she is now.

also wandering if could could be she's not getting enough exercise, they carted her twice a day whilst she was learning.
I started to back her but she has wolf teeth & has has to have them out so she's been out of work about 5 weeks nearly. Although I've been lunging her its not very stimulating I guess :/
 
I do believe that horses copy SOME behaviours from other horses. The main one which I have seen time and time again is door kicking. My mare has always done it and now her two neighbours, who never previously did it, do it too. She is in a block of three and is the middle horse. All three bang their stables at feed times and if they want attention. None of the horses in the other block do. Also, last year a new horse came onto the yard who is a wood chewer. He was turned out with two other geldings and soon they were all chewing the fence posts and rails. :mad: The other two had been here two and three years respectively, and never did it before then. However, I have never seen horses copy weaving, box walking or wind sucking.
 
My horse is a chronic weaver. He lives out now as that is the only way he's totally happy.

However when he was younger we were on a few yards where they had to be stabled at night.

All three were quite busy with other horses next door/ opposite, but in that 4 or 5 years only one horse 'copied' weaving from him.

The owner of the other horse claimed he had never weaved before, but he was quite a highly strung ex racer so maybe had some predesposition to it. So I think that weaving CAN be copied but in my experience is rare...
 
I've read many journals on this, doing behaviour in my third year now and my lecturer also says it is not possible for them to copy. She's a very wise lecturer too who wouldn't make such a bold statement without being very certain.

We give horses far too much credit than they deserve for intelligence. My hot headed arabian mare faces a serious wind sucker who also box walks and weaves, she has never attempted to copy.

If anything, the only problem ever about putting a horse near say a box walker... Is the constant pacing all night might unsettle ours.

They don't glare at the weaving horse opposite and think 'oh I'm going to try that they seem to enjoy it'.

Some horses try it to solve stress in no particular foot pattern, but do not receive an endorphin release that feels good, so will not bother again.

Some do though and a true stereotypical behaviour, they will begin to do the vice for set number of times in a set space.
 
Someone told me the other day about some research that was done on horses and if they can learn things from watching other horses and the anwser is NO they cant, they only learn things from doing it themselfs.

So going by scientific proof the anwser is no they wont.
 
jess2353 said:
yeah mines only rising 4 :/

She was turned away as a baby brougt in & stabled for 5 months solid whilst they broke her in to pull a cart.

but I spent quite abit of time with her up her stable before I brought her & she never did it then.

I've had her a good 14 weeks actually might be evening more than that thinking about but only within the last 2 weeks she's started doing it,there's no general pattern when she does it either.

I'm already looking into finding a New yard, she came from a very quite place had quite a few horses but was surprisingly quieter then where she is now.

also wandering if could could be she's not getting enough exercise, they carted her twice a day whilst she was learning.
I started to back her but she has wolf teeth & has has to have them out so she's been out of work about 5 weeks nearly. Although I've been lunging her its not very stimulating I guess :/
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does she get to go out in a field with others at all? if yes how long each day?
 
yeah she's goes out with another horse & a shetland & there's horses in either paddocks next to her.

If its raining or if the ground is pretty boggy they have to stay in anyway.

but normally there out at about 7 then back in about 6 but do some times end up being stabled for a few days running because the turnout isent particularly good :/
 
Mine is a windsucker. I've had him for a year and none of the others on the yard have picked up on it. It was funny though, someone said they didn't want their horse near mine as 'he will catch it', I think people have very strange perceptions of vices and see them like a disease.

He has been out all summer and now when I bring him in overnight, he box walks! :rolleyes: Sure he just prefers to be out and its all boredom related.

He was a windsucker last winter and a box walker this winter!! :confused:
 
jess2353 said:
yeah she's goes out with another horse & a shetland & there's horses in either paddocks next to her.

If its raining or if the ground is pretty boggy they have to stay in anyway.

but normally there out at about 7 then back in about 6 but do some times end up being stabled for a few days running because the turnout isent particularly good :/
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this may be the source of your problem, the horses are not having any routine and keeping them in for 'a few days running' is a cardinal sin in my book, dont blame the other horse, blame the stable management. In your shoes I would move yards I dont agree with any horse spending days at a time in a stable unless it is for medical reasons.
does she have a continous supply of hay whilst in?
 
I'd rather her out regardless of the rain tbh aslong as there rugged with shelter they should always be out, but others on the yard see things differently & if one horse is in there all in same with putting them out, otherwise they just run up & down churning up the grass.

they defo don't have a routine where she was in a routine before :/

I've seen a few liverys I like just waiting for them to sell one of the young'uns to be able to move her, there she'll be out all day then brought in at night so she'll be out 7-8 everyday with better grazing.


I've upped her hay amount she has 2 Haynets plus loose hay, also has licks & a boredom ball which I fill right to the top which is enjoys.
 
No, as already said horses subject to the same environment stresses can take up vices because of the stress, not because of copying.
I do agree with Wagtail re copying some behavior though. Herd instinct leads horses to copy reactions. Eg that's why we hack youngsters with bombproof horses etc. So ime they have the ability to copy a behavior that's already natural to them. Eg door banging is just a form of pawing, which horses do naturally in fields etc.
 
littlelegs said:
So ime they have the ability to copy a behavior that's already natural to them. Eg door banging is just a form of pawing, which horses do naturally in fields etc.
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Indeed, some behaviours seem to be infectious - like rolling - where a horse doing it will set off one or more of the others.
 
Copying rolling caused one of the funniest sights I've seen. As a child my friends & I bumped into some kids from the local rs on a bridleway. We all decided to continue our hack together, about a dozen of us in total. A few of the rs ponies were kept in stalls & decided to have a roll while we were stopped near a gate on a big open field. What followed was all but one horse dropping to roll, & lots of kids trying to save their saddles. The one that didn't was an old ploddy mare who never put a foot wrong. After the rest of us were mounting again, the old mare gave a huge sigh & dropped happily into the muddiest patch of all!
 
As most have said- i dont think generally they do although im sure there are exceptions.

I had a nightmare when i moved my cribber to a yard- she was stabled on her own as the other liveries kicked up a fuss their 20yo mare would copy her (they shared a field anyway!)

Not one horse has ever copied her, we have moved since then and in the new yard people are much more sensible about such things thankfully.
 
I'd be inclined to say no. Our horse is stabled between a weaver and a wind sucker and opposite a serial door banger yet he never shows any sign of trying to copy.
 
According to modern research into the situation, horses do not copy the sterotypical stables vices, BUT there is one exception... tongue lolling! Oddly enough this is the only one copied and picked up by other horses.
 
jess2353 said:
my horse just must be very unhappy :((
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Noo don't worry about it! Try to enrich your horse as much as possible along with offering a good routine and varied ridden work?

Doesn't mean the horse is unhappy. Once they get a release from it, it's just a habbit.
 
My personal opinion is that that horses DO NOT acquire vices from copying others.

I had an ex racer mare till the day she died and she was a cronic weaver - when stabled and in the field. So bad was her weaving in the stable she made groves in the concrete floor. A weaving grid didn't stop her as she would just weave behind it.

When she died her foal was 14yrs old - they had lived together all their lives and were stabled next to one another. He foal has never weaved either when she was alive or since.

On the other side of her was my hunter - they lived together for about 8/9 years. He has never weaved either
 
jess2353 said:
my horse just must be very unhappy :((
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If you can't do any ridden work with her yet why not do some longlining and despooking fun stuff in hand? It will give her more to think about and will be good for her education.

There is lots you can do to keep her entertained and get her ready for ridden work.

Teach her to jump loose. Have fun with her while you are looking for another yard.
 
well she's got one more week off to let her mouth heel then she'll be back into riding. Hopefully giving her a
Job to do might ease some stress :)
 
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