Do horses pick up vices from other horses?

[teddyt]

Saying horses copy vices shows ignorance. Firstly, they are not vices. They are symptoms of some form of stress. Secondly horses dont copy them. If more than one horse on a yard behaves the same it is because of common management, not that they have copied.

Weaving= symptom of frustration when a horse cannot fulfill its natural desire to move
Cribbing/windsucking= usually diet related and/or stomach ulceration. Can later become 'addictive' due to endorphin release when it is performed, even if the original cause is removed
Door banging = it usually gets a reaction from the human. Most commonly done at exercise or feed time- the horse wants you to hurry up!

 

[Serenity087]

Yes, horses do learn vices.

Dorey has learnt to door bang because she has been stabled with door bangers for so long. They were getting all the attention, see.

It does go both ways. Dorey "asks" for her food and two horses, both young (2 and 3 years old) copied her to get their food.

Horses living as a group will copy the behaviours of horses they look up to. If a horse is top dog and crib bites then it's obviously onto a winner!

 

[honetpot]

Its a shame they do not copy how to do half pass.
Most people teach thier horses to do something by the reward method, do something we are pleased with and you get a pat, carrot or the rough end of the spectrum we will stop thumping you.
The reward for the horse in cribbing, weaving etc seems to be the release of endrorphins. when you think of it the animal must feel dam aweful if it would rather suck on a door than eat. I suppose the closest thing in human terms is self harm, when a person by harming themselves feels some sort of control when they can not control a situation or feeling.
On this board there are numerous posts about lameness/ napping etc and people spend a fortune on the vet, back man , saddle fitter, tooth man, having it picture read(?) in an effort to relieve this problem. Stable vices seem to be a blind spot, it the horse was lame you'ed get a vet, the horse is unhappy its the horses fault.
No one really wants to do reseach in to this problem as telling someone they need to alter their practice costs little money and no repeat sales unlike anti-acids, treatment of symptoms but not cause, and 'the calmers' which to me are next door to quackery.
I have a very clever pony, he bangs sometimes because he knows I will shout at him and he wants attentsion. He was once at livery and he never banged even at feed time because they ignored him. He's trained me.
Next time you walk with a stranger on to a yard wtch which horses 'head nod' and what that person does. They will usually go an stroke that horse. Horses spend alot of time in stable watching us, their whole senses are designed to pick up on body language, sound and movement. I think they know an aweful lot more about us than we do about them.

 

[fburton]

Horses living as a group will copy the behaviours of horses they look up to.

Sorry, but I think that's wacky. The idea of horses "looking up to" other horses is weird imo, as is the idea that they would copy a behaviour for that reason. Do you have any specific behaviours in mind?

 

[ofcourseyoucan]

yes horses do pick up vices from others ie windsucking and weaving, and napping. initially stress induced quickly becoming habit forming.

 

[mainpower]

My friend's horse has every vice going, weaves, box walks, cribs, wibdsucks... he was in a stable fire as a youngster and is a very stressy character. I have been on the same yard as her for over ten years, and none of my horses copied until... 18 months after buying my youngster I moved him from a stable on the same side to a bigger stable opposite the stressy one. Previously vice free he started weaving within a few days. Nothing else in his management or environment changed. So I have an open mind on this.

 

[bluebellfreddy]

Fburton: horses will look up to other hoses, because they do have a peaking order. So if the to horses is doing something others will follow.

Horses will often see other horses do something and then copy them. It is then depends on the horses to if it starts the habit long term.

 

[Dizzle]

Tongue lolling is the only stable vice that horses copy, although we have a tongue loller on our yard and nothing copies him... go figure!!

 

[FanyDuChamp]

I voted "no" because although my lad is a windsucker, now only when he is stressed or excited, neither Fany on one side of him or B. on the other have picked up his habit. I can't, however, comment on other vices.

FDC

 

[FanyDuChamp]

Tongue lolling is the only stable vice that horses copy, although we have a tongue loller on our yard and nothing copies him... go figure!!

Not sure what tongue lolling is? Is it when they stick their tongues out to be played with? My boy does that all the time, he likes it stroked. I have always seen it as a sign of trust not a vice. Or do you mean when ridden to avoid the bit?
FDC

 

[fburton]

Fburton: horses will look up to other hoses, because they do have a peaking order. So if the to horses is doing something others will follow.

"Pecking order" refers to the fact that horses move out of the way of more dominant horses, initially as a result of aggression or threats of aggression, but after horses have learned where they stand in relation to each other the degree of threat needed may be minimal. However, just because one horse can displace another doesn't mean the one that is displaced admires the displacer, or is obedient to her, or is more likely to follow her (for horses, dominance is not the same as "leadership"), or even respects her in the way people usually think of respect. The displaced horse is just as likely to dislike the displacer - especially if the displacing is frequent and gratuitous, the behaviour of a bully - and avoid her (one sees plenty of that!).

Horses tend to echo other horses' behaviour because it makes sense in terms of survival. Horses instinctively coordinate their movements and other activities with each other, because the individual who decides to do his/her own thing is likely to stand out from the crowd and be targeted by a predator.