Equine Welfare - Understanding True Equine Behaviour

[KatieBWade]

Although there is a tremendous amount of behavioural research within the academic field, not a lot of it filters through to us owners to use in a practical way every day.

Without this scientifically proven knowledge helping us to understand our horses correctly, we are left to rely on yard hearsay, benefitting neither us nor our horses in the long term.

After many years of working and living with horses, coming across the usual behavioural problems, from being nipped whilst rugging up to not achieving the desired percentages in dressage classes, I decided to study equine behaviour to learn more.

Working with various trainers across Europe, obtaining a BSc Hons and qualifying with The Natural Animal Centre, a leading institution in the science of animal behaviour, working alongside Oxford University and Bristol Veterinary College, I have set-up a Behavioural Consulting practice to share this understanding with veterinary clinics, rescue centres and every day horse owners.

Dedicated to improving the welfare of the domestic horse through correct education, I provide the truth behind equine behaviour. Here is the first….you may wish to challenge and query what I say which is great, I am always happy to explain further, just ask.

LICKING AND CHEWING MEANS MY HORSE IS RELAXED

Evolving over 65 million years, this prey species has developed strong legs, long faces, amazing vision, superb hearing and more to avoid predators and stay safe. We are predators, domesticating the horse within just a few thousand years. Domestication has therefore not yet successfully eradicated these long evolved, ‘hardwired’ instinctual behaviours, causing many dangerous situations when faced with stables, trailers, arenas, etc. in our world.

From the old ‘fight or flight’ model, it has now been found that just as we do, horses have four responses to stressful situations:

1. Flight – to run away from the fearful situation, avoid it.
2. Fiddle – to blink, lick and chew, swish tail and flicker ears.
3. Freeze – to plant their feet, often seen when flight and fiddle hasn’t worked, commonly when loading.
4. Fight – to bite, kick or pin his ears back among other postures.

Licking and chewing, excessive blinking and yawning continuously are all forms of fiddle responses, where the horse feels stressed in the situation his is in - Just like the nervous politician we see during speeches!

This is commonly misunderstood as relaxation as had been witnessed by more popular alternative horse people within a group of Mustang, however these observations have been deemed invalid by the academic community as these horses were feral and placed in an environment that restricted needs thus creating frustration.

Appearances can be deceiving, particularly with horses. If all four of these responses are not effective in removing the fearful stimulus, with no alternative, this prey animal suppresses fear in an effort to conserve energy. The fact is that if you were to measure heart rate, blood pressure and stress hormones in these animals, a very different picture to ‘relaxation’ would be witnessed.

Taking a step-by-step approach, using purely positive techniques, with a detailed understanding of equine behaviour will help owners avoid behavioural difficulties and stress-related illnesses. So this is what I am here for….any queries just ask!

Best Wishes

Katie

Katie B Wade
BSc NAC EBQ FBQ
Animal Behaviourist
www.animalminds.co.uk

 

[Silverspring]

[ QUOTE ]

from being nipped whilst rugging up to

[/ QUOTE ]

I would be most interested on hearing your views on why some horse's do this? My mare is a bit of a cow for it and has been for the past 23 years of her life!

 

[KatieBWade]

Hi well yes this is a very common problem for many horse owners.

To fully understand your horse as an individual, I would need to tak a full history, however to give you a brief understanding here we go.

Go back to the four responses to fearful stimuli:
1. Flight
2. Freeze
3. Fiddle
4. Fight

The horse would go through all 1-3 responses to remove the potentially threatening situation before resorting to the fourth, fight. 'Fight' ranges from a swish of the tail to a nip, right through to a kick or front leg strike.

A horse being tied up has instantly had the 'flight' option removed.

Then the freeze behaviour is to be tried next, however standing still does not stop us continuing with the scary rug.

'Fiddle' is often left unnoticed, we ignore tight lips and flickering ears or even dont see it.

As all of these methods have not stopped the rug being put on, the horse resorts to flared nostrils, swishing tail, or even a nip.

So to avoid the nip it would be a case of going back to basics, taking a step-by-step approach to re-introduce the rug in a positive way, always at liberty so 'flight' is never restricted.

If you cannot do this, just watch for 'fiddle' behaviours as this will help you predict how close she is to adopting her usual 'fight' technique.

There is far more to it than this, however in brief I hope this helps!

Any more questions just ask.

Katie

 

[Silverspring]

Thank you for the reply, it's really quite interesting! She usualyl at liberty as we don't often tie up (she's good and generally stays where I leave her or at least at a near by feedbucket!) she probably does do the freeze and the fiddle as she will tense her mouth and flick her ears at the sight of a rug.

So would you just say rug slowly and stop as soon as she she's signs the signs of fiddling? I'm not sure if I woudl infuriate her further by taking longer to put the rug on

 

[siennamum]

So you are suggesting that when a horse pulls faces when having it's rug put on - which as knowledgeable horse people know could be for lots of reasons (especially that the horse doesn't particularly like it's rug!) you in fact try putting it's rug on whilst loose.

That makes lots of sense as in addition to pulling faces the horse can panic when the horse has the rug half done up - bugger off with the rug round it's legs, properly scaring itself and ensuring it starts to REALLY dislike it's rug.

A little learning really can be a dangerous thing!

 

[Silverspring]

[ QUOTE ]
So you are suggesting that when a horse pulls faces when having it's rug put on - which as knowledgeable horse people know could be for lots of reasons (especially that the horse doesn't particularly like it's rug!) you in fact try putting it's rug on whilst loose.

That makes lots of sense as in addition to pulling faces the horse can panic when the horse has the rug half done up - bugger off with the rug round it's legs, properly scaring itself and ensuring it starts to REALLY dislike it's rug.

A little learning really can be a dangerous thing!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm there are alot of trainers that work with problem horse's at liberty. I wouldn't recommend it for a novice handler but given that I said I'd had the horse so long she probably assumed that I could handle my mare without a halter and knew not to throw the rug on half do it up then let her career off to scare the cr@p out herself.

 

[SouthWestWhippet]

[ QUOTE ]

That makes lots of sense as in addition to pulling faces the horse can panic when the horse has the rug half done up - bugger off with the rug round it's legs, properly scaring itself and ensuring it starts to REALLY dislike it's rug.

A little learning really can be a dangerous thing!

[/ QUOTE ]

Instant dismissal and sarcasm

welcome to HHO. .

actually I am interested in what you are saying. Clearly you are not advocating taking a horse that does not like his rug and attempting to sling it over him in an open field. I read it as if the horse has the option of the flight response, you will see it much more quickly if he is at liberty to move around, possibly before it is even on which enables you to fix the problem from the start not just at the point where the horse moves into 'fight' mode. Is that right?

I'm interested in the 'fidget' response as my horse is currently being trained to be an RDA pony and is spending a lot of time in the arena being desensitised to the equipment we used. he is worked on a rope so he can move away but he is encouraged to stand still.

currently he is moving betweent what you call 'freeze' and 'fidget' most of the time as he is a sensitive boy but keen to please.

I'm concerned if I allow him to express 'flight' he will never get to the point where he realise that the large bucket of but would you saying that by restricting his flight instinct I am slowing his training?

thanks for an interesting post

 

[Tinypony]

I think the poster is talking about using pure positive reinforcement training, in which case any form of restraint would be an absolute no no. I haven't got the energy to go into the usual discussion about positive and negative reinforcement, why not all negative reinforcement is "negative" or bad, or the real definitions of the terms... again. I'm sure OP will explain more though.
This interested me [ QUOTE ]
Licking and chewing, excessive blinking and yawning continuously are all forms of fiddle responses, where the horse feels stressed in the situation his is in - Just like the nervous politician we see during speeches!

This is commonly misunderstood as relaxation as had been witnessed by more popular alternative horse people within a group of Mustang, however these observations have been deemed invalid by the academic community as these horses were feral and placed in an environment that restricted needs thus creating frustration.

[/ QUOTE ]
Because I have read a respected equine behaviourist (not Parelli or Marks, a real behaviourist) saying that the above is an over-simplified explanation for licking and chewing and yawning. That these behavoiurs don't always indicate stress. To me this just proves, yet again, that it's not wise to take everything someone says as being gospel, even if they do claim to be a "qualified behaviourist".

 

[Tinypony]

Is Heather Simpson still tutoring the Natural Animal Centre courses, and setting and marking the exams? I hope not.

 

[SouthWestWhippet]

[ QUOTE ]
ecause I have read a respected equine behaviourist (not Parelli or Marks, a real behaviourist) saying that the above is an over-simplified explanation for licking and chewing and yawning. That these behavoiurs don't always indicate stress. To me this just proves, yet again, that it's not wise to take everything someone says as being gospel, even if they do claim to be a "qualified behaviourist".


[/ QUOTE ]

Again this is interesting. I have also been told by someone else that licking and chewing can be a sign that the horse is 'dealing' with something ( the words they used were " he's thinking about it" but I'll avoid the trap of anthropomorphism (sp?)) and not necesarily a bad thing. For this reason when my pony was licking and chewing in the school, I was happier with this response than the 'freeze' response I usually get out of him - he clenches his teeth when he is nervous so licking and chewing seemed a step forward.

Don't worry, I won't tak anything I read on here as gospel...

but it is all interesting food for thought.

 

[burtie]

[ QUOTE ]
My mare is a bit of a cow for it and has been for the past 23 years of her life!


[/ QUOTE ]

Most likely this is because where we do up girths/rugs is a very sensitive area in all mares, it is where a stallion nips and teases them to see if they are in season. You could call them the mares erogenous(sp) zones!

 

[siennamum]

That can't be right surely. It's false knowledge that's been passed down for generations and so has no validity.

IF you allow your mare the liberty to wander at will whilst you are trying repeatedly to put the rug on, and paying someone to tell you to do this whilst they laugh all the way to the bank THEN you can come on here and comment on horse behaviour. Really would have thought you'd know better.

 

[Silverspring]

[ QUOTE ]
Most likely this is because where we do up girths/rugs is a very sensitive area in all mares, it is where a stallion nips and teases them to see if they are in season. You could call them the mares erogenous(sp) zones!

[/ QUOTE ]

I feel like I've been perving on my horse for the past god know's how many years! Poor girly...I wonder how I could avoid touching her erogenous zone

 

[burtie]

[ QUOTE ]
IF you allow your mare the liberty to wander at will whilst you are trying repeatedly to put the rug on, and paying someone to tell you to do this whilst they laugh all the way to the bank THEN you can come on here and comment on horse behaviour. Really would have thought you'd know better.

[/ QUOTE ]


Soo true.

 

[KatieBWade]

Hi

Right…well yes SouthWestWhippet you have got it in one. I am most certainly do not recommend that all handlers go out and work at liberty without accounting for safety, this post is just trying to get a better understanding of your horses reactions out there.

In every situation that your horse is put in, if your horse was to be given the opportunity for flight would he take it? If the answer is yes, then you know that your horse is not completely happy and relaxed in that particular situation and perhaps some work needs to be done to alter the problem before you begin to witness 'fight'.

All too often I am asked to help people with their horses who are very aggressive, even if it is a little nip of a full blown launch with teeth. The fact is that such problems could have been avoided if the owner were to notice the more subtle communications beforehand.

There are many reasons why a horse would not be happy to have his rug put on, in each case I would need to know the full history of the horse and problem before I could detail a specific answer.

It could be a sensitive skin thing, a pain thing, even a memory of feeling discomfort. It could be anything else in the environment nearby the place where you are rugging up. It could be that the horse was never taught about the rug in as gradual a manner as required, confirming any initial fear that he had right form the start.

Many people prefer to use gadgets and quick fixes, however without dealing with core underlying issues the behaviour is not fully resolved and can therefore be extremely dangerous and indeed unhealthy.

Unfortunately there is no magic remedy or quick fix with any domestic animal, it is a matter of taking a step-by-step approach to gradually habituate novel objects/situations, positive reward reinforcing this fact.

I understand that many do not agree with this style, and indeed suppression through pressure and force do work, however when you delve into the underlying behavioural physiology, which way is a) the most ethical b) the most healthy c) the most effective in the long term.

There is much more to it than explained here, if you would like further reading on original studies/writings, I would be happy to provide these too.

Academia aside, through the years that I have taken this approach both personally and professionally in training the most aggressive/nervous of horses, this style has worked in every aspect.

Thanks

Katie

 

[Shilasdair]

I agree with a lot of what you say, Katie.
I like to think I have quite a good understanding of horse behaviour, and I don't have any behavioural problems with my horses, so it does work.
Welcome to the forum.
S

 

[Sparklet]

I think some things are more complicated than you have presented....there are a 1000 reasons why a horse may display a certain type of behaviour. For example mares are much more iclined to 'communicate' with expression and tend to be more bodily terrotorial.

My girl has always swished her tail and pulled faces when I have put rugs/head collar or even touched her....I dont need to tie her up to do it and she will stand perfectly still but likes to express her feelings. I take note...they never become more aggressive and I certainly dont reprimand her or respond to her behaviour. I just quietly continue what I am doing while she 'has her say'.

Licking and chewing stems from babyhood and is a sign of submission not relaxation. A young horse will lick and chew when approaching a more dominant horse to demonstrate they are no threat. Same with dogs yawning and showing their underside.....so I remain a little confused by your assertions to be honest.

Sorry attached the wrong link...not meant for you Shil...

 

[Tinypony]

[ QUOTE ]
Unfortunately there is no magic remedy or quick fix with any domestic animal, it is a matter of taking a step-by-step approach to gradually habituate novel objects/situations, positive reward reinforcing this fact.

[/ QUOTE ]
There you go, that's just not true. Even if we don't like quick fix methods or gadgets, the fact is that some of them work. They work long-term. It is not always a matter of step-by-step and positive reinforcement. Sometimes if you simply change the horse's habit for long enough for them to realise that they don't need to be worried about something, they will not be worried again. It may not suit the view some want to promote of equines, but that is what happens, and the horses are not traumatised by the process.
Most behaviourists are of the opinion that licking and chewing can take place in different situations and for different reasons by the way.
Already I sense the selling of an approach by making horse owners feel guilty that so often characterises a student of Heather Simpson. It's over-simplified and to be honest it makes me rather cross. Did Heather ever get an equine qualification herself by the way? When I knew of her, her degree was in companion animal behaviour, and although she owned horses, she seldom spent time with them herself. I am sure that has all changed.

 

[KatieBWade]

Indeed every horse is an individual, to explain a specific horses’ behaviour would require a full history of that case. However due to the horse evolving over 65 million years to perform specific behaviours that have helped them adapt and survive until today, being domesticated for only a few thousand years, certain assumptions can be made about the underlying behaviours of our horses.

Yes of course it is more complicated than this simple thread, it would be impossible to put over 70 years of research in one post. Under the 'fiddle' response for example, there exists 1. Displacements and 2. Appeasments. Appeasments are species specific, i.e. a young horse snapping at a stallion, whereas displacements occur commonly around humans, the horse being in a domestic setting.

Although both behaviours have slightly different characteristics, they have both been categorised within the 'fiddle' category due to the key underlying submissive communication, "I am no threat" to put it simply.

If they feel the need to state that "they are no threat" they are feeling apprehension, which is understandable when we look at the yard through the horses eyes.

There is a whole different topic that you mention that your horse stands perfectly still despite not being tied up and pulling faces, but again this is rather complex for a forum post, however I will be happy to provide you with some further reading if you wish.

It is great to question, query and learn more.

Best Wishes

Katie

 

[Sparklet]

[ QUOTE ]
There is a whole different topic that you mention that your horse stands perfectly still despite not being tied up and pulling faces, but again this is rather complex for a forum post, however I will be happy to provide you with some further reading if you wish.

It is great to question, query and learn more.

Best Wishes

Katie

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes completely agree, without an open and questioning mind learning would not progress. Further reading would be interesting, thanks

 

[chestnut cob]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
ecause I have read a respected equine behaviourist (not Parelli or Marks, a real behaviourist) saying that the above is an over-simplified explanation for licking and chewing and yawning. That these behavoiurs don't always indicate stress. To me this just proves, yet again, that it's not wise to take everything someone says as being gospel, even if they do claim to be a "qualified behaviourist".


[/ QUOTE ]

Again this is interesting. I have also been told by someone else that licking and chewing can be a sign that the horse is 'dealing' with something ( the words they used were " he's thinking about it" but I'll avoid the trap of anthropomorphism (sp?)) and not necesarily a bad thing. For this reason when my pony was licking and chewing in the school, I was happier with this response than the 'freeze' response I usually get out of him - he clenches his teeth when he is nervous so licking and chewing seemed a step forward.


[/ QUOTE ]

I think this is interesting as well. I was told by a Kelly Marks RA last year that licking and chewing can be a symptom of either stress or relaxation/submission. Horses apparently do it when they are relaxed, when they are, as you say "dealing with something" or thinking it through, and as a displacement activity when stressed. For the latter, it's like grinding your teeth when you are stressed. It helps to release some of the tension.

I think the OP raises some interesting points but you can't make such sweeping, black and white statements. The licking and chewing question alone would fill a PhD thesis so you can't expect to make a short statement like that and think it answers everything.

 

[KatieBWade]

Yes most certainly, below are a few references to get started, you will be able to see further references and take it from there, here are a couple of books and a journal article:

Chapter 7, pp. 151-180 in Waran, McGreevy and Casey (2002) Animal Welfare: The Welfare of Horses, Springer Netherlands

Chapter 14, pp.196-211 in Mills and McDonnell (2005) The Domestic Horse, Cambridge University Press

Hall et al (2008) Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, Vol.11, No.3, pp.249-266

The original studies on which this issue was based were in the 1970’s by a psychologist named Martin Seligman and are commonly accepted and taught as part of the syllabus of University courses worldwide.

I hope this helps, just ask if you have any further questions.

As previously stated yes what I have posted is oversimplified because it would be impossible to inform the general public of 70 years of research in purely academic terms. What is the use of scientifically valid research being paid for and produced if the general public are not going to benefit from their findings in a practical way every day.

Also, just to note as a response to a post or two, I am not trying to make anyone feel awkward about their own horses, over the years I too have used many techniques that I have had to work very hard to correct. I am simply trying to reduce the problems that I and so many others have come across by promoting education.

Thanks

Katie