Yawning

StormyMoments

StormyMoments

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Rio yawns a lot... i have always been told that excessive yawning is a sign of stress. He doesnt seem stressy at all.

Hes a bit more chatty and attention seeking than usual and he is currently stabled most of the day other than when he is turned out in the morning and the evening for an hour as he was becoming nasty when left out and he wouldnt come out of the stable. He is a much nicer and happier horse in while its snowy and muddy so he is staying in. He always has plenty of hay, his neighbour hasnt gone out since hes been in and there are 2 other horses that are being stabled most of the time too. The only horses turned out during the day are Taz and Missy.

His yawning isnt a recent development... he started to yawn a lot when he settled in at our last yard when we first got him

so what is causing his excessive yawning? is it nothing to worry about or is it something serious?

thank you!
 
Not sure about yawning but being 'nasty' when turned out is definitely odd. Was something (herd dynamics? lack of grass?) stressing him in the field?
 
i was watching him today actually... once he starts yawning there is a whole procession of about 9 yawns that follow.... yeah all this talking of yawning is making me want to yawn... i will suppress it!!
 
Tickles said:
Not sure about yawning but being 'nasty' when turned out is definitely odd. Was something (herd dynamics? lack of grass?) stressing him in the field?
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he was never turned out in spain... he has never been very "yayy we are going out!!" he often refuses to go out of his box. He moved to a new yard on christmas day with more grass and he still stands there asking to come in and gets verrryyyy grumpy if out for more than 4 hours and if turned out at all in rain, snow, wind or mud he turns into a deamon. Hes not turned out with anyone else as hes a stallion but he is still in the field next to Taz and Missy who have been his neighbours since he arrived.
 
Oh I remember seeing video of that handsome fella, how is he? You're probably right he would have been in a lot in Spain and that's what he is used to, institutionalised so to speak :-) My haffy yawns loads, especially when I first put her bridle on as if to say 'oh I'm awfully tired, do we have to?' or probably just settling the bit in her mouth, and also around food time in the field if I am faffing with rugs etc first, the pony next door does it a lot around that time too, maybe they're just dropping food hints :-)
 
ooo sounds like there is nothing to worry about then :) and yeah i would rather he was out but im not going to force it as obviously hes happier in so i will leave him be :) i just have to occupy his mind more while hes in.. (spending far too much time trying to figure out the drop bold on his door as he can open locks, gates and taps :o) he is well :) i was going to post a video of him in the snow but im too lazy at the moment :o but heres a photo of him in the snow today :)

you wouldnt believe the first day he saw snow he stood shaking at the back of his box wild eyed and scared and took 40mins to pursuade out :o poor boy hasnt seen snow before as he lived in a valley but seems to have realised it wont eat him :)

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It sounds like he may be a bit tense till he gets in his stable and then he properly relaxes. The yawning is often to release tension. My horse is a terrible yawner and I used to ponder why, I think mine loves his stable so much he can barely stay awake once he's in there.
 
I too was always told yawning was a sign of stress so panic when they yawn, yet I have yawned several times while reading this thread and am a yawny (?) type of person but am not stressy. How or why is yawning attributed to liver problems ?

I have a horse who is a kind soul and no trouble with others when he's out but he loves being in and is very happy with the crap weather as he gets 2 hours out for a roll, a chat and then back in. He is very happy with this . :D He has been ridden 1 in the last 2 weeks and was an angel, will watch for yawning !
 
My horse used to be out 24/7 and when I brought him in to ride I noticed he yawned a LOT, before and while being tacked up. Having read up a bit it can be a pain response, I subsequently had my physio out who confirmed he was a bit sore through his back. After that treatment I actually cant remember the last time I saw him yawn. Not sure if this is coincidence or not but it certainly seemed to be related
 
Makes sense about the institutionalised part now.

Glad he is at least out for a while now though.

Assume he may need some adjusting for the climate too poor thing!
 
StormyMoments said:
Rio yawns a lot... i have always been told that excessive yawning is a sign of stress. He doesnt seem stressy at all.

Hes a bit more chatty and attention seeking than usual and he is currently stabled most of the day other than when he is turned out in the morning and the evening for an hour as he was becoming nasty when left out and he wouldnt come out of the stable. He is a much nicer and happier horse in while its snowy and muddy so he is staying in. He always has plenty of hay, his neighbour hasnt gone out since hes been in and there are 2 other horses that are being stabled most of the time too. The only horses turned out during the day are Taz and Missy.

His yawning isnt a recent development... he started to yawn a lot when he settled in at our last yard when we first got him

so what is causing his excessive yawning? is it nothing to worry about or is it something serious?

thank you!
Click to expand...
Well the obvious is that he is tired or bored. Never heard of it as a sign aof stress. Howevr, when I was doing my teacher training we had health educ lectures (it was a long time ago!) we were told that yawning is a response to shortage of oxygen in the body so we should open a window. I am not saying that this is true just that it was a prevalent view back then.

Very rarely, excessive yawning in humans can be an indication of heart disease but I wouldn,t worry about this in your case
 
Behavioural yawning (i.e. not colicy yawning or yawning when just waking up) seems to happen when there's some kind of internal conflict.

So "Want to go out but going out means getting cold and wet". "Want to get out of field, but getting out means having bridle put on", "want to meet that new horse over there, but they might not be friendly". "Want to run away from this situation but something (a lead rope for e.g.) is stopping me".

The lack of oxygen argument has long since been disproved.
 
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