Final Exam Flashcards
A regular day for horses is spent:
45% eating
35% resting
15% moving
Groups of horses splint themselves into
Bands controlled by a stallion
How long to young colts and fillies stay with the band
2-3 years
What do young colts and fillies do when they leave the band
Join a new band
Stay in the same band
Live alone
Stallions will form bachelor bands
True or false
Stallions tend not to breed with their own daughters
True
When there is a group of mates and geldings and no stallions
The group together under a boss mare or gelding
Dominance is determined
Within the first month following the intro of a new horse
True or false
If the dominant mare is done drinking at the waterer, horses will follow even if they are still thirsty
True
True or false
Dominance determines order in which horses obtain resources
True
How many hours will it take for a horse to get the sufficient amount of food needed for nodule functions on good pasture
4 hours
Time spent grazing in daylight hours
60-80% of the time
Two things horses will avoid when grazing on pasture
Feces
Forages with lots of stem
Latrines
Where they defecate and urinate regularly
Pheromones
Given off by an individual horse to help identify it to others. Often signals sexual receptivity
True or false
You should use loud voices around horses
False
Quite, low voices
What is the degree of rotation of a horses ear
180 degrees
Flat and backwards ears indicate what in horses
Anger
Degree of a horses vision
340 degrees
Where are a horses blind spots
Directly in front of them (1m)
And directly behind them
True or false
Horses have a large range of binocular vision
False
They have a small range of binocular vision
How do horses adjust their head to focus on distant objects
Extend their head
How do horses adjust their head to focus on close up objects
Flex their head
Horses have limited color vision
What colors do they see
Blues and greens
True or false
Horses have good monochromatic vision
True
What are 3 things that occur due to monocular vision combined with poor focusing
1: black mats or water puddles look like deep holes
2: fear of objects they’ve seen before in new positions or places
3: different, bright colours may spook them
A squeal or screen indicates
A threat
A snort indicates
Fear
Whinny neighs indicate
Greeting
A blow indicates
Curiosity
A nicker is
Quiet communications often between mates and foals
True or false
Horses are most sensitive to touch around their head
True
How does a horse lay down
Places all 4 feet beneath the body and collapses
How does a horse stand up
Extends front legs first
Pushes up with hind legs
(Need a lot of room)
Where should you stand when a horse lies down
By the withers
More in front with the neck
Back/to the side 1 meter
How far can a horses kick range
6-8 feet
True or false
You can stand at about an arms reach away from horses when walking behind then
False
Stand very close or very far
True or false
You should not touch the horse or speak when your walking behind them because it could scare them
False
Always have a hand on the horse and speak calmly so the horse knows where you are
A horse strikes with
It’s front legs
How to prevent a horse from biting you
Hold the lead close to the head/mouth and arm rigid
True or false
Horses will always try to escape perceived danger and the will run over anything in its way
True
True or false
Horses are okay with separating from their band/herd
False
Separation causes anxiety
How do you prevent separation anxiety during check ups
Bring a companion horse
How far is a horses flight zone
3-10 meters
True or false
It is okay to bring treats out to bribe a stubborn horse while with the rest of the herd
False
All the horses will Mob you
True or false
You should never stand directly in front of a horse
True
How should you approach a horse
At a curve to the withers
True or false
You can look at a horse directly in the face
False
This is predatory
Look at their withers
Why is scratching the withers of a horse a calming gesture for them
Because it is seen often in mutual grooming which is a important social aspect for horses
First step when trying to capture a horse with a halter
Attach the lead rope to the halter
True or false
Horses should be tied to a post for a vet check
False
They should always be held by a handler
True or false
The handler can stand on whatever side of the horse when the horse is getting a vet check
False
They should always stand omg the same said as the vet
True or false
The lead shank should always be attached with a snap or a knot
True
If the horse acts up and the handler pulls the head to wards them, where will the hind end go?
Away from them
Important tips for tying a horse to a post
Rope should be shoulder level or higher
Tied to a solid post
Rope should be relatively short
Tied with a quick release knot
True or false
You can leave a horse tied to a post alone
False
Never leave a tied up horse alone
2 reasons Why should an escape door in a trailer be open with a rope across it?
1: so you can escape
2: so it lets light into the trailer (horses will not walk into an area they cannot see)
True or false
When loading horses into a trailer, you should load stubborn horses first
False
Always load the “easy” horses first and the stubborn horses will likely follow
True or false
Horses respond to pressure from behind better than pulling them forward
True
Ears flat and backwards Rapid tail movement Snaking the head Pawing Squealing Threats Raising hind legs Are all signs of:
Aggression
2 Reasons why horses have aggression towards humans
1: stalled horses
2: due to dominance or fear from a bad experience
3 reasons why horses may have aggression towards other horses
1: breeding (overused, not ready)
2: dominance
3: territorial
How should you introduce two new horses
With two fences in between them
Does castration help with aggression and dominance problems
Potentially
Why may a mare have maternal aggression towards people
Protection of the foal
How to prevent maternal aggression or deal with it
1: accustom mare to foals caregivers prior to delivery
2: minimize contact during the first few days after delivery (when maternal aggression is really high) a
3 reasons for stallion aggression
1: overused for breeding
2: breeding out of season
3: when the stallion doesn’t like the mare
True or false
Stallions tend to not want to mate with mares they were stabled with
True
How do you rest stallion aggression
Change and rotate stallions more
Use artificial insemination
Physical restraint with hobbles
Desensitization/clicker training
What are stereotypic behaviours
Behaviours that are Repetitive with invariant patterns with no obvious goal, function or benefit
Are stereotypies harmful?
Not always
Can predispose horses to disorders but not the direct cause
What are the two main causes of stereotypies
Feed related
Boredom
What is Cribbing/wind sucking/aerophagia
Stable vice/oral stereotypy
Grasps object with upper incisors and suck air into the esophagus and stomach
What are the predisposing factors of cribbing/wind sucking
Weaned in a stall and kept in a stall after weaning
Fed concentrates
Eating very fast (like to be grazing most of the time)
Lack of time at pasture
Lack of straw bedding in stall
Common in thoroughbreds
What can cribbing/wind sucking cause
Colic
What is wood chewing
Eating wooden fence posts or building material in stall
What are the predisposing factors of wood chewing
Horses kept indoors
Fed concentrates or hay cubes (eat very fast)
Common in thorough needs
How can you treat wood chewing
Provide roughage (long stem hay)
Pasture time
Find ways to slow them down when eating (put hay in a box with holes in it)
Turn out more
What is weaving
Repetitively moving head from side to side and may shift weight on forelegs
Predisposing factors of weaving
Stalled horses
Boredom
Usually done in front of a window
What can weaving cause
Wear and tear on joints
What is box walking
Repetitively walking around the edges or side of a stall
Similar to weaving but less common
Often seen prior to turn out or feeding
What are the predisposing factors of weaving and box walking
Common in warmbloods and thorough breds Stalled horses Weaned in a stall Not pasture time Lack of multiple open windows Lack of straw bedding Lack of forage
What can weaving and box walking cause
Colic
How can you treat weaving and box walking
Provide mirrors
Pasture time
More social contact
More forage
When are horses sexually mature
2-3 years old
True or false
Horses are seasonally polyestrous
True
True or false
Horses do not cycle in the winter and fall unless under artificial lighting
True
What is a horses gestational period
340 +/- 20 days
True or false
All thorough breds are born January 1st
True
How are mares determined if they are in heat
Brought to a stallion
Or determined by ultrasound
Courtship of a stallion
Prances
Sniffs mare
Flehmen
Nuzzles and grooms mare with mouth
What is flehmen
The horse lifts head, curls upper lip and sniffs
Signs a mare is not ready to mate
Ears pinned back
Squeal
Kicks at stallion
Moves away
True or false
You should always tease a stallion with a solid barrier in between them
True
Signs a mare is in heat
Stands still Lifts/moves tail for stallion Urinates Squat Winks Turns hind quarters towards stallion
If a mare has a foal while the stallion is trying to mate:
She will keep the foal out of the way and on the other side of her
What is a “wink” during horses mating
Eversion of the vulvar labia
What is waxing
When beads of colostrum dry on the ends of teats
When a sticky, white milky secretion comes from the teats
Parturition is within 24-48 hours
When the vulva swells and relaxes
Parturition is within days
First stages of labour for a horse
Restless Kicking at belly Looking at flanks Sweating Looks for a quiet area
True or false
A mare may not foal if people are watching
True
True or false
Foals are often born at night when no one is around
True
Second stage of labour in horses
Rupture if the allantois (embryonic membrane)
Then the delivery of the foal
How long does parturition take in horses
20-40 minutes
Any longer is potentially dangerous
Third stage of labour for a horse
Passage of the placenta
How long does it take to pass the placenta for a horse
Within 3 hours of foaling
True or false
You can pull out the placenta of a horse
False
You can tie a not in it while it hangs out of the horse to assist passage. Never pull it out
Signs of bonding between a mare and foal
Mare licks the foal
Nickers
When does a foal typically stand after birth
Within an hour
When does a foal drink colostrum after birth
2 hours
Why is it common to give a foal an enema
To get out the neonatal poop than can cause impaction
Period of dependence of a foal
First month
Stays very close to dam
Socialization period of a foal
2-3 months
True or false
Colts and fillies with groom both sexes
False
Colts with only groom fillies
Fillies with groom both sexes
How should a foal be handled for the first 42 days of life
Gently and frequently
Daily training and desensitization to human, halters. Etc
Period of increasing independence for a foal
4 months
True or false
Horse neonates are picky about who they suck from
False
They are promiscuous suckers
True or false
Dams don’t care who sucks from them
False
They are very picky
3 principles that assist fostering a foal
1: Foal to a mare that has recently lost a foal
2: make it difficult for mare to identify new foal
3: restrain the mare for she has to allow sucking
How can you make it difficult for mare to identify foster foal
1: put a strong smelling ointment in the muzzle of the mare to restrict sense of smell
2: blindfold mare
3: cover the foster foal with the dead skin of the dead foal
4: wash the dead foal and then put the water onto the dead foal
Why do you need two people to assist the foal in sucking from mare
One to restrain the mare
One to assist the foal
True or false
A foster foal should be kept away from the mares head when she is restrained for sucking
True
How often should the process of restraining a mare to allow a foster foal to suck be repeated
Every 2 hours
If the attempt to foster a foal to a mare, when will it happen?
24-48 hours
How much more sensitive is a horses sense of smell to humans
Their olfactory centre is 20x bigger
Two methods a cow smells
Nostrils Vomeronasal organ (jacobsons’s organ)
What and where is the vomeronasal organ
Located on the roof of the mouth
Must do the flehmen response to use this duct
Nerves connect it to the brain
Important in the recognition of individual (pheromones)
Balk
Stops, Won’t move
What will cows do if they hear a noise coming from the area you are moving them to
Balk
Do cows prefer old, strong and bitter flowers or Fresh feed
Fresh feed
True or false
Cows may balk at colour changes
True
True or false
Cows have poor binocular vision and poor ability to focus their vision
True
True or false
Cows are not sensitive to sharp contrast of dark and light
False
There are sensitive to it
What is a cows field of vision
330 degrees
Where is a cows blind spot
Directly behind them
True or false
Grazing animals have a slit shaped pupil and a visual system that is most efficient at scanning things at a distance
True
What happens if you enter a cows blind spot
The cow will stop and turn so they can see you
True or false
Cows will balk at very bright lighted areas
True
Why are solid fences and alleyways better for cows
Because an open fence would create alternating light and dark patterns which they are sensitive to and distracted by
Amount of time spent grazing depends on
Environmental conditions
Quality and availability of feed
Distance between water and feed
When do cows graze the most
Early morning and evening
6am and 6pm
When do cows ruminate and rest the most
Noon (hottest hours of the day)
True or false
Cows carry a long term memory of the best grazing areas and it may take them up to a year to adjust to new pasture
True
True or false
Cows tend to graze together
True
Signs of limited forage for cows
Will graze for a very long time
If they are grazing during a hot sunny day
If they aren’t grazing as a herd (scattered)
How do cows lay down
Fold the front limbs and then hind end goes down
How does a cow stand up
Hind end up first and then the front legs
Signs of a threat from a bull
Lowering the head Hind legs draw forward Eyes and horns on object Pawing Snorting Rubbing head neck and horns on the ground
True or false
Cows will lose interest in you once they run you over or knock you down
False
They will continue to toss, kneel on, or smash on the victim
What are the most dangerous breeds of cows
Dairy breeds like jersey and Holstein bulls
Cow tameness depends on
Frequency of handling
Breed
The Handler
Breeds of cows that are often gentle
Hereford
Simmental
True or false
It is okay for you to stand between a cow and a calf
False
NEVER stand between a cow and her calf
True or false
Calves are inquisitive creatures, but when the dam is around they will always follow her
True
Dairy cows are normally bred by
Artificial insemination
Beef cows are normally bred
Naturally
Females will tend to form a sexually active group. What are some signs that they are in heat
Stays in site of bulls
Females will mount each other to attract a bull
Vaginal mucus discharge at estrous
Female cows will mount each other to attract bulls. The cow that stands still to be mounted is likely
In heat
When a bull approaches a cow in heat
Chin rests on the back
Licks and sniffs perineal region
Tried to mount
True or false
Intermission in mating of cows is a long process
False
It is often only seconds long
If a cow is about to give birth they:
Seek a sheltered area away from the herd
Stands up more (stress)
Lies in semi sternal recumbent to calve
Cows frequency stand a lot more before parturition. When does this start before calving
3 days
First stage of labour for a cow
Standing a lot
Separated from herd
Mucus discharge from vagina
Second stage of labour for a cow
Amniotic membrane bursts
Calf is born
Cow is usually lying down
How long does parturition last in cows
1-2 hours
Third stage of labour for a cow
Expulsion of the placenta
How long does it take to birth the placenta
4-12 hours
Anything longer is a retained placenta
Licking a calf is important for
Bonding
Breathing
Warmth
Why do cows eat the placenta and lick up all the amniotic fluid
To hide signs that a calf was born
Probably from predators
What is Non nutritional sucking
Calf will suck on other calves, itself, appendages, skin tags or inanimate objects
Why do calves suck on things other than teats
Poor nutrition
Not enough food
The calf WANTS to suck it is a instinct
What does NOT help with non nutritional sucking
Penning or isolating the calf
What does a device that prevents a cow from sucking help with and what does it not help with
It prevents the cow from licking on itself and others
But does not get rid of the motivation to suck
What is the best way to stop non nutritional sucking
Redirection
Provide a dry test next to the feeding area
What are the disease risks of selling a foster calf to another farm
Risk of transferring a disease between herds
Silent heat (biggest concern in dairy herds)
The physical signs of heat are all minimal (discharge, vulvar relaxation, behavioural)
How to prevent or catch silent heats in cows
Frequent observation
Teaser bulls
Nymphomania in cows
Increased sexual behaviour in high producing dairy cows that are 4-6 years old and have had calves
What happens in nymphomania
They mount other cows excessively
Decrease in milk production
True or false
In most cases, nymphomania is associated with follicular cysts on their ovaries
True
True or false
Poor libido can be from painful feet
True
What happens when bulls have poor libido
Bulls refuse to mount
avoid estrous cows
And fail to develop erections
What can cause poor libido in cows
Inexperienced young bulls that attempt to breed with aggressive cows
Bulls that are used to frequently
Stress if environment
How to deal with poor libido
Make bulls watch other bulls mount cows
Rotate teaser bulls
Get the bulls feet trimmed in the spring to prevent this for breeding season
True or false
Masturbation is seen in 3% of all feedlot steers
True
What contributes to masterbation and excessive mounting in feedlots
Hormonal factors
Over Crowding
Dominance
True or false
The buller cow is the one being mounted
True
True or false
The buller and the mounting steer may have poor growth because of stress and increased activity
True
What is the most common solution when dealing with buller steers
To separate the buller steers and put all the bullers together
Why might hand reared bulls be more aggressive?
Inadequate socialization
May imprint to humans and think it is a human
Dominance problems
True or false
Cows typically kick backwards
False
They typically kick forwards
Why might cows be reluctant to enter a milking parlour
Previous bad experiences
Electric shock
Mastitis
Rough handling
When is food throwing onto a cows back more common
When the cow is fed a total mixed ration
Signs a cow is unwell
Little interest in their environment Dull eyes Sluggish movement Poor grooming Drool Poor appetite
Signs a cow is well
Alert
Stretches upon standing
Vocalizes pain and distress
Good grooming
True or false
It is easier to get a halter on a cow than to put into a chute
False
It is easier to drive cows into pens and chutes
The size of a cows flight zone depends on
The tameness of a cow
A cows flight zone can range from
Extensively hand raised cows: 50 meters
Feedlot cattle:2-5 meters
Best direction to move with cows to make cows move forward down a chute
From head to butt
When herding cows
WALK in a zig zag motion from behind
True or false
You have to catch all of the stragglers when herding cows or else they won’t come
False
If you herd the majority the stragglers will follow (herd animals)
