Lecture 21: Species Specific Behaviour Companion 1

Question 1

What taxonomic family are the horses under? What are some characteristics about them?

Answer 1

Extant genus: Equus
-Odd toed ungulates
-Slender legs, long necks
-Manes and long tails

Question 2

What is the origin of horses?

Answer 2

-Oldest known ancestor is Eopippus
-Ancestral wild horse; social herbivore, depended on grassland, vigilance, size, and speed for survival
-Exact timing/location of horse domestication still debated
-Working theory 1. meat 2. pets. 3. work
-Approx. 682 breeds with large variation in size

Question 3

How do horses move?

Answer 3

-Naturally great athletes

Physiological attributes
-Heavy musculature= proximal limb
-Distal limbs are light weight- tendons to move and support (weight concentrated at top)
-Elastic energy storage in distal limbs (decrease energy needed to move limbs, single digit that is lighter to decrease weight for drag) acts like a spring

Question 4

How do horses forage and feed?

Answer 4

-Generalist herbivore
-Feral populations worldwide (diet of mixed plant species, generally grass
-Choice in plants may shift depending on what is in season (ie more gorse, holly, deciduous in non-growing season)
-Patch feeding strategy (regular visited area)
-Plants are sought and recognized based on familiar sensory characteristics (Shape, colour, texture, flavour)
-Observed to select young, greener parts or plants with higher nutritional value compared to rest of available plant matter and can lean to avoid food that make them ill (can be taste aversion, feedback and associate what types of food are energy)

Question 5

How do horses spend more of their time?

Answer 5

-Majority is spent foraging- move short distances frequently sample herbage
-Free ranging horses spend 13-18hrs/day foraging
-Amount of time spent will depend on forage type and availability
-Hind gut fermentors (60% of GI tract)
-Fermentation of plant material (cellulose) in handout by microbial populations can’t be digested by foregut

Question 6

What are social behaviour or horses?

Answer 6

-Naturally live in social groups (bands)
-Predator avoidance: increased vigilance and safety in numbers
-Stable, long term dominance hierarchies among mares in single and mixed sex groupings

Question 7

Do horses have affiliative relationships?

Answer 7

-Forming affiliative relationships is necessary for group living
-Relationships reinforced through mutual grooming, resting together, proximity and following behaviour
-Wild mares: typically 1-2 preferred social partners (other than offspring) throughout their lifetime
-Horses can get jealous
-Horses often mixed based on familiarity (captivity) relatively less attention to the composition of the group
-Group composition is disrupted frequently (animals removed for riding, work etc)
-Some management systems seek to house horses alone or in physical detachment

Question 8

What are mating behaviours?

Answer 8

-Stallions will display protective and interventionist behaviours towards their breeding mares
-Wild: breeding stallion lives with group of females and their immature offspring, isolated from other adult males (some exceptions) Polygeony: I male lots of females
-When young males get old enough to attempt to breed with mares, the stallion will drive them out- join males of similar age until they can take control of their own

Question 9

What are sexual behaviours?

Answer 9

-Mares generally more proactive in mating behaviours (88% will initiate)
-Visual cues ex tail rating, flehmen response
-Olfactory cues ex pheromones in oestrous urine
-Receptive postures by mare “Squatting” or “sawhorse stance”

Question 10

How is aggression on bands?

Answer 10

May show aggression in hierarchical disputes
-Chasing, shoving, threats to bite/kick. actual bites/ kicks

Territorial agression
-Bite, kick with hind feet (single or double), strike with forefeet, with aim or no aim

Question 11

What are abnormal behaviours?

Answer 11

-Modern domestic horses often in restrcited environment, inadequate physical expertise, social disruptions etc
-2 general categories of stereotypes: oral and locomotion
-Most frequent observed stereotypes in domestic horse
1.Crib birini (O)
2. Weaving (L)
3. Box walking (L)
4. Wind sucking (O)
5. Wood chewing (O)

Question 12

What is crib biting?

Answer 12

Oral
-One of most prevalent horse stereotypes
-Grasping a fixed horizontal object (fence or stall) with the incisors while contracting the neck muscles and pulling upward
-May or may not draw air into esophagus
-Clinical effects: poor performance, abnormal tooth wear, weight loss, specific form of colic, lower learning etc more speculative

Question 13

Wha is wind sucking?

Answer 13

-Second most common
-Opens mouth, bends neck, and contracts neck muscles, pulling air into esophagus WITHOUT grasping anything in its teeth
-Often occurs with crib biting
-Clinical effect: colic

Question 14

What is wood chewing?

Answer 14

-Chewing on any materials made of wood or wooden objects without swallowing air
-Can be difficult to define, confused with crib biting

Question 15

What is weaving?

Answer 15

Locomotor
-same prevalence as wood chewing
-Swing head and neck from side to side and shifts its weight from one foreleg to the other, sometimes in coordination with the hindquarters while standing in place
-Clinical effects: stained ligaments, poor performance, weight loss, fatigue

Question 16

What is box walking?

Answer 16

Locomotor
-Lower than weaving and wood chewing
-Walking around the box for hours in a reported pattern, irregular directions, or a figure 8 shaped track
-Loss of condition, poor performance
-Difficult to keep bedding clean and fresh

Question 17

What are horse stereotypes (hypotheses)?

Answer 17

Gastrointestinal irritation: high concentrate, low forage= reduced alkaline salvia (can irruptive digestion)

Reduced feeding time: high concentrates (eat fast) but psychological need to forage (redirected foraging behaviour)

Social isolation/restrictive locomotion: current housing can limit social interaction, lack of social contact and sterotypies well established in other species, inadequate exercise (ranging species)