Horse behavior
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Horse behavior is best understood from the perspective that horses are prey animals with a well-developed fight-or-flight instinct. Their first response to a threat is to flee, although they are known to stand their ground and defend themselves or their offspring in cases where flight is not possible, such as when a foal would be threatened.
Nonetheless, because their physiology is also suited to the accomplishment of a number of work- and entertainment-related tasks, humans domesticated horses thousands of years ago and they have served humans ever since. Through selective breeding, some breeds of horses have been bred to be quite docile, particularly certain large draft horses. On the other hand, most light horse riding breeds were developed for speed, agility, alertness and endurance; building on natural qualities that extended from their wild ancestors.
The instincts of horses can be used to human advantage to create a bond between human and horse. These techniques vary, but are part of the art of horse training.
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[edit] Horses as herd animals
Horses are highly social and intelligent herd animals. Like all creatures, equine social behavior developed to help the species survive.
Feral and wild horse herds are usually made up of small bands containing mares, their foals, and immature horses of both sexes. There is usually one herd stallion, though occasionally the stallion may allow a few less-dominant males to remain with the group. Horse "herds" in the wild are better described as groups of several small bands who share a common territory. Bands are usually on the small side, as few as three to five animals, but sometimes over a dozen. The makeup of bands shifts over time as young animals are driven out of the band they were born into and join other bands, or as young stallions challenge older males for dominance. However, in a given closed ecosystem such as the isolated refuges in which most wild horses live today, to maintain genetic diversity the minimum size for a sustainable wild horse or burro population is 150-200 animals.<ref> Wild Horse Genetic Diversity and Viability: Management Toward Extinction</ref>
In spite of human mythology that portrays the dominant stallion as the ruler of his "harem" of females, the actual leader of the herd is the alpha or dominant mare, popularly known as the "boss mare" or "lead mare." This mare is usually one of the more mature animals in the herd. She takes the lead when the herd travels, dictates when the herd moves from one place to another, what route they take, and has the right to drink first from watering holes and claim the best grazing.
Survival dictates that the herd members ultimately cooperate and stick together. As with many animals that live in large groups, establishment of a stable hierarchy or "pecking order" is important to smooth group functioning. Contention for dominance can be risky since one well-placed kick to a leg could cripple another horse to such an extent that it would be defenseless, exposed, and possibly unable to get to food or water. Therefore, another job of the dominant mare and other higher-ranked animals is to exercise control and moderate aggressive behavior in the herd.
In times of stress, whether from predators or extreme weather, the center of the herd is the safest because it offers the most protection from the elements and is further away from predators than any other part. Because of this, "punishment" of misbehaving members is sometimes delivered in the form of expulsion from the herd--temporarily or sometimes permanently.
Most young horses are allowed to stay with the herd until sometime in their yearling or 2-year old year, when they reach full sexual maturity. Studies of wild herds have shown that the herd stallion will usually drive out both young colts and fillies. This probably is an instinct that prevents inbreeding, so that the herd stallion does not mate with his own female offspring. The fillies usually join another band in fairly short order, and the young colts driven out from various herds usually join together for safety in small "bachelor" groups until they are each able to establish dominance over an older stallion and join a herd of mares.
As a rule, the edge of the herd is where the lowest animals in the herd's social order are found, but also is the domain of the herd stallion, who must fight off both predators and other males who attempt to establish dominance over the stallion. When the herd travels, the stallion brings up the rear, watching for predators and driving straggling herd members on, keeping the group together. This means the herd stallion endures a somewhat quixotic and vulnerable existence. He lives on the periphery of the herd, exposed to predators and bachelor stallions who will fight him. His value to the herd exists only as long as he can retain his dominance. Because there are always many young, unattached stallions about, he can be easily replaced by a strong and healthy successor at any time.
Biologically, and depending on the physical environment available to a herd in the wild, there is only a need for one stallion for every 10 to 20 mares. Domesticated stallions, with careful human management, often "cover" more mares in a year than is possible in the wild. Traditionally, Thoroughbred stud farms limited stallions to breeding between 40 and 60 mares a year. Today, by carefully breeding mares only when at the peak of their Estrous cycle, a few thoroughbred stallions have "covered" over 200 mares per year. With use of technologies such as artificial insemination one stallion could sire thousands of offspring annually, though in actual practice, economic considerations usually limit the number of foals produced.<ref> Bergstein, Stan. "We Have the Technology..." originally published in Daily Racing Form, March 12, 2002.</ref>
[edit] Horses and humans
Horses are creatures of habit and have excellent memories, which make consistent training extremely important to the horse. Untrained young horses, even with top bloodlines, can be bought for relatively little money compared to those with training. Once a horse is started under saddle and demonstrates that it is trainable, ridable and has some athletic talent for its work, the price easily triples.
To a wild horse, humans are usually viewed as potential predators. However, horses are also innately curious and may investigate any creature that is interesting but not threatening.
Any domesticated horse with some experience with humans usually views people as generally harmless objects of curiousity worth at least minor notice, especially if they know that humans may bring food or treats. Rarely will any domestic horse become truly vicious unless it has been spoiled or abused by humans, though many stallions have a great deal of naturally aggressive, dominant behavior that requires that they be managed only by knowledgable handlers. However, any horse is a large animal that retains some wild instincts, so can react unpredictably by running, biting, striking, or kicking. Thus humans must always be alert around horses because they can accidentally harm people.
The ability of humans to work in cooperation with the horse is based on both the natural curiousity of the horse and the strong social bonds that horses have with each other. Horses do not like to be separated from their herd, because to be alone is to be exposed to predators on all sides. Also, in a herd, less dominant horses tend to gravitate toward the most mature and confident members. Therefore, many horse training principles are based upon having the horse accept a human as the dominant herd member. Ideally this is not done by force, but by the horse developing trust in the ability of the human and confidence that the human will be a responsible "herd leader."
Horses are also adapted to covering large amounts of territory and must have a certain boldness to do so. A horse that is afraid more than necessary will expend energy needlessly and then may not be able to escape when a threat is real. Thus, horses have an ability to check out the unusual and not immediately flee from something that is merely different.
This willingness to consider new things can also be used by a human trainer to adapt the horse's behavior to an extraordinary range of activities that are well outside the range of instinctive horse behavior, including acts considered naturally dangerous by the average horse such as bullfighting, jumping off cliffs, diving into water, jumping through a ring of fire, or walking into a modern television studio, complete with enclosed space, bright lights, and tremendous noise.
People who train horses first have to educate them that some normal herd behavior is inappropriate around humans. For example, biting and "shadow boxing" (rearing, striking) that is common play among young horses, colts in particular, could be injurious or fatal to people. Other instinctive traits, such as running away when frightened, bucking off anything that lands on a horse's back (like a mountain lion or other predator), or never entering a small enclosed area, also have to be overcome before the horse is useful to humans.
Even when trained, most horses will still test boundaries, at least mildly, and some horses with dominant personalities will openly challenge a weak or inexperienced handler. For example, if handled with incompetence or abuse, a horse may ignore its training and attempt to nip, bite, kick, refuse to be led, or try other ways to challenge human dominance. Without consistent handling, some horses, especially young ones, will revert back to their untrained ways. However, due to their good memory, horses with solid training from trustworthy handlers often retain what they have learned, even after a gap of many years.
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