Study Of Horse Behavior In The Herd

Introduction

Throughout the duration of a week, a herd of 18 horses that formed the group of riding school horses at Wallington Park Equestrian Centre were observed for the exhibition of behaviours, these behaviours are then discussed below including the root and reason for their existence. The herd had a range of breeds and sizes containing ponies and horses together, however, for ease, all will be referred to as horses. The names of the horses in the herd and Banjo, Basil, Beau, Bridget, Bruce, Dobby, Feathertops, Henry, Mate, Moon, Nim, Ozzie, Peter Pan, Puzzle, Rocco, Ronnie, Rusty and Teddy. During this time four individuals were in a separate paddock to the herd but were always close or next to the herd, but the overall herd behaviour was not severely impacted.

Hierarchy within the Herd

Social Hierarchy

During the period of observation, the herd of 18 horses and ponies displayed a range of behaviours indicative of a social hierarchy that was deeply embedded. This influenced who would lead and flank the herd when moving as a group, resource priority, social interactions and placement concerning other herd members and. The herd displayed behaviour indicative of four bands which could be termed alpha, beta, gamma and omega groups, which was maintained through a variety of agonistic and submissive behaviours discussed below. Members within each of these groups possessed their status which was dynamic to circumstance, and most strongly influenced by food. However, there is usually movement of horses between rank groupings as well but there was a notable lack of this within the observed herd, this is theorised to be due to weight management reasons the absence of four individuals who would likely display this the most.

These individuals would possess a delta rank in relation food specifically to additional feed provided or personal space when grazing, but then in unrelated circumstances may be of a gamma position. Other herd members seemed to have too great a difference between two ranks to shift.

The most dominant individuals were deciphered to be Moon, Dobby, Mate and Beau, behaviours that determined this were agonistic, the social spacing of other herd members concerning these horses and resource preference. The spatial proximity of the four most dominant horses was significantly larger than that of other members and were more likely to be solitary when grazing on pasture alone. The spatial distance was also maintained when hay was provided in the paddock while other members had to move closer together, furthermore, these horses were also seen to position themselves anywhere in the hay distribution whereas other horses seemed to have designated positions. However, the spatial distribution of individuals cannot be accounted solely to rank as a study of yearlings found that an increase of 2 to 12 horses resulted in space between individuals increasing up to distances of 50 meters and given the herd size similar behaviour may be shown here as well.

When the herd was moved from their weekend paddock to their usual paddock by a staff member on a quad bike, the horses who lead the herd once together were Mate, Beau and Moon with mostly Beau and Moon taking the position. This was then flanked by Dobby who was slightly back from the herd, in wild herds the behaviour of these four horses is consistent with dominant herd members when the group needs to take flight, especially that of Dobby. The fact that Beau and Mate have such status is unsurprising as they are the eldest in age and have been in the herd for a long time, which correlates with documentation showing horses of older age and longer duration in the herd are more likely to hold higher positioning in the social order. The outliers to this, however, are Moon and Dobby as there is not as large an age gap between them and other herd members and they haven’t been part of the school as long.

The opposing circumstances that result in herd members being of omega rank are again maintained in the cases of Peter Pan and Feathertops, as they have both been in the herd for approximately a year and Peter Pan is only 5 years old. Again, in wild herds, these are the individuals who are determined to have the lowest positioning in the hierarchy. However again two outliers do not fit this as they are of similar age to the rest of the herd and have been in the herd for a similar duration as many herd members these two ponies are Ozzie and Ronnie.

Maintenance of Hierarchy Through Agonistic and Submissive Behaviours

Maintenance of the social order described above was achieved through exhibition of agonistic and submissive behaviours by any herd member at any point in time, with an increase of dominant behaviours being displayed by all herd members, except omega ranking, as a result of the hay provided in the weekday paddock. This is not uncommon as many horses display an increase in agonistic behaviour around feeding or in this case food itself, and in the level of availability. The most frequent behaviour observed consisted of threats, in which the displaying individual would exhibit the stereotypical behaviour of having the neck outstretched and both horses having their ears pinned against the head. These frequently were sufficient to achieve the desired result and did not escalate, but if escalation occurred it was through kicking or biting. Biting was more likely at a standstill or a walk, but kicking occurred at faster paces such as when Beau and Moon were too close together when leading the herd, they both started to try and kick one another.

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Place Order

Appeasement behaviours were turning and lowering of the head and moving away from the more dominant individual, this also was commonly sufficient to stop escalation. However, in the paddock containing the individuals under weight management, with limited hay provided and almost no pasture, this wasn’t the case. An example of this is when Nim continued to follow and try at bite Bridget’s stifle region despite her display of appeasement behaviour. However, this is not surprising as individuals with high Body Condition Score (BCS) or that are obese, similarly to the four separated ponies under weight management, have been documented to be more aggressive. This is also consistent with previously known behaviour of the four individuals Bridget, Basil, Henry and Nim when around food or if hay is provided in the paddock.

Eliminative Behaviour

Contradictory to much research involving mares and uncastrated males in wild and domesticated settings, the mostly gelding herd did not display typical behaviour of separate latrine sites and feeding sites, particularly when hay was provided in the paddock. Horses were seen to defecate in or within proximity of the distributed hay creating a circle of a 30-40-meter radius, with the horses in the alpha positioning leaving faecal matter closest to or in the hay. The horses were seen to urinate close to or in the hay, but more frequently displayed typical urination behaviour. Usually doing so approximately 15m from the paddock gate or before the commencement of a lesson in sanded arenas, creating a separate latrine area for the most part concerning urination. The placement of urination is due to the dislike of urine splashing back onto the horse, so soft surfaces are preferred (Parker, 2019) and concrete that floors the bays is unideal and urinating uncommon in here.

Again, the individual Dobby is of interest, due to behavioural occurrences that happen as a result of a theorised need for constant social and emotional security through herd members or other individuals. Without significant distress can be caused and he will defecate frequently, over the duration in which Dobby is in this state the faecal matter passed is often increasingly liquified. This is not to the extent that it is liquid but reaches the point where a liquid is passed and the faecal matter is less solid than should be. However, this is not necessarily unusual as it has been noted that horses will defecate more frequently when anxious.

Influence of an All Gelding Herd, Being in a Riding School and Other Notable Behaviours

Influence of Predominately Gelding Herd

Despite the presence of one mare who was a member of the separated horses, the herd observed consisted of geldings only which may have influenced the behaviours observed such as defecation, well-established hierarchy and low social behaviours like mutual grooming. However, these ideas are purely potential results of the castration and keeping a large group of castrated male horses in a managed herd, as little research is done surrounding gelded horses and their behaviour particularly when kept in herds together.

Behaviours Whilst in the Operating Riding School Environment

Whilst in the stables for the riding facility the herd collectively showed the most vocal behaviour with nickering occurring if feed had not already been placed in buckets and the horses could smell or see the feed coming. When in the school environment the prevalence of agonistic behaviours especially bite threats or attempted biting increasing greatly whether being ridden or when in their stall toward horses and people. This is likely due to the invasion of personal space which causes a sense of creates discomfort and need to defend this spatial boundary, this is likely to be particularly important in herds such as the one observed when voluntary spatial proximity is relatively large even in lower-ranking members. In this environment, the space the horse often has less than the preferred 1.5-meter minimum documented, whether this is concerning being in stalls or the proximity of horses when passing in lessons. The behaviour may also be due to the sex of the horses as geldings have been recorded as more aggressive when riding in an area with other horses, but still is potentially dangerous if situations escalate with children who are learning to ride are mounted. The increase in this behaviour though may not be purely related to spatial invasion especially in relation to humans and when stalled, it could be theorised the stalls which has an association with tack and being ridden which may cause pain. So, the source of this increase of behaviour in every instance cannot be attributed to spatial invasion.

Grooming and Influences Upon Display of Natural Associated Behaviours

The other notable behavioural display among all herd members was the distinct lack of mutual grooming, throughout the whole observation period none of the horses were seen mutually grooming one another. This may be due to horses not being placed in stalls with preferred associated and the structure of stalls do not allow visual contact with all of the herd, this discourages social behaviour and as a result, make mutual grooming relatively unseen. Self-grooming was infrequent but consistent with knowledge of grooming frequency with mature horses, the method of self-grooming that was displayed most frequently was using the upper incisor teeth to scratch the forelegs and abdominal region. Most frequently after the removal of tack, when rubbing the head against teeth bucket and shaking was exhibited.

The high level of grooming from staff and riders may disrupt the horses’ need for such behaviours resulting in a low level of observation, but this would need further investigation before any definitive statement is made. Herd members did not roll frequently but when they did the area of choice tended to be toward the upper end of the paddock near the gate, this may be due to the presence of it becoming rather dry and dusty in summer months and less forage presence year-round. This area was used by any members who rolled and those that did had generally received even a light hosing prior to being turned out. The exception to the rolling behaviour normalities is Moon, one of the most dominant horses, rolling near and in freshly disposed hay once entering the paddock. The area he rolled in was also one that was commonly seen in throughout observation and prior interactions, this behaviour is thought to potentially be the horse establishing dominance and territorial claim to other herd members.

Conclusion

The behaviour of this domesticated herd has many correlations to that of wild horses and suggestive that much of the social behaviour is still maintained in horses, and can be determined as the origin of behaviours in a range of circumstances. But, the influence of the environment of the managed herd being a riding school, may have implications on behaviour such as grooming. Furthermore, the influence of the horses observed being geldings, except a singular mare, also presents a range of possible causations for behaviour display or lack thereof. Yet, the presence of limited literature on such a topic, means this cannot be a definitive statement but an area that could be focused on in coming years in the equine industry.