ANS 150 Horses

When were horses domesticated?

5000-6000 years ago (4000 BC)

What era did wild horses and donkey-like creatures appear?

Pleistocene era

Who proposed the first explanation of how horses were domesticated?

Zeuner (German anthropologist)

What material were saddles first made of?

wood

T/F Horses were the oldest use of AI in domesticated animals

T - Recorded in Arabic texts dating back to 1322

Explain the cultural change in horses’ domestication

Horses used to be the main source of transportation, work, and wealth.
Today horses are for pleasure.
Horses are most responsible for man’s ability to populate the world

How many races of wild horses are represented in modern breed horses? And where did they originate?

2
Przewalski - Mongolia
Tarpan - Southern Russia/Ukraine

How were we able to collect DNA from wild horses to compare to modern day horses?

There were still around as late as the 1970s-80s.

What is unique about where horse were domesticated?

large theory that horses were domesticated after humans started living in villages

Why were horses domesticated?

food and transportation

How did horses get to North and South America?

European and Asian explorers
They crossed the Siberian Ice Bridge
Some were most likely already in the Americas when explorers arrived because of Native Americans

When was the first bit used and what was it made of?

4000 BC
bones

When was the first saddle with stirrups used?

3000 BC

When was military use of horses very prevelant?

1000 AD

How did horses allow us to populate the world?

effective, readily available transportation

Why is it difficult to get accurate estimates for horse data in US and NC?

Multiple councils and they don’t agree on information

When did the US horse population peak? How many horses?

between 1910-1920
20 million

Why did the horse population drop after the 1920s?

Cars and tractors replace horses for transportation and farm work

Why did horse population decrease in 2007-2009?

The great recession

What percentage of horses are used for recreation now? What are sporting, racing, and work?

45% - recreation
19% - sporting
16% - racing
8% - work

What are the top 6 states for horse numbers?

Texas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, California,, Ohio, Florida

Where does NC rank in horse numbers according to USDA? AHC?

25th
10th

What are the equine demographics for US from 2017 to 2022?

Total farms decreased
Equine Inventory decreased
Gross income increased

Where are most of the horses in NC

central and western NC

Where are horses concentrated in NC

clustered around major population centers
in the county with major cities or adjacent to them

Why does Moore county have a high population of horse?

Big breeding stables up North have a winter training facility in the sandhills because of good footing and mild climates.
The sandhills includes Moore county to Aberdeen, Southern Pines, all the way to Camen SC

Why does Cumberland county have a lot of horses?

Fort Bragg military base

When and in what was the first record of AI/collecting semen from stallions to breed mares?

Arabic texts dating back to 1322

What is a neigh and when is it used?

Greeting or separation call that appears to be important in maintaining herd cohesion
This call can also be used by horses to call to their owners when separated or as a greeting
Horses expect a response to this call

What is a nicker and when is it used?

Soft nicker is a care giving or care-soliciting call
Horses may nicker to the person feeding them
Horses expect a response to this call

What 2 auditions do horses expect a response to?

Neigh and nicker

When is a squeal used in horses?

Defensive greeting or in response to pain
When they aren’t happy

What is a roar and when is it used?

probably a dominance call
Stallion directed towards mare

What is a snort and what is it for?

sharp, short one
once = alarm call
repeated = frustration

What is the best way to tell a horse’s mental state?

position of the ear

What does ear pointed forward mean?

pleasant, interested, and attentive

What does ears pinned back against head mean?

sign of aggression and irritability

What 5 auditions do horses make?

neigh, nicker, snort, squeal, roar

What is subordinate position?

ears rolled outward
whole body language is back
younger horses that are submissive usually approach dominant horses with their lips retracted and their teeth exposed
head is down
sometimes they will also click their teeth

Why do total equine farms and inventory decrease? Why did gross income increase?

When economy gets tight, people tend to spend less on hobbies and recreation
Gross income went up because there’s still a demand and fewer horses, so the price goes up

What is olfaction?

How horses communicate with each other
horses use smells for social and reproduction behavior (pheromones)
Flehmen response

What else can pheromones be used for?

Communicate or convey dominace
Figuring out where they are in the social hierarchy
Maybe tell the difference between owners or someone they are associated with from a strange person

What is a dominant horse’s position?

Pawing
Forward stance
Ears pinned back and turned out

What type of semen is usually used to breed mares in AI? Why?

Cool/“chilled” semen if stallion is off-site or “fresh semen” if stallion is on-site
Stallion sperm does not tolerate freezing and thawing very well. It will kill the semen

What is one big advantage of AI in horses?

You can always look at the semen and estimate semen quality before you inseminate the mare

What size does a mare’s largest follicle have to be for her to be bred with AI?

12-15mm

What is the tool that the horse industry has made the best use of for breeding purposes?

Real time ultrasonography to monitor follicle size

How many times are horses bred using AI when one of her follicles reaches a certain size?

Twice - once in the morning and once that night

What is anestrus? When does it typically occur?

No reproductive activity
Normally occur between November/December until April

What is the transition period in periods characterized by? Why?

Characterized by unpredictable reproductive and social behaviors
Hormones are all out of whack and all over the place. Wide fluctuations of LH and FSH, and wide fluctuations of growing and dying follicles and maybe ovulation or not

When is the transition period in horses or any other seasonal breeders?

Breeding-to-Anestrus
Anestrus-to-Breeding

How many transitional periods do all seasonal breeders go through in one year?

2

What do people do if they have a mare in competition while she’s in her transition periods?

Owners will put them on synthetic progestogen either in their feed or give them impact
Implants are more common because you don’t have to rely on them eating it everyday
Mare thinks she is pregnant, LH and FSH levels are low, so follicles are not growing

How much semen is in one stallion ejaculate?

Enough to usually breed 20-30 other mares if using AI

Why do 3 different people have to collect a stallion?

One person manages the stallion, one person does the collecting, and then one person is back to make sure the others are safe.
This is because the stallions can get unpredictable and it is not always safe

Describe In-Hand Breeding

1 stallion and 1 mare brought together under controlled conditions
Special equipment (breeding halters, neck aprons, hobbles, or wraps)
Sometimes mare is given light sedation
Probably the norm most places

Describe Pen Breeding

1 stallion with 1 mare
smaller space than pasture breeding
probably isn’t as common
Humans don’t really assist

Describe pasture breeding

1 stallion with 15-20 mares
Mares grouped about two weeks before stallion is introduced so they get their social hierarchy worked out

What are the 3 most common ways of “live cover” in horses?

Pasture breeding
Pen breeding
“In-hand” breeding

What does “live cover” mean in horses?

nature mating

What are the 4 things that mares in estrus will do?

“wink” - rhythmic opening/closing of the vulva
urinate (large amounts and frequently)
squeal (excited squeal)
“break” (assumes breeding stance)

What is detection of estrus or exposing mares to stallions called?

“Teasing”

What is the pregnancy rates of mares bred during their “foal heat” (<10 days post-partum)?

reduced by 20% on average

What is “foal heat” and when is it?

“foal heat” is when mares come into estrus when they’re nursing their foal.
This can happen at least a week after foaling but usually happens sometime during the first 2 weeks after foaling

Why is it so difficult to know when the best time to breed a horse is?

You don’t know if she’s going to have a 5, 6, or 7 day estrus until she’s out of estrus and then you don’t know if she’s going to ovulate 1-2 days before the end of it.

When do mares ovulate?

1-2 days before the end of estrus

How long are mares in estrus?

5-7 days

How long is the estrous cycle in horses?

21 days

When do most big breeding farms want to get the foals they think are potential racehorses born? Why?

As early in the year as possible. This is because they are older and more mature than ones that are born later in the year

What is unique about the horses that run on the thoroughbred or the Jockey club?

No matter what day of the year the horse was born, it always lists January 1st as the birthday

In NC, how many months of the year do we typically have enough natural day length for most mares to continue cycle?

8-9 months out of the year

Explain what happens when you get down to 10 hours of light in horses

You’re not getting much serotonin produced because of only 10 hours of lights, and you have 14 hours of darkness, and all the serotonin gets converted to melatonin. You don’t have enough of the positive stimulation of serotonin to keep the animal reproductively active

Why do horses begin to “cycle”?

When serotonin/melatonin is high

What chemicals are produced during the day? What about at night?

A hormone called serotonin is produced during the day
At night, serotonin isn’t produced and it’s converted to melatonin

What are changes in daylight processed by in horses?

The pineal gland (in the brain)

Why does light have to be continuous in horses?

If it is broken up by a period of darkness then they’re biological clock resets

What is the gray area for horses and whether or not they will be stimulated?

10-15 hours

How many hours of light inhibit ovarian activity?

Less than (<10) hours of continuous light

How many hours of light is needed to stimulate ovarian activity?

15-16 hours of CONTINUOUS light

What is breeding season influenced by?

Geographic Location (NY vs FL)

Where is the vomeronasal organ located in horses?

In a small sac below the nostrils

What might happen if a subordinate horse is approached by a dominant horse?

subordinate horse may back up and might squeal

What 3 horse vocalizations do horses not expect a response to?

squeal
snort
roar

What do some people call a nicker?

whinny

What is unique about horse vocalizations in regards to other animal’s vocalizations?

Sometimes when horses vocalize, they expect a response, all other animals we’ve discussed vocalize to convey something and they don’t necessarily expect a response

What is the difference between the USDA and AHC?

USDA does a one time inventory (Dec or Jan)
AHC does an overall average (throughout the whole year)

Why are USDA and AHC estimates for the economic value of horses so different?

AHC includes income sources other than the sale of horses (tourism, etc.; counts horses sold multiple times in the same year—adds)
USDA just looks at gross income (only counts horses being sold once—average)

What was the trend in the horse population from 1970s-2009? Why?

It increased because people had more disposable income

What caused the major decrease in the number of horses from 1920-1970?

Mechanization, diesel engine, and gasoline engine

When did the US horse population bottom out?

1970sWh

What was the biggest use of horses up until WW2?

military

What is unique about horse domestication compared to swine and cattle?

Horses were already in the Americas when the explorers arrived. Swine and cattle were brought to the America by explorers

What is a big part of the horse industry in NC?

Boarding stable or riding arena

What is interesting about NC’s horse farms compared to other states?

Even though we’ve seen a 30% decrease in horse inventory in the US, there has been a bigger decrease in other states because our market share stayed about the same. NC is relatively stable

Why is NC’s economic value only about 1%

We don’t have a lot of breeding farms with high priced horses

What was the trend for equine market share in NC?

It has been relatively stable. Gross income has come down a little bit.

What type of breeders are horses?

long day breeders

When is breeding season in most US locations

April-December

When do draft breeds reach puberty?

18-24 months old (20 months is average)

When is the only time a horse can reach puberty?

During their breeding season