ASCI 271 Exam 4: Horses

Why is it important to understand equine behavior?

It is importants because despite being cattle animals, we treat them as companion animals.

Are horses prey or predator? How does this affect their fight or flight response?

Prey, they are extremely flight prone as they evolved on the plains, compared to donkeys on mountains who are more stubborn

How is the vision of horses different from humans?

dichromatic vision, seeing blue yellows, maybe greens, and solid black makes it hard to perceive depth, does not adjust to light change easily,

Why is it important to know a horse's blind spots?

Under the head, in front of the nose, under the stomach, behind the tail

Important to know to avoid spooking or causing aggressive outbursts from the horse

Why do their ears rotate independently?

To pick up more sounds, and to be able to be more alert.

180° rotation

Detect sounds

Determine the location of the sounds

provide information to recognize the identity of the sounds

How do horses use their sense of smell?

Familiarize with novel objects, surrounding. objects, horses & people

If given a choice, will horses pick a well-balanced diet? Why or why not?

Yes, horses are very picky about the food that they eat, and if it isn't good quality they will not eat it.

What are the most sensitive ares on the horse?

Eyes

Ears

Nose

Flank (Just before hind legs)

Legs

What type of group organization exists in horses that helps keep order?

Harems

What is a harem?

1 male, multiple females

What do you call groups of young stallions before they come the leader of a herd?

Bachelor group

Why might humans have trouble communicating with horses if they don't understand horse behavior?

No understanding of the behaviors and signs of warnings.

What are the names for horses in terms of reproduction?

Stallion / Sire & Mare / Dam

Is the horse a seasonal or year-round breeder?

Seasonal

What type of grazers are horses?

Selective Grazers, prefer younger grasses, and immature plants

eat 16/24 hours a day

What factors influence grazing behavior?

availability, competition, quality

What types of vices or behavior problems can develop due to a man-made environment?

What type of social signal is a baby horse displaying when it chatters its teeth to an adult horse of the herd?

They are signaling that they are not challenging them and do not want a fight

Ingestive behavior

The selection of intake of food & water throughout the stages of life in a horse

More water in the summer, less in winter

Eliminative Behavior

Urination and defecation

Some are idiosyncratic (picky) and will either be messy or neat abt elimination.

Will not eat contaminated food

Play Behaviors

Object Play: giant bouncy balls

Locomotor Play: Running & Bucking

Play Fighting

Sexual Play: Seen in young colts

Investigative Behaviors

Horses are naturally curious and they will explore their surroundings

Vigilance Behavior

On the lookout for signs of trouble

Herd Mentality: If one runs, they all run

One stands alert while the others lay down and sleep

Care Giving / Care Seeking Behavior

Allogrooming: Care directed from one horse to another (mother & foal)

Mutual Grooming: When care is reciprocated between 2 horses (2 horses "scratching each others backs")

Auto Grooming: Self Grooming (Rolling, scratching, rubbing on items)

Agonistic / Aggressive Behavior

Threatening/Aggressive/Passive Aggressive (Defensive) Behaviors

Biting, kicking, sticking, charging, fleeing

Social Facilitation

What are some concerns due to being an ectotherm that we need to think about with reptiles? What are issues that arise in digestion due to this?

Being an ectotherm they receive their heat from the atmosphere around them. Therefore when they are sunbathing, they are able to digest their meals, and if they don't they cannot digest their food.

What are some concerns with ecdysis?

Shedding the skin leaves the animal vulnerable, and the shed may not come off completely or in one piece leaving them uncomfortable and will likely cause problems with growing and the next shed

What is temperature dependent sex determination?

Incubation temp (not genetics) determines sex

Many chelonians, few spp. lizards

Small range of temps

Choice of nest site by female determines sex ratio of offspring

Most lizards

High temp --> male

Low temp --> female

Chelonians

High temp --> female

Low temp --> male

Few chelonians, lizards

Low & high temp (extremes) --> female

Intermed temp --> male

What should we consider when selecting a reptile, setting up its habitat, and designing its diet?

Natural habitat, natural things for enrichment, and live feed.

What can horses taste?

Bitterness, sweetness, saltiness, & sourness

How many senses does a horse have?

5

Taste, Smell, Touch, Sight, hearing

Where can a horse not see when using monocular and binocular vision?

Directly in front of it's face

Horses have a proportionally larger cerebellum than humans.

True

All horses need grain in addition to grass or hay.

False

A pasture will always have grass all the same length or evenly grazed because the horses eliminate and graze equally throughout.

False

The less mixing of horses in and out of a herd that needs to occur, typically the less injuries will take place.

True

A recent study has shown that horses have relatively good night vision and can see better in the dark than humans.

True

An example of olfactory enrichment is:

Hunting Scents

Blank is an item that increases animals' intellectual resources.

Enrichment

What is an environmental influence of reptile behavior?

UV Spectrum, Humidity, Temperature

______ is the shedding of the skin

Ecdysis

A benefit of feeding live prey to reptiles is:

Enrichment, Increased exercise, improved digestion

Reptiles are tolerant to handling in captivity because they become:

Habituated

Music decreases the likelyhood of breeding and calms animals:

False

_________ is an item that increases animals' intellectual resources

Enrichment

In Captivity animals have more "free time"

True

In horses excessive reactivity and anxious behaviors may be the result of the following:

High Carbohydrate diet, pain, fear, inadequate training

Horse aggression directed towards people is usually seen where?

In confined spaces

Tapetum lucidum

Causes eyeshine when light is shined on a horse's eyes in the dark

Vermonasal Organ (VNO)

located in the nose and is used to detect pheromones and other substances

What is enrichment?

Improving/enhancing the quality of something

Steps of enrichment

Consider natural behaviors

Goal?

Safety Concerns

Who will evaluate and implement changes

Examples of Enrichment

Paper towel braid

perches

dirt/sand

Cheetah Example

The cheetahs at the Lincoln zoo run after chasers and leads

Horse Aggression

Maternal Aggression: Mostly towards humans and newer mothers could be aggressive towards their foals.

Breeding Aggression: When a Stallion is bred too much

Human Aggression: Confined Spaced

Eating Disorders

Pica: Eating nonfood items

Wood Chewing: Lack of forage in diet

Coprophagia: Eating of fecal matter, seen mostly in younger foals

Obesity: Decrease of exercise and increase of palatable food

Changes in a horses behavior can be seen as:

Negative work attitude, decline in performance, hyper-activity, easily spooked, bolting, and other aggressive behaviors such as kicking, biting, self-mutilation, etc.

Cause of behavior changes in horses:

gastric ulcers/discomfort in abdomen

Soreness in the back or hind limbs

Inconsistant training methods causing confusion

Difficulty w/Thermoregulation

Reactivity can be caused by:

High carb diet, vision problems, pain/fear, inadequate training, isolation/separation from other horses, temperament problems

Bucking

Normal behavior in the wild to establish pecking order

When riding: discomfort in the back/poor saddle fit

Check for physical discomfort before assuming behavioral issues

Rearing

Normal behavior in the wild, dangerous to people

Triggered by specific pressures such as rein pressure or being frightened by an object

Try to find the trigger and work around it

Kicking/Pacing/Pawing/Digging in the stall

Caused by boredom

Add another meal time, add toys/enrichment, more roughage, more turnout time