equine husbandry and handling

horse behaviour

• like to play with each other in the herd

• mutual grooming

• highly social, so never live alone and can feel threatened if out of a herd

stereotypical behaviour of horses

• box walking (repeated circuits around their stable)

• weaving (standing still, the horse moves their weight from one leg to the other whilst swinging their head)

• self mutilation (repeatednly nipping various areas of the body or kicking against objects)

• crib biting (grasping a fixed object pulling backwards ‘gulping the air’)

• wind sucking (swallowing the ai with their necks arched, similar to crib biting with no object)

what causes stereotypical behaviours

• limiting ability to express atural bahviours

  • foragin

  • free to exercise

  • mutual grooming

  • companionship

• stress

  • change in management

• stereotypies established the first 9 months of life

  • foals stabled away from equines similar age at higher risk

  • restructed from forage after weaning- at high risk

what makes up body language

• ear

• eye

• nose

• head and neck

• tail

• posture

horse gives several warnings before reacting

• kicking

• biting

• barging

ear

• pricked forward- alert or awake

• drooping/floppy- dozing, content, relaxed and or happy

• laid back- listening or focusing on something behind or concentrating

• pinned back- annoyance or anger

• multidirectional- hesitancy or confusion or listening in2 directions at once

eyes

• expressive

• worried lines- wrinkled indicate discomfort, stress and fear

• whites showing of hte eye- fear, alarm or anger

nose

• flared- frightened, anxious, after heavy exercise, omething of strong interest

• pinched nostrils- anger pain or something of great concern

head and neck

• arched- hesistant or mildly alarmed

• head up- alarm or extreme agitation ;-;

• to side wit ears pinned back- very angry >:(((

• head tilted- interested :3

• head extended and tilted- TREATS PLEASE!!! >o<

tails

• swishing-angry, extremely agitated

• clamped- fright

• flagged- excited, seen a lot with arab

fear threshold

vocal communication

squeal and grunt- aggression or excitement

snorts- sees or smells something new or exciting

whinny- locating herd or excitement

whickering softly- a reassurance

blind spots and kick zone

more flight zone

fight responses

• biting

• kicking

• rearing

• striking with forelimb

• bucking more common under saddle

• rearing- standing upright on hindlimb

snaffle bridle

• used when more control of direction and pace is needed

• nearly always used for riding and driving

• used when more control is needed eg when leaing a strong horse, new env, fresh

not all horses can have a bit in

• jaw/mouth/dental injuries

• young horse who has not been bitted yet

chifney

• anti rearing or ring

• more controlthan a snaffle bit

• many stallions, racehorses and very strong horses are rouinely handles in a chifney

• due to their severity they can cause damage to the hrose if used inappropiately or by a rough handler

twitch

• works by releasing endorphins into the blood stream raising pain threshold causing the horse to go into a sedative state

• horse should also be wearing a headcolllar and o bit when twitch is placed

• not all accet and may become violent and dangerous

• should not be left on for more than 5-10min

• mske sure it is not rubbing on gums or so tight resulting in lesions

rugs

boots and bandages

what do you need in a grooming kit

• body brish

• dandy brush

• hoof pick

• plastic curry comb

• rubber curry comb

• mane comb

• sponge

• sweat scraper