Exam 1

What is behavior influenced by?

Evolution
Genetics
Domestication
Training
Age
Sex
Environment

How much longer is the gestation period in a mare compared to other ruminants of comparable size?

20%

What does precocial mean?

Self relying

What are three F's of horses?

Forage
Freedom
Friendship

What does the value of a performance horse depend on?

Horse's behavioral responses to both training and management

What manner do horses behave in?

Maximize survival and propagation of species

What is included in self-protective behavior?

Wind, sun, predators

What does cold wind do to horses?

Increases chill factor

How do horses avoid wind?

Seek protection or graze with tail towards direction of wind

How do horses use the run to warm their body?

Stand broadside to it

T/F Horses have a strong flight instinct.

True

T/F Horses will not fight if unable to escape predators.

False

What does gregarious mean?

Social

T/F Horses are very social creatures.

True

How does social behavior increase survival?

Live in herds, which decreases risk of attack

What does the need for company create?

Challenges with training and handling

T/F Horses prefer isolation to company.

False

T/F Horses may bond with other animals if necessary.

True

What is a pecking order?

Order of dominance and submission

T/F Pecking order can change.

True

T/F All ranks do not show departure behavior.

False

What is reduced with a pecking order?

Overt fighting

Who is often the most dominant?

Older mare

What is the stallion considered?

Protector and organizer

What is the significance of dominance?

- Mixing new horses
- Riding in groups
- Racehorses

What are the different ways of communicating between horses?

Vocal, visual, olfactory

What is a whinny?

Distress call

What is a nicker?

Greeting

What is a squel?

Aggression or pain

What is a snort?

Warning of impending danger

What is a blowing?

Seeing/smelling; clearing; contentment

What is a groaning?

Pain or associated with sleep or defecating

What is used for expression?

Placement of ears, head, neck, body, and tail

What is snapping?

Repetitive opening and closing of mouth in young horses to indicate submission

What is olfactory (smell) important for?

Marking of territory, social order, detecting danger

What is the Flehmen response?

When a horse detects a particularly interesting scent, they curl back their lips

What is ingestive behavior?

Taking in food and water

When does ingestive behavior begin?

Birth

How many hours per day will a horse spend grazing?

12-16

What kind of eaters are horses?

Trickle feeders

What is eliminative behavior?

Defecation and urination

How often will a horse defecate?

2-3 hours

How often will a horse urinate?

4-6 hours

T/F Horses will establish an elimination area.

True

What is elimination marking?

Defecating and urinating over another horse's pile or voided urine

Why do horses do elimination marking?

Communicate their presence and status

What is contactual behavior?

Seeking protection or affection (body contact)

What is epimeletic behavior?

Giving of care and attention

Who commonly exhibits epimeletic behavior?

Mare and foal

What is et-epimeletic?

Signaling for care and attention

What is agonistic behavior?

Fighting or conflict

Which horses are more challenging to train?

Dominant horses

What is sexual behavior?

All activities associated with courtship and breeding controlled by hormones

What can affect learning in horses?

Estrus

What is polyphasic?

2 or more periods of sleep

On average, how many hours are horses in a drowsy, resting state?

2

On average, how many hours are horses asleep?

3

On average, how many hours are horses awake?

19

What is stay apparatus?

Allows sleep while standing through a series of tendons to control leg flexion

T/F Grooming and insect control behavior can happen individually or mutually.

True

What occurs during grooming and insect control behavior?

Rolling, shaking, rubbing, autogroom, and mutual groom

What occurs during investigative behavior?

Looking, smelling, mouthing, pawing, and tasting

What is investigative behavior?

Sensory environmental inspection

What is allelomimetic behavior?

Mimicry or copying behavior

What is closely related to allelomimetic behavior?

Gregarious behavior

What is playing behavior?

Social pattern which begins shortly after birth

What occurs during playing behavior?

Running, bucking, jumping, rearing, manipulating, object in mouth

When does abnormal behavior happen?

Often seen in confinement or isolation

What are examples of abnormal behavior?

Weaving, heading nodding and shaking, pacing/pawing, self-mutilation, cribbing

How much cortisol is in saliva?

25%

What occurs with cortisol levels during cribbing?

Lower

What is conflict behavior?

Actions of horses in response to cues/handling

Why does conflict behavior occur?

Confusion

What is learned helplessness?

State in which an animal has learned not to respond to pressure or pain

What is learned irrelevance?

Learning to ignore stimuli

What is habituation?

A decrease of response to a repeated stimulus as a result of frequent exposure

Where were over 100,000 skeletons excavated from?

Southern France

When did communal horse hunts take place in France

32,000 to 12,000 years ago

What was found on ancient horse bones

butchering marks

Where were the first horses domesticated?

central Asia and eastern Europe
Steppes/grasslands of Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan

Early human-horse relationship revolved around

hunting

Where did the first evidence of a relationship with the horse come from?

Stone age painting 33,000 years ago

When were the first horses domesticated?

between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago

How many years of communal horse hunts?

over 20,000 years

Who were considered to be the first horseman?

Batai people of Kazakhstan

Who held the horse in high esteem?

Greeks and Egyptians

Who is credited as the father of modern horse/modern horsemanship?

Xenophon

What did Xenophon write?

On horsemanship

what is Xenophon famous for

"no foot no horse"
what you do from the left

What were horses used for?

hunting
Travel
Agriculture
Logging
Mining
Pack/harness animals
Building

Humans owe more to...

horses than any other domesticated animal

When and how did the horse return to North America?

Spanish Conquistadors in the early 1500s

What made most of the 'wild' mustang herds we have in North America today?

Spanish mission in the 1600s

By when were most of the American Indian tribes reliant on the horse?

1750

Who developed most of the American breeds?

East coast colonists

How many horses in the World?

60 million

What 5 countries have more than 1 million horses?

US, China, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina

How many donkeys in the world?

43 million

Where are donkeys mostly located?

80% in Asia and Africa
about 54,000 in US

How many Mules are in the world?

15 million