Equine Behavior

Vision

sense of a horse that is the primary detector of danger

Poor color vision

vision of horse that can differentiate blue, red, gray

Blind area

horses have this area that are known to have blind spots

Hearing

sense of horse that can detect sounds, determine location of the sound and has sensory information

14hz to 25khz

sound frequency of a horse

180 degress

how many degrees the horses ears can move

10 muscles

how many muscles the horses can use to move its ears

Tactile sensation

horses are extremely sensitive to

High

horse tail that alerts or excites

Low

horse tails that is the sign of exhaustion, fear pain or submission

Held over back

horse tail that is playful or very alarmed

Swishing

horse tail of horse that is irritated

Pawing

horse leg that is frustrated

one front leg lifted

horse legs that shows mild threat

Back leg lifted

horse legs that is more defense threat

Stamping

horse leg that is a mild threat or protest (getting rid of insects)

Snapping

facial expression where foals show submission to an older horse

Flehmen repsonse

body signal of horse that shows sexual behavior

Flared nostril

body signal of horse that shows excited or alert

Showing white around eyes

body signal of horse that shows angry or scared

Neutral

horse ears that ears held loosely, opening facing forward or outward

Pricked

horse ears where ears are held stiff with opening directly forward (alert)

Airplane ears

horse ears where ears flop laterally, tired or depressed

Drooped ears

horse ears where its ears are down loosely to the side )due to tiredness or pain)

Ears angled backwards

horse ears attentiveness to the rider or listening commands

Ears pinned against neck

horse ears that is angry or aggresive

Vices

negative activities due to various cause: stress, boredom, fear, excess energy and nervousness

Weaving

behavior where horse stands by the stall door and rhythmically shifts its weight back and forth on its front legs while swinging its head

Boredom or excess energy

causes of weaving in horses

Cribbing

behavior where the horse bites onto a fixed surface, arches his neck and sucks in air, making a grunting noise

Endorphins

cribbing in horses releases this hormones