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Horse behavior is best understood from the view that horses are prey animals with a well-developed fight-or-flight response. Their first reaction to a threat is often to flee, although sometimes they stand their ground and defend themselves or their offspring in cases where flight is untenable, such as when a foal would be threatened.
It is reported that 2.4–8.3% of horses in Europe and Canada are cribbers and that cribbing can occupy 15–65% of an individual horse's daily time budget. [ 6 ] [ 7 ] A postal survey in 2009 found that an average of 4.4% horses in the US are cribbers, but 13.3% of Thoroughbreds perform the behavior. [ 8 ]
Horses that crib excessively may do this behavior in place of their regular activities. If the horse is busy cribbing rather than grazing, it can result in unhealthy weight loss.
Placing horses on pasture and the presence of companion animals may both help to reduce stable vices. Stable vices are stereotypies of equines, especially horses.They are usually undesirable habits that often develop as a result of being confined in a stable with boredom, hunger, isolation, excess energy, or insufficient exercise.
Similarly, a horse that neighs a lot when accompanying others, or makes others neigh, is a good sign. Conversely, if a horse neighs a lot while looking around, or if its cry resembles a donkey's bray, then it's a bad omen. [38] A bad horse is one that imitates the cry of a camel, vulture, cat, jackal, dog, crow, monkey or owl. [2]
A loose horse may buck due to aggression or fear, as the very high kick of this horse suggests Bucking is a normal behavior for a horse with an overabundance of energy, and in a loose horse, may simply be playful behavior, as here. Bucking, though a potentially dangerous disobedience when under saddle, is a natural aspect of horse behavior ...
Horses are herd animals and enjoy the company of other horses, but they can also bond with other species of animals. According to the RSPCA, "A horse will ‘bond’ with another type of animal if ...