Equine

• Conformation

  The physical structure and proportions of a horse
• Conformational defects

  • Inherent predisposing weakness
  • Strains/Stresses beyond capability of tissue
  • Accident and injury
  • Nutritional deficiencies (vitamins, minerals)
• Unsoundness

  A physical defect or condition that interferes with a horse's athletic performance or usefulness
• Blemishes

  Cosmetic imperfections that do not affect a horse's soundness or performance
• Ethology

  The study of animal behaviour
• Types of horse behavior

  • Contactual
  • Ingestive
  • Eliminative
  • Sexual
  • Epimeletic
  • Allelomimetic
  • Investigative
  • Agonistic
  • Dominance/Submission
  • Communication
• Contactual behavior

  Behavioral activities associated with seeking affection, protection or other benefits by contact with other animals
• Ingestive behavior

  Behavioral activities associated with eating and drinking
• Horses eat when feed is present or available, and develop patterns of consumption behavior in response to daylight/darkness cycles
• Horses spend 5 to 10 hours grazing, with the heaviest grazing occurring in the hours surrounding dawn and late afternoon near sunset
• Horses do not have the ability to control their eating, which could lead to digestive and lameness problems
• Horses have very mobile lips and a large mouth, and typically eat by biting off the part of the plant they have selected between their upper and lower incisors
• Horses graze close to the ground and can also browse by picking the leafy material from bushes, trees or other plants
• Eliminative behavior

  Behavioral activities associated with defecation and urination
• Some horses have preferred elimination areas, especially in larger pastures, and avoid these soiled spots, but mowing and dragging will maximize utilization and help kill parasites
• Stallions will defecate on other horse's fecal piles to signal their presence and ownership of the mares, and other stallions may 'over-mark' to try to claim ownership
• Sexual behavior

  Behavior related to mating between males and females
• Horses are considered "long-day breeders", with mares tending to begin cycling during early spring, being at their most fertile during the summer, and entering "reproductive quiescence," or anestrus, during the colder months
• Among mares, sexual behavior is most obvious when they're in estrus (heat), which lasts three to seven days and occurs roughly each 21 to 23 days during the breeding season
• Telltale signs that a mare is in heat include urinating frequently and/or lifting her tail, and "winking" (opening and closing) her vulva
• Epimeletic behavior

  Behavior related to giving care and attention, most common between a mare and foal, but also between other horses
• Allelomimetic behavior

  Behavior related to mimicry; contagious or infectious behavior such as when one horse copies the behavior of another
• Investigative behavior

  Behavioral activities associated with curiosity; the exploration of the surroundings or objects
• Agonistic behavior

  Behavior associated with conflict or fighting, including anger, aggression, submission and flight from conflict
• Dominance/Submission

  Behavioral activities often referred to as "pecking order", as horses have extremely prevalent dominance hierarchies in their social order
• Senses used in horse communication

  • Auditory
  • Visual
  • Tactile
  • Olfactory
• Vocal horse sounds

  • Snort
  • Squeal
  • Greeting snicker
  • Courtship snicker
  • Maternal snicker
  • Neigh and whinny
  • Roar
  • Blow
  • Grunt or groan
  • Hoof stamping/kicking
  • Flattus
• Snort

  A sign of anxiety
• Squeal

  A defensive signal
• Greeting snicker

  A low-pitched and guttural sound
• Courtship snicker

  A long, low-pitched snicker used by a mare
• Maternal snicker


  A soft and barely audible sound used by a mare to communicate with her foal
• Neigh and whinny


  The loudest and longest call, used by isolated horses as a request for information rather than an alarm
• Roar


  Shows the intense rage of a fighting stallion, containing an element of fear
• Blow

  A sign of well-being or an enquiry sound
• Grunt or groan

  A sign of exhaustion, excessive exertion or boredom
• Hoof stamping/kicking

  A sound that can be heard over long distances, seen in stressed or bored horses in stables
• Flattus

  Can be a slow release of gas when a horse is relaxed, or a short sharp burst when the anal sphincter is under tension in fear or stress
• Visual communication

  Involves numerous parts of the body, with horses using acute vision to pick up slight changes in these signals
• Types of visual communication

  • Face signals
  • Neck signals
  • Ear signals
  • Tail signals