Pet Partners® Horse Behavior Packet Version 2 December 2016 Pet Partners 875 124th Avenue NE, Suite 101 Bellevue, WA 98005-2531 Website: www.petpartners.org Email: [email protected] © 2016 Pet Partners® - All rights Reserved Horse Behavior Packet Contents About this Packet ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Horse Introduction and Behavior ................................................................................................................ 3 General Considerations and Information about the Species at Large ................................................. 3 Behavior Considerations ......................................................................................................................... 4 Equine Evaluation Overview ........................................................................................................................ 6 Horse Supplement to Policies & Procedures for Evaluators ..................................................................... 6 Acceptable Equipment ......................................................................................................................... 6 Unacceptable Equipment .................................................................................................................... 6 Equipment Considerations .................................................................................................................. 7 Other Supplemental Information ........................................................................................................ 7 Equine Anatomy ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Structure Notes ........................................................................................................................................ 8 ©2016 Pet Partners - All Rights Reserved 2 of 9 DEC2016.Rev Horse Behavior Packet About this Packet This packet is intended to provide both general as well as evaluation-specific information for both Pet Partners prospective/existing handlers and Pet Partners team evaluators. Some sections include reference to which audience may be particularly interested in that material; however. The entire contents are useful to both audiences. Horse Introduction and Behavior General Considerations and Information about the Species at Large Equines for purposes of this packet will apply to: draft/heavy horses, riding-size horses, ponies, miniature horses, mules, donkeys and miniature donkeys. For purposes of this document, equine and horse will generically be used synonymously. Any size or breed, or mix of breeds, is acceptable as long as the size is suitable for the visiting environment. The first thing to remember when testing horses is that Pet Partners tests for visiting, not for riding activities. Horses have highly developed herd relationships and excellent communication skills. Most communication is in the form of subtle body language. Vision and Hearing Horses are a prey species with a highly developed flight response. Horses routinely flee a situation and turn to analyze it later. Its visual abilities are directly related to the animal's behavior and the fact that the horse is a flight animal. Both the strengths and weaknesses of the horse's visual abilities should be taken into consideration when training the animal, as an understanding of the horse's eye can help to discover why the animal behaves the way he does in various situations. Horses have binocular vision in front and monocular vision on either side. This can make things in their environment change shape and become frightening. Because equine's eyes are on the side of their heads, they have a broader range of vision to the rear than that of a dog. However, if they do not bend their neck around almost 90 degrees, they cannot see what is directly behind their tail. Depending upon their age, experience level and training, they may kick out if something touches their tail, they hear something behind them they cannot see or if a person who is directly behind them steps sideways and suddenly appears in their field of vision. An equine will raise or lower its head to increase its range of binocular vision. Equines will also tip their vertical head to the side so that the eye on one side of the head is facing the ground and the other eye is facing upwards. They do this when there is an object near their feet on one side of them. Horses are less able to adjust to sudden changes of light than are humans, such as when moving from a bright day into a dark barn. This is a consideration as quickly moving from light to dark or vice- versa will temporarily make it difficult for the animal to judge what is in front of it. Horses have more ©2016 Pet Partners - All Rights Reserved 3 of 9 DEC2016.Rev Horse Behavior Packet rods than humans giving them superior night vision. This also gives them better vision on slightly cloudy days, relative to bright, sunny days. Horses are not color blind but have two-color, or dichromatic vision. This means that they see two of the basic three wave lengths of visible light, compared to the three-color, trichromic vision of most humans. In other words, horses naturally see the blue and green colors of the spectrum and the color variations based upon them, but cannot distinguish red. This means that certain colors, especially red and related colors, appear more green. The hearing of horses is good, superior to that of humans, and each ear can rotate up to 180°, giving the potential for 360° hearing without having to move the head. Behavior Considerations Horses carry their head level with their back or low and swinging when relaxed. Their muscles are soft and the gait is slow and fluid. Tail carriage and movement or twitches, head position, ear position and facial expression are primary means of communication. Vocalizations are usually soft, puffing or rumbling nickering. Strong snorts, loud neighs and high pitched screams and squeals are given when horses are distressed or aggressive. Baseline Posture Head level or lower than top of shoulder Eye contact Tail swishing or hanging loosely Weight evenly distributed, well-relaxed; may rest all hind weight on one leg, cocking the relaxed leg Lips are closed relaxed. Old horses or those with damaged nerves may hang loosely lips are smooth; muzzle unwrinkled] Nostrils relaxed [small and oval] edge of nostril is soft and pliable. Alert/Distressed Head high or tossing upwards Eyes wide, may show whites Note: often horses with multiple coat colors on one animal, especially paints/pintos and appaloosas; have the “white” showing all the time as a normal breed characteristic. This should not be construed as aggression if not accompanied by wide eyes and/or other behaviors. Ears pricked stiffly forward or laid slightly back or rapidly turning forward and back Important: this is not to be confused with ears slightly above neckline but turned backwards, ears in this position are paying attention to rider or what is behind horse. Weight on front legs, may stomp with front feet Hindquarters rarely tucked and tense Tail when alert may be held high above back level Tail when distressed may “wring” around in a circle or slap from side to side ©2016 Pet Partners - All Rights Reserved 4 of 9 DEC2016.Rev Horse Behavior Packet Aggressive Head and neck stretched out from body. Can be level with back or slightly above or below. Aggressive or angry head may be thrashing or tossing back and forth – less frequently up and down. Ears pricked stiffly forward or pinned back against head [threatening or aggressive] Neck tense Eyes wide, may show whites Often horses with multiple coat colors, especially paints/pintos and appaloosas, have the “white” showing all the time as a normal breed characteristic. This should not be construed as aggression if not accompanied by wide eyes and other body language. May bare teeth or wrinkle nose (gnashing teeth is pain) Lips tense and stiff, chin flattened May snort or whistle Flared nostril (with or without blowing) Kicking out behind or to the side Submissive/Fearful Eyes blinking, rolling and or very wide Head up and pulled back Ears back or pricked high and forward Flared nostril (with or without blowing) Lips pulled back Tail tucked or held high and rigid (unless tail is manually being lifted which will cause a natural tail tuck). Hindquarters hunched Weight on hindquarters Quivering or shaking Backing away Hiding behind and leaning against another animal or human Defensive kicking out behind or behind and to the side Displacement Signals Bobbing head Shaking mane Pawing Grazing Yawning Turning Away Blinking wide eyes Licking lips or another animal or human ©2016 Pet Partners - All Rights Reserved 5 of 9 DEC2016.Rev Horse Behavior Packet Chewing on objects when being held – boards, ropes, fences, etc. (Can also occur when animal is bored.) IMPORTANT: If unfamiliar with equine body language, evaluators should consult or employ an equine expert consultant. Also, the evaluator can and should expect for the handler to be fully engaged with guiding the interactions and keeping the evaluator informed as to what the horse may be feeling. Evaluators should remind handlers of this at the beginning of the evaluation. Equine Evaluation Overview The Pet Partners Evaluation Overview - Equines is a resource