All about horses

15 Interesting Horse Facts

Horses are such fascinating creatures. Even if you never learned to ride one, you could spend your whole life studying them and still have plenty to explore. Here are 15 interesting facts about horses.

01 of 15
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Yes, horses can sleep standing up! They sleep laying down too. Learn all about the sleeping habits of horses. Horses must lie down to achieve a full restorative sleep cycle for a minimum of 30 minutes per day to avoid sleep deprivation. There are many factors that influence a horse's ability to lay down to sleep and rest. These factors may be environmental such as weather, available space and comfortable bedding or physical deterrents such as musculoskeletal impediments; ie osteoarthritis.
02 of 15
Horses Can't Burp

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That's right! Horses can't burp, at least not the way humans do. They can't vomit or breathe through their mouths like humans do either. A horse's digestive system is a one-way street, unlike cattle and other ruminants who regurgitate food to re-chew it. Although they have a pretty efficient way of processing the tough fibrous foods that make up their forage, this long, one-directional system can cause problems that result in colic.
03 of 15

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While you can't tell the exact age of a horse by its teeth, you can estimate its age. Horses need proper equine dental care for their teeth, but sometimes a horse lives longer than its teeth do, so extra care is needed when feeding senior horses.
04 of 15

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One of the most common questions about horses is "how long does a horse live?" The answer may surprise you. Knowledge of horse nutrition, horse care, and veterinary medicine has increased. Because of this, just as human life expectancy has increased, so has equine longevity.
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Appreciated by beginner riders and professional horsemen alike, the American quarter horse is the world's most popular breed. Learn more about the American quarter horse.
06 of 15

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The Arabian horse is the foundation of many other light horse breeds. They also possess some unique characteristics. Most Arabian horses have one fewer vertebrae, rib bone, and tail bone than other horses.
07 of 15

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Humans are omnivores, lions are carnivores, and horses are herbivores. The way their teeth are formed (grinding molars to break down fibrous plant material), the position of their eyes (face to the side to be on the lookout for predators), and the type of digestive system are all typical characteristics of herbivores.
08 of 15

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Horses in the wild live in small herds, and domestic horses feel more comfortable if they have companions too. It can be quite stressful for a horse to live alone. Companionship for horses may be an equine stablemate or even another species such as a goat, donkey, or mule. Even a dog may become a suitable companion for a horse.
09 of 15
Horses Were Domesticated by Humans More Than 3,000 Years Ago

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Dogs may have become domesticated around 14,000 years ago. Cats became human companions about 8,500 years ago. Humankind's relationship with the horse began a little more recently, around 6,000 years ago, although some evidence has come to light that horses may have been domesticated even earlier.
10 of 15

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The standard measurement for determining the height of a horse is called a hand. One hand is equal to 4 inches. A pony is an equine under 14.2 hands. The only equines not measured in hands are miniature horses, which are measured in inches or centimeters.
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Most of the white horses that you see were actually a much darker color at birth and gradually turn white. These "white" horses may start as bay, chestnut, or almost black. These horses aren't called white, but gray.
12 of 15
A Horse's Resting Respiratory Rate Is About 8-14 Breaths per Minute

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It's important to know the resting pulse and respiration rate of your horse. While the resting respiration rate of a horse can be as low as eight breaths per minute, that can quickly increase with work or distress. Learn your horse's resting pulse and respiration rate (TPR).
13 of 15
Horses Are Not Native to North America

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Every horse on the North American continent is a decedent of European horses. Even the horses that we regard as "wild" are actually feral horses, whose ancestors escaped from captivity. Horses disappeared from the Americas more than 11,000 years ago, and there is ample fossil evidence that the horse's ancestors lived here previous to that.
14 of 15

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What is the difference between a filly, a colt, and a foal? It all depends on gender and age. Generally, a foal is a baby horse. After it is weaned from its dam, it is called a weanling. But, horses remain fillies or colts until they are four years of age.
15 of 15
The Original "Horse" Was the Size of a Golden Retriever

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The original horse was no larger than a golden retriever. Diminutive Hyracotherium may have looked more like a small goat or deer than a modern-day horse. Hyracotherium lived during the Eocene Epoch about 50 million years ago.

Horses: Domestic, feral and wild

Horses lined up and looking over a fence as a group.

(Image credit: catnap / Alamy Stock Photo)

Horses are hoofed mammals that have lived with humans for thousands of years. Almost all of the horses alive today are domesticated and descend from extinct wild horses. Horses have roamed the planet for about 50 million years. The earliest horses evolved in North America before spreading out to the rest of the world, although they later became extinct in North America about 10,000 years ago, Live Science previously reported .

When were horses domesticated?

All breeds of domestic horse belong to one species, Equus caballus, which includes feral populations of domestic horses living in the wild, according to the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) .

Modern horses were likely first domesticated in central Asia between 3000 and 4000 B.C., according to Oklahoma State University . However, horse DNA is relatively diverse, which suggests that horses could have been domesticated in more than one place and from several different wild populations, according to the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) .

Related: 'Ice age' horse skeleton found in Utah backyard isn't what we thought

Horses were initially kept for meat and milk, according to Oklahoma State University. They became a valuable resource for people living on the central Asian steppes, where horses are still eaten and milked today. Fermented mare's milk is a popular, alcoholic drink among the kumis people of the central Asian steppes, Live Science previously reported . As horses became more domesticated, humans have developed more uses for them, such as serving as a means of transportation, as companion animals and as a source of entertainment in the form of horse racing. Today, horses can be found in the care of humans all over the Earth .

Horses are social animals and are known for bonding with members of their herd and for following the most dominant horses in the herd, according to AMNH . In captivity, and in the absence of a herd, horses have a tendency to bond with people and learn to follow their instructions. This enables humans to more easily train horses to be ridden. Similar to other domestic animals, being led by humans has been encouraged through multiple generations of breeding.

The only horses alive today that aren't considered domesticated are Przewalski's horses, or takhi, in central Asia. ITIS lists these wild horses as a separate species named Equus przewalskii. However, some experts categorize domesticated horses and Prezewalski's horses as subspecies of the same species, called Equus ferus caballus and Equus ferus przewalskii, respectively. Either way, Przewalski's horses are distinct from domestic horses, although their evolutionary origins are debated within the scientific community.

How big are horses?

Horses are muscular animals with a long tail made up of coarse hair, a long, thick neck draped with a mane down the midline, and an elongated head and skull. Humans have created hundreds of different horse breeds through selective breeding, which has resulted in many different horse coat colors, including chestnut, gold with a white mane and tail (palomino), spotted, completely black and more, according to Oklahoma State University.

Measured from the ground to the tops of their shoulders, horses typically range between 2 feet 6 inches (76 centimeters) and 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) tall, and weigh between 120 lbs. (54 kilograms) and 2,200 lbs. (1,000 kg), according to National Geographic . However, it's not unusual for horses to be smaller or larger than average.

Horse taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Perissodactyla

Family: Equidae

Genus: Equus

Species: caballus

Source: ITIS

Guinness World Records considers the tallest living horse to be a Belgian horse named Big Jake that's nearly 7 feet tall (82.8 inches, or 210 cm, to be exact). The Belgian breed is known for being one of the strongest and most powerful horse breeds in the world. The tallest horse to have ever lived was a shire horse named Sampson, or Mammoth, who in 1850 was measured to be about 7 feet 2 inches tall (86. 2 inches or 219 cm), according to Guinness World Records.

At the other end of the scale are ponies and miniature horses. A pony is an adult horse that is shorter than 4 feet 10 inches (147 cm), according to Encyclopedia Britannica . A miniature horse is even smaller, at less than 3 feet 2 inches (97 cm) tall. The shortest horse ever recorded by Guinness World Records was a miniature horse named Thumbelina, who was measured to be just 17.5 inches (44.5 cm) tall before she died in 2018.

How fast can a horse run?

Horses racing at the Sha Tin Racecourse on May 8, 2021 in Hong Kong. (Image credit: Lo Chun Kit/Contributor via Getty Images)

Horses have four main movement patterns, called gaits: walk, trot (a little faster than walking), canter (faster than a trot) and gallop (a horse's fastest gait). The average domestic horse can gallop at a speed of about 30 mph (48 km/h), but horses have been clocked at speeds of over 40 mph (64 km/h), according to AMNH.

Related: Thoroughbred racehorses get speed from just a few ancestors

Guinness World Records recognizes 44 mph (70.8 km/h) as being the fastest speed reached by a racehorse. This was achieved by a Thoroughbred named Winning Brew in 2008 over a quarter-mile distance. However, the American quarter horse is often considered to be the fastest horse breed, and the American Quarter Horse Association states these horses have reached speeds of up to 55 mph (88.5 km/h).

Horses are ungulates, which are mammals that have hooves, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History . Horses have evolved to have a single toe on each foot encased by a hard hoof. Hooves are made of keratin, which is the same protein that makes human fingernails, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica . Like fingernails, hooves never stop growing and need to be trimmed. Horse owners often attach metal horseshoes to the bottom of their horse's hooves to protect the hooves from wear.

What do horses eat?

Horses are herbivores, and their diet consists mainly of tough grasses. Large, flat teeth called incisors at the front of the horse's mouth help it to grab and rip grasses from the ground, which the horse then grinds with the molars and premolars that line each side of its jaw, according to the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine .

Horses have the smallest stomach relative to body size of any domesticated animal, according to Iowa State University . A horse's low-capacity stomach is suited to small but frequent meals. Most nutrients are absorbed as food passes through the small intestines and into the hindgut, which includes the cecum, large colon and small colon, where it is fermented by bacteria. The Humane Society suggests that a healthy horse should be fed 1% to 2% of its body weight in grass or hay every day.

The life of a horse

A horse foal running on snow in Eskisehir, Turkey. (Image credit: Anadolu Agency/Contributor via Getty Images)

An adult male horse is called a stallion, and an adult female horse is called a mare. If a male horse is castrated by humans, it becomes known as a gelding. In the wild, horse herds are led by a dominant mare, while a single, dominant stallion typically guards the rear of the group from predators and rival stallions, according to AMNH.

Wild horses usually breed between April and June. Mares give birth to live young after an average gestation period of 11 months, according to the University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web (ADW) . Baby horses, called foals, are typically able to stand within an hour of being born and can begin eating solid food within a week. Wild foals may continue to nurse from their mothers for two years. The weaning process is often sped up for domestic horses, which may be weaned within six months after birth.

A typical domestic horse lifespan is 25 to 30 years, but they have been known to live as long as 61 years, according to the ADW. Wild horses, and horses living in the wild, such as mustangs , tend to have a shorter lifespan, but have been known to live up to 36 years.

Do horses sleep standing up?

Horses are capable of resting and even sleeping while standing up, according to AMNH . They do this by locking one of their hind legs at the stifle joint — the horse equivalent of the knee — which holds them upright while they doze, occasionally switching the locked leg to prevent fatigue. They evolved this trick so that they could respond quickly to the presence of predators and run away. However, The University of Adelaide in Australia notes that horses still need to lie down to enter deep stages of sleep , which they'll do periodically each day and night.

Horse breeds

There are around 350 different horse breeds, according to Horse & Hound , which have been bred to serve a variety of functions. Oklahoma State University's list of horse breeds includes slender-legged Thoroughbreds, which make excellent racehorses; black Friesians, characterized by their luxurious manes and tails; and the tall, muscular shire horses known for being exceptional workhorses. There are also small pony breeds, such as Shetland ponies and miniature horses.

Some horse bloodlines fetch a very high price, particularly racehorses. The most expensive horse ever sold was a Thoroughbred stallion named Fusaichi Pegasus that won nearly $2 million by the end of his highly successful horse-racing career. He was sold to horse breeders in Ireland for $70 million, according to Horse & Hound .

Due to domestication, horses are found in almost every country in the world. Humans have bred a wide variety of horse breeds in countries around the world. For example, the Albanian breed is from Albania, the Budyonny comes from Russia, the Deliboz is from Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia, and the Colorado ranger originated in the Colorado plains, according to Oklahoma State University.

Related: US Space Force hires a horse to boldly go where rockets can't. (The beach)

Are horses native to North America?

Four mustang horses running in Ogden, Utah in the United States.

(Image credit: Kelly Lambright via Getty Images)

Horses evolved in North America millions of years ago but went extinct on the continent about 10,000 years ago, after they had spread out to the rest of the world. The mustangs that roam the U.S. plains today are descendants of domestic Spanish horses brought to the Americas by explorers and colonists in the 16th century. That means these free-roaming mustangs are technically feral animals, rather than wild animals, because they came from domesticated stock. Other feral horse populations include the brumby in Australia and cimarron in South America, according to AMNH .

The last wild horses

Przewalski's horses of central Asia have long been considered the only surviving species of wild horse. A 2018 study published in the journal Science suggested that Przewalski's horses actually descended from horses herded by humans about 5,500 years ago, in the earliest evidence of horse domestication. This implies that Przewalski's horses are feral and, therefore, all truly wild horses are extinct.

However, the study is disputed, and some archaeologists, geneticists and conservationists have voiced their objections to its conclusions on the Science journal's online forum . The Smithsonian's National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute states there is no strong evidence that Przewalski's horses are the feral descendants of a domestic population. Przewalski's horses could have descended from tamed wild animals that weren't domesticated. The National Zoo compares this scenario to elephants, which have been tamed and used for work and war, but are not domesticated.

Related: Why can't all animals be domesticated?

Conservation status

The Przewalski's horse is considered a conservation success story having been saved from extinction and reintroduced into the wild. (Image credit: Patricia D Moehlman/IUCN)

Przewalski's horses are listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . These horses once roamed across Europe and Asia, but environmental changes and competition with humans and livestock led to their extinction in the wild during the 20th century, although the species was kept alive in captivity, according to the National Zoo. The Przewalski's horses have since been reintroduced to China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan using the captive population. Today, there are approximately 1,900 Przewalski's horses in captivity and in the wild. All these horses descend from 14 individuals caught between 1910 and 1960.

Domestic horses and feral populations descended from domesticated stock, like mustangs, are not included on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as they are not considered wild animals. Mustangs, however, are protected and managed on public lands in the U.S., under the country's Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act .

Related: Endangered horses spotted in Valentine's nuzzle

Additional resources

American Museum of Natural History: Horse
Florida Museum of Natural History: Fossil horses online exhibit
"The Horse Encyclopedia" (DK, 2016)

This article was originally written by Live Science contributor Alina Bradford and has since been updated.

Patrick Pester is a staff writer for Live Science. His background is in wildlife conservation and he has worked with endangered species around the world. Patrick holds a master's degree in international journalism from Cardiff University in the U.K.

Read the book “All about horses. A Complete Guide to Proper Care, Feeding, Maintenance, Dressage" online in full📖 - Igor Skrypnik - MyBook.

Foreword

Since time immemorial, a horse has been an indispensable helper and friend for man. The horse was required everywhere and everywhere: on the battlefield and on peaceful arable land, hunting and traveling. She was dressed in armor, harnessed to royal carriages and wretched peasant droshky; for the horse "they gave half the kingdom" (sometimes in the literal sense of the word).

The legendary horse of Alexander the Great - Bucephalus - was buried with royal honors, and the tyrant-emperor Caligula even made his favorite a member of the Roman Senate. The horse was the breadwinner of the poor and the pride of the powerful.

Until now, interest in the horse has not faded in the world, but at present, basically, "live horses have been replaced by steel cavalry." The equestrian business in Russia in recent years has had a particularly hard time - many stud farms have closed or vegetate in poverty, breeding work is in a deplorable state; hope only for enthusiasts, whose number is slowly but still growing over the years. First of all, these are athletes, as well as those who care about their health, the health of their children, and, finally, simply lovers of beauty.

Communication with a horse, especially for city dwellers, is primarily associated with riding. Images of horsemen were found on Persian engravings dated around 3000 BC. e. The charm and beneficial power of riding was conveyed by M. Yu. Lermontov: “I sat on horseback and galloped into the steppe; I love to ride a hot horse. Whatever grief may lie on the heart, whatever anxiety may torment the thought, everything will dissipate in a minute; the soul will become light, the fatigue of the body will overcome the anxiety of the mind. The French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, in his invaluable work "Experiences", states: "I am reluctant to get off the horse, since I have sat on it, because I am healthy or sick, I feel best riding."

Horseback riding develops a good sense of balance in a person, improves coordination of movements. According to some scientists, equestrians do not suffer from pulmonary tuberculosis, because the microclimate of the stable, mobile work with horses, riding them help natural disinfection and ventilation of the lungs. In addition to a beneficial effect on the musculoskeletal and vestibular apparatus, riding helps to strengthen the neuropsychic state, reduces the risk of hypertension and myocardial infarction.

Therapeutic horse riding relieves many ailments - riding therapy (from the English ride - horseback riding), or hippotherapy (from the Greek hippos - horse). Riding therapy improves the posture of the rider, strengthens the back muscles, straightens the spinal column, which means that many types of curvature of the spine are corrected. Therapeutic horseback riding improves the well-being of those suffering from the effects of cerebral palsy.

“I think that no supercars will replace horses, just as no technology will replace wildlife. People will always need living beauty.” These words belong to the Australian writer Alan Marshall. For him, horses became a source of sincere joy and a reliable means of transportation after suffering from polio in early childhood. The writer expressed his memories of this tragedy and his deep gratitude to the horse in the heartfelt story "I can jump over puddles."

Books about horses are always read with great interest, these noble animals look great on film and television screens. But neither the printed word nor film can replace communication with a live horse. A rare person, having once experienced the atmosphere of the stable, does not seek to return to horses, and almost every child at least once will ask his parents to “let him ride a horse.” Moreover, horseback riding is very diverse and exciting - it is work in the saddle, national games and competitions, horse testing at hippodromes, performances in the circus, runs, hikes, travels and, finally, work in various areas of the economy.

We invite the reader to plunge into the unique world of horses, get acquainted with the physiology and psychology of these wonderful animals, as well as learn the basics of training and the higher school of equestrian riding.

Peculiarities of horse psychology

Equine social behavior

In the animal kingdom, there are species that live individually, singly or, at most for a short time, in pairs. Other animals are completely social and live in communities with a pronounced social structure. Solitarily and socially living species can be close relatives. So, for example, foxes that live alone and wolves that gather in packs belong to the canine family. Or large cats standing very close in zoological systematics - lions and tigers; and if tigers live alone, then lions, the only ones of the cat family, on the contrary, form packs consisting of large families and consanguineous young animals. Many animals form pairs during the breeding season or raising young.

Odd-toed ungulates refer to animals living in communities that exhibit very different social behaviors under certain conditions. This is partly due to different environmental conditions, and partly due to different degrees of mental development of different species. It is believed that the ancestors of all equids 70 million years ago, when they had several fingers and lived in tropical forests, lived alone or in pairs and, in their behavior, in many ways resembled tapirs, the closest relatives of equids. Until now, with the exception of the breeding season, they live alone. If the social life of tapirs is limited only to relations during the breeding season and between mother and cub, and is relatively poor, then those animals whose families stayed together longer or who formed groups, and in extreme cases, herds, had to form a way of living together that provided unhindered coexistence. This way of living together with many options for permitted and unpermitted behavior, scientists called social relations.

It is impossible to fully appreciate the naturally nuanced social behavior of all equids living in communities in the case of domestic horses, since their freedom of movement is limited, as well as in the example of wild horses and free-living ponies, in whose herds one stallion. In horses living in stables, it weakens due to lack of social contacts. The need of horses for certain social relations is so strong that they sometimes do not take into account the significant differences in the size of animals, their breed, age and sex, and in extreme cases even species differences.

Arabian Thoroughbred

If we consider the relationship between mother and calf, then two horses already form a community with recognizable social behavior at certain moments. This primarily includes skin care, when both partners bite each other's body parts that are difficult for them to reach. For hair care, animals make pauses during grazing and half-sleep, lasting from several minutes to half an hour.

Animals seeking contact go obliquely to each other and show their intentions with a special expression of the muzzle (“mimicry during brushing”), which can be accepted by a partner with the same facial expressions or rejected. If the animals agree, they start at the mane and sides of the neck or the withers area, pulling the skin between the teeth, which creates the same effect as scratching with a comb. This game can take place with varying intensity, with especially thorough cleaning, you can hear the sound of chattering teeth, slightly muffled by the coat. Starting from the mane and withers, all the hair from the back to the tip of the tail is carefully combed, and the animals move slowly relative to each other until they are standing with their heads at the base of the tail. Then they walk around each other and work on the other side. Usually the animals bite each other in pairs, and rarely a third can join them for a short time.

Akhal-Teke breed

If necessary, combing of wool can be carried out even by a person. A person can, by accepting such an offer, reach the point that his compatriot will consider a horse. This desire, especially if it comes from strongly and rapidly biting horses, is technically feasible with great difficulty and is not always painless for a person. If you're trying to get a shy foal into the grooming game, then you should put on a thick old coat first, or you'll soon have to bring in a mare as a third partner. The foal must be placed in such a position that after a few pinches on your jacket sleeve, he will gradually switch to his mother. The mare is the foal's primary partner in skincare at first, so it quickly learns facial expressions and social skincare techniques.

Friendship and enmity

Horses living a natural life do not involve all compatriots equally in social skin care. Friendship and enmity, sympathies and antipathies appear in every herd community, which, like in humans, can arise quite unexpectedly; choose friends as partners. At first, the only partner is the mother, then animals of the same species are selected, and in colts, mutual biting often turns into ranked games. In older animals, grooming partners often do not change for years; mares prefer their daughters.

During estrus, social contact during grooming serves as a prelude to mating and sexual behavior for stallions and mares.

Relatively rarely, mutual biting is observed in stallions and their foals, which looks very touching in such courageous animals.

Budenovskaya breed

Two examples show how spontaneous friendship or enmity can arise between horses. They are described by Michael Schaeffer in his book The Language of Horses. One night, a foal was born in a free-living herd of Fjord horses in a pasture at about four o'clock in the morning. After the interest aroused by the appearance of a new member of the herd began to fade away, a filly about four months old remained near the happy young mother, despite all the threats, showing extreme interest in the newborn; and the mother mare had to come to terms with her presence. Although there were foals of the same age in the herd, the filly spent all the time near the newborn, only briefly leaving to suck milk from her mother, often grazing quite far away. Whether this was a manifestation of maternal instinct, like little girls playing with dolls, or simply the beginning of an ordinary childhood friendship, is unknown.

Read online “All about horses. A Complete Guide to Proper Care, Feeding, Maintenance, Dressage”, Igor Skripnik – LitRes

Foreword

Until now, interest in the horse has not faded in the world, but at present, basically, "live horses have been replaced by steel cavalry. " The equestrian business in Russia in recent years has had a particularly hard time - many stud farms have closed or vegetate in poverty, breeding work is in a deplorable state; hope only for enthusiasts, whose number is slowly but still growing over the years. First of all, these are athletes, as well as those who care about their health, the health of their children, and, finally, simply lovers of beauty.

Peculiarities of the psychology of horses

Social behavior of horses

In the animal world there are species that live individually, alone or, at most for a short time, in pairs. Other animals are completely social and live in communities with a pronounced social structure. Solitarily and socially living species can be close relatives. So, for example, foxes that live alone and wolves that gather in packs belong to the canine family. Or large cats standing very close in zoological systematics - lions and tigers; and if tigers live alone, then lions, the only ones of the cat family, on the contrary, form packs consisting of large families and consanguineous young animals. Many animals form pairs during the breeding season or raising young.

Arabian Thoroughbred

Akhal-Teke breed

Friendship and enmity

During estrus, social contact during grooming serves as a prelude to mating and sexual behavior for stallions and mares.

Relatively rarely, mutual biting is observed in stallions and their foals, which looks very touching in such courageous animals.

Budenovskaya breed

Even more unexpectedly, a feud arose among the horses, which lasted more than two years, between one "warm-blooded" and one trotting mare, Schaeffer writes. One day, three-year-old Aisha rushed for no reason at all to a trotting mare who had just arrived in the herd. When other animals tried to approach the newcomer, they were subjected to a brutal attack from Aisha, until she managed to ensure that the newcomer was left alone to stand aside. When the mare Clara some time later, and then the other members of the herd, already began to pay attention to the newcomer, and she could freely be among other horses, then many times a day one could observe how her sworn enemy Aisha suddenly suddenly realized that she must expel “alien”, began to look for the defeated animal in order to isolate it again with a furious attack. With the passage of time, the trotting mare, which initially stood at a rather low level in the hierarchy, rose significantly, but did not reach the level of the younger Aisha, who later never missed the opportunity to bite or hit her enemy.

Friendships among horses usually arise between "like-minded", or, in other words, between animals with similar temperament, movement needs and character. So, four colts of the same age, described by Schaeffer, instantly formed two distinct play unions in twos. Moreover, the Arabian foal, more thoroughbred, instantly chose another "warm-blooded" foal as a comrade, and the stronger Arab haflinger preferred a simpler, more comfortable company. This grouping persisted until the moment of sale, after which the foals left without a partner were forced to play together for the first time.

Vladimir heavyweight

Don breed

How important herd associations are for a good mental state of a horse is well known to experienced breeders. There is a similar trend in thoroughbred horse breeding, therefore, in herds of young horses, they try not to allow an odd number of animals. As experience shows, a foal left without a mate lags behind in development, although it is in the same conditions and does not need anything from the physical side. In this case, this is a vivid example of the lack of "spiritual" communication.

Hierarchy

Despite mutual skin care and friendships that usually arise, even in a small forced community of two horses, a hierarchy is very quickly formed when one animal is subordinate to another. The subordinate always enters the stall or approaches the feeder last. If you do not know how relations actually develop, then you might think that life in nature is better, more beautiful and fairer than in human society with its foundations, privileged and unprivileged strata. There is no equality in nature, therefore our socio-political slogans about equality of opportunities for everyone and everyone are fundamentally unnatural, no matter how attractive ideas they are based on.

There is no equality in the animal community. On the contrary, all species living in communities have a well-defined hierarchy, which is strictly maintained. Such a clear order gives individuals at the lowest position in the hierarchy (and they are not at all depressed and unhappy) a sense of security, since their place in the herd is clearly defined, they know what they should and what they are allowed to do. Therefore, it is wrong and absolutely not conducive to maintaining peace in the horse community - to give preference to horses standing on the lower levels of the hierarchy. A person, based on his ideas, gives tidbits first of all to the youngest or smallest.

A grazing herd of horses remains a peaceful community as long as the hierarchical relationship between its members is clearly established. If you place a new animal there and leave everything as it is, the fiercest ranking struggle will immediately begin, which will stop only when all the animals take a certain place in the hierarchy. Each animal sorts things out with each until (and this happens quite quickly) the strongest one is revealed. This is not always the most powerful and physically strong animal, sometimes simply surpassing the rest in temperament and reactivity. And starting from it, a new hierarchy is formed. This sometimes quite fierce struggle can last for several days, after which the most ambitious and fighting horses form the “ruling elite”. More weak-willed animals easily recognize the dominant mare and the animals following her in position in the hierarchy and determine the further rank order among themselves. Some time later, one can again observe a calmly grazing herd, where fights occur in exceptional cases.

Oryol trotter

In nature, it also happens that in the course of a rank struggle, several animals unfamiliar to each other are forced to stay together longer than for a short period of gathering, when other laws apply.

With a family organization of society, wild equids and domestic horses of the same breed or type normally have a sex hierarchy - stallions are higher than geldings, then there are mares that dominate depending on size, weight and age. The older have precedence over the younger, a right on which the most zealous try to insist as long as possible. Michael Schaeffer writes that he almost felt sorry for certain horses when some old, hitherto high-ranking mare tries to get to the passage in the fence as quickly as possible in order to be the first to get to the pasture.

Although unfamiliar animals establish a hierarchy, but if the opponents are relatively equal in strength, then frequent clashes are inevitable. In zoos, when, for example, a new zebra is placed in a neighboring enclosure, the animals sniff each other through the net, look around and get used to each other. So it is with horses: they are first placed in adjacent paddocks next to each other. It is always beneficial when neighbors like each other, and later the ranking struggle between them is only symbolic, although one animal gains an advantage. Unfortunately, sometimes the opposite is true. Horses initially cannot stand each other and spend all their time teaching each other a lesson.

The superiority of one horse over others is expressed in the fact that it can threaten others with impunity, takes the best place at the feeder and is the first to choose a place to sleep. From her position, she jealously observes everyone, and any mistake of an animal standing in the hierarchy at a lower level, if it is not enough just a warning (threateningly pressed ears, sometimes set apart, and rotational movements of the tail) from the superior animal, is punished with bites or even hind leg kicks. Equality is out of the question. The respect for the superior horse is very great. When, for example, the dominant mare stops in the passage leading to the pasture, then other animals cannot pass her, even if they are driven from behind with a whip. With a thoughtless behavior of a person in such situations, one can easily bring the matter to injuries: horses occupying a higher position in the hierarchy begin to kick during the stampede in order to maintain an individual distance. Even during the daily pasture to pasture, strong individuals rush forward at a gallop. In a long-standing community, the older animals make up the top, the younger ones easily overtake them, but they risk performing such a maneuver only at a sufficiently large distance. Experienced breeders of racehorses are very willing to buy such yearlings, as they, due to their activity, strength and strong nervous system, will try to occupy the highest possible position in their herd, and then such animals most often become good racehorses.

The social balance in an already established herd can be disturbed not only by the introduction of a new member of the community. The new horse will be frightened and insecure in a strange environment for a day or two, and then will begin to fight for a corresponding position in the hierarchy or unconditionally take a lower position in the new community. Young horses from time to time forcefully achieve a change in the existing situation, first of all the covered and foaled mares, who, rising in the hierarchy, are nevertheless forced to take their place among the old animals.

The social position of the horse within the herd community is determined not only by the environment; it is influenced by mental characteristics that are inherited. It is interesting that the offspring of horses occupying a high position in the hierarchy subsequently also occupy a high position, and the offspring of horses standing at lower levels in the hierarchy, as a rule, remain subordinate. The qualities of character necessary for a mare to occupy a high position (activity and even aggressiveness) are inherited, as well as conformation features, and later appear in foals.

This also includes the environmental fact (which makes one wonder) that a suckling foal occupies almost the same position in the hierarchy as its mother. This means that each member of the herd respects the foals of high-ranking mares in much the same way as their mothers, so they can afford to be bold, because in case of danger they are under the protection of the mother's authority. Such cubs grow up with a much greater sense of confidence than foals of weaker mares, who find it much more difficult (not due to physical factors, but psychological reasons) to achieve a higher rank than after birth.

Equality of opportunity does not always exist in nature. Natural foals are not separated from their mothers at the age of four to six months, as in most stud farms. Their close contact with the mother is interrupted only after the birth of a new offspring, and the rank-dependent behavior of the mare affects their own behavior for a rather long time.

If a person wants to safely communicate with horses, then he should take the place of the animal that stands highest in the hierarchy. Depending on the situation, he will have to perform the functions of a dominant mare or herd stallion. If the owner or breeder of horses is not able to really consistently fulfill the role of leader (and this is by no means done with the help of brute force!), Then he remains to rely completely on his animals and, with rare exceptions, be afraid, since a harmless indication to a person from a horse high in the hierarchy can, under certain circumstances, have dire consequences.

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All mares obey the stallion unconditionally, and his mere appearance is enough to restore peace between the fighting mares.

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Additional resources

Read the book “All about horses. A Complete Guide to Proper Care, Feeding, Maintenance, Dressage" online in full📖 - Igor Skrypnik - MyBook.

Foreword

Peculiarities of horse psychology

Equine social behavior

Read online “All about horses. A Complete Guide to Proper Care, Feeding, Maintenance, Dressage”, Igor Skripnik – LitRes

Foreword

Peculiarities of the psychology of horses

Social behavior of horses

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