Comments on: Do horses have a play ‘circuit’ too?

By: Deborah

Deborah

Hi Teddie,
Thanks for this article, it was food for thought. It seems likely that the pecking order that we observe in domestic horses does not exist (at least in the same way) in wild herds.
Here is what I have observed in my horse and pony, who have been together for about 6 months. They are only one hand difference in size, but I think that is a factor. The older, bigger one is the boss. The pony challenged this at first but after several reprimands, resulting in minor injuries such as bite marks, she became submissive. Now she more or less accepts that she waits for the horse to drink first, etc. I separate them at feeding time except at night. This works out well.
I have another interesting observation. The pony is 13, but younger than the horse who is 22. The pony is good at observing the horse and learning from her. I made them toys out of milk jugs with holes in them. When shaken, treats will come out the holes. At first neither animal knew what to do. My horse is familiar with puzzles, and figured it out quickly while the pony watched. Then the pony tried it and got the reward. To me that shows two different kinds of intelligence. My horse learns by doing, and my pony learns by observing. I used this when teaching the pony to side pass. I stood in front of her and crossed my legs to move sideways. She immediately did the same. Fascinating and awesome!
I wonder if part of what we see as pecking order is these two learning styles in action.
I enjoy your blogs and wish you a prosperous new decade,
Deborah Houk

By: Teddie Ziegler

Teddie Ziegler

In reply to suzanne copley. Interesting thoughts. It also goes along with the horses following another with the most knowledge.

By: Teddie Ziegler

Teddie Ziegler

In reply to Leslie Dresser. Interesting observation. I have not seen this and my horses have never shown this behavior.

By: Leslie Dresser

Leslie Dresser

My observation may sound peculiar but has been witnessed perhaps hundreds of times over the last twenty years or so. All of the horses I observed were domestic horses in a boarding environment. Each horse was in an individual corral, not in a herd or pasture environment. What I observed, even with my own horses is that at each feeding, just prior to putting their feed in their buckets or barrels, they will urinate before starting their meals. I’ve observed this behavior happen with mares more often than geldings but it’s something that takes place each and every time I feed. I’ve thought of reasons why they do this but it’s just a theory. Has anyone else observed this? If you know the answer, could you please share? I used to manage a boarding stable for many years. We boarded approx. Seventy horses at a time and this behavior was pretty much the norm.

By: suzanne copley

suzanne copley

It has long been observed among dressage horses that “the one with the most training runs the farm” that is, other horses seem to defer to this individual. One theory advanced is that this one “has more human”, that is, spends the most time with, and somehow carries our pheromones. I would assume this would be observed no matter the discipline imposed by humans.

By: Connie Lombardi

Connie Lombardi

Yes, I also noticed when feeding I would have to put hay in different spots so they would have peace in eating I thought the saying the grass is always greener when one of them thought the other hay pile looked more yummy or even checking out the grain bucket one last time before the bucket was put up but also noticed ones would wait until the boss horse choose its pile then so the next horse than on down the line other times they were all the best of mates and palled around with each other. Thank you again for some good articles to read and also thank you my holiday is going good thank you Happy New Year.