Almost any horse owner will agree that a horse is a herd animal but many do not really understand whatthis entails. A fuller understanding means that horse management systems can be designed to incorporate rather thanignore these basic facts about horse behviour. In this age of enlightenment more and more people are willing andactually want to improve the ‘lifestyle’ of the horses in their care both for the welfare benefits and theimprovement in performance that results from a healthier horse.

There are no truly wild horses left in the world however there are wild equines (such as Zebra and asses). There aremany feral horse populations including the Brumbies of Australia and the Mustangs of America. Feral means that theyhave been released or have escaped from domestic populations. There are also groups of horses that still live inareas in which they evolved however their numbers are managed and controlled by humans meaning that they are nolonger truly wild. Examples of these are the Camargue horses of Southern France and Exmoor ponies in England.

All horses (Equus Caballus) are herd animals rather than territorial. Some other equine species (Grevy’s Zebra andAfrican wild ass) and many other large herbivores are territorial which means that males hold an area and can matewith females that pass through his area. Horses live in herds (harems) that consist of a stallion a few mares andtheir offspring. Horses therefore have a very strong fundamental instinct to form attachments to other horses. Theseattachments (in the wild/feral situation) are often for life.

Horses are naturally highly social animals. When equines live in a herd situation (either in the feral/wild state ordomestic) they have a rich and varied social life that includes activities such as sexual behviour, play behviour anddominance hierarchy behaviour. Actual fights are rare in established groups with threats being more common. Horsesthat live in herds get to exercise their senses frequently such as they smell and sniff each other and each othersdung, they also use scent when grazing to help with grass selection. They use their visual senses to spot danger andalong with scent to recognise other horses. Touch is very important to horse and mutual grooming bouts are used tostrengthen bonds between individuals.

Horses communicate with one another mainly by using body language. To the uninitiated this can be difficult to seebut any experienced horse person can read it and will do so sub consciously. Horses have developed these subtle andnot so subtle signals because a language system is necessary in any animal species that lives in a group. Experiencedhorse people can and do use this system to communicate and train a horses by using their body to signal instructionsto the horse whether they are on the ground or are mounted.

Living as part of a herd also has other advantages. There is safety in numbers. More sets of eyes andears means that predators can be seen sooner. It means that some group members can relax and sleep or graze whileothers stay more alert. This responsibility is shared among herd members.

When horses live in captivity these strong instincts do not disappear and cannot be disregarded. Domestic horsesretain all of their instincts and this is why horses can and do survive if they are released or escape into the wild.

Many modern management systems do not take these natural behaviours into consideration. Often modern stables moreclosely resemble cages by preventing horses from touching one another. Horses that are prevented from touching eachother are being prevented from carrying out very important social behaviours such as mutual grooming. Studies haveshown that during bouts of mutual grooming the heart rate of a horse is significantly lowered. Being groomed by ahuman is better than nothing but it should not replace this natural behaviour. If you are building stables fromscratch consider leaving the stables open above the partition.

In Australia especially it is common to paddock horses separately believing this to be the safest method. The stronginstinct that horses have to be together means that separated horses will pace the fence or even go through a fencein order to be with another horse. Even horses that are at the bottom of the pecking order will still chose to staywith other horses rather than be alone. In fact two horses can appear to have a strong dislike for each other but ifyou were to separate them they may become frantic. Horses that are paddocked alone are much more likely to sustainfence injuries than those that live in groups. If you are worried about kicking among shod horses then hoof boots canbe fitted to the back feet.

In the herd each horse has a place in the social hierarchy. Actual aggression is not common in free living horses;more often than not horses display body language that seeks to avoid aggression. For example horses have many facialexpressions that convey to another horse its wishes. Usually this is to move out of the way. Horses that live incaptivity can be more aggressive than feral/wild horses if their management systems tend to leads to this. Forexample, in the wild grass is usually either available to all of the horses or none of them at any particular time.In captivity we often need to feed horses supplementary feed which leads to much competition. We initiate aggressionwhen we feed horses in the paddock together, in the wild no one comes along with a bucket to create this aggression.For this reason horses should ideally be separated into individual yards or stables for the period that it takes toeat the supplementary feed.

Many owners do not want to risk injuries to their horse and this is why they prevent them from coming into contactwith other horses. Horse play is rough although not usually as rough as it appears. All animals, including humans,use play as a form of development and to strengthen bonds. This is an important part of the socialisation of a horse.

With a little thought and planning it is possible to vastly improve the lifestyle of your horse. If managementchanges also incorporate feeding horses on a diet that is as closer to natural, i.e. more fibre and less concentratesthen this will pay dividends as your horse is less likely to suffer from stress disorders such as colic, ulcers andstereotypic behaviour such as wind sucking. Above all try to remember that your horse is a horse and allow him tolive like one whenever possible.

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