Remedial Behaviour Techniques for Horses

Remedial Behaviour Techniques

• The module is under Unit Standard 335720 – Apply Remedial Behavioral Techniques for a Horse

Specific Outcomes

Qualifying learners will understand:

• The evolution of the equine
• Domestication of the horse
• Evolutionary outcome of the modern horse
• How to identify common behavioral traits
• Applying remedial techniques

Knowledge

Qualifying learner will be able to explain the following:

• History and evolution of the equine
• Impact of domestication
• Equine types and characteristics
• Genetic and environmental influences
• Positive and negative behavioral traits
• Remedial behavior techniques

Skills

Qualifying learner will be able to:

• Identify and solve problems establishing equine lineage by employing responsible decision-making and creative thinking
• Understand working with others in a team is vital in dealing with unmounted vices
• Understand organizing and managing oneself and activities is vital
• Communicate effectively using oral or written persuasion for desired behavioral change

Evolutionary History

• Approximately 60 million years ago in the Eocene period horses first appeared
• Horses were small, fox-like, four-toed quadrupeds, and named Eohippus, the "Dawn Horse"
• Eohippus browsed soft leaves and foliage in marshy areas, scurrying into woodlands for safety
• They were Scansorial Browsers, able to stand on hind legs to feed, lacking a long neck
• They had soft diet-limited mastication
• Large grinding molars hadn't developed yet
• They had plier-like incisors for seizing and nipping foliage
• Their skulls were small and pointed, with eyes forward placed
• Fiber was a minor constituent of their food
• Digestion was similar to pigs instead of later herbivores like cows and modern horses
• Over 50 million years, changing climates caused changes in vegetation
• Eohippus's descendent branches evolved with climate changes to escape danger in open country by flight over firm terrain.
• Limbs grew longer relative to body size
• The number of toes reduced to one per limb
• Eohippus stood on tiptoe with the last bone of the digit encased in a horny hoof
• It developed a stay and suspensory apparatus for greater speed
• The sparse coarse grass required continuous seeking, causing a nomadic way of life and a gregarious social structure as they moved in groups
• They grasped with lips and pinched off stemmy grass with pincer-like teeth, crushing it with large strong molars in a large head
• The bigger head needing stronger muscles, weight, and leverage of combined head and neck, required improved spinal muscles
• Horses in arid lands like the Arabians, ate fruit and young grasses, maintaining a narrow head with slightly smaller molars
• Skull size and shape changes caused eye sockets to position more laterally for better survival
• Elongated skulls include rostral nasal bones as cartilage, allowing a flexible muzzle and upper lip
• This enables dilating nostrils and using the upper lip as a strong and sensitive 'hand' for feeling and manipulating
• These were cursorial grazing herbivores that still retain browsing instincts
• Digestion depended on microbial fermentation of masticated cellulose-rich fibers in a large caecum and colon
• The stomach and small intestine continued enzymatic digestion
• The stomach remained small, filled regularly in a 'trickle' fashion during a 14-18 hour grazing pattern
• The Equus genus is the only one known to 'make it' in evolutionary survival
• Present-day horses, ponies and other family members stem from this 5 million year old ancestor

Simplified Classification

• Kingdom: Animalia
• Class: Mammalia
• Order: Perissodactyl (odd toed ungulates)
• Family: Equidae (horse, rhino, tapir)
• Genus: Equus
• Species: Equus Caballus
• There are 6 species within the Equus genus

Equus Caballus

• Thought to have appeared in 3-4 main types in Siberia (Europe), Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, and West into Europe, Scandinavia, and Great Britain
• Early changes produced variation in structure and related functions suited to local conditions
• Fundamentally, the major structures and functions were similar to predecessors
• Dramatic changes haven't occurred in the past million years, except in: size, conformation and variety
• Natural outcrossing and later breeding led to some interesting facts

Gregarious/Nomadic Instincts

Characteristics that served survival originally became weak links for athletic potential, disrupting gregarious and nomadic instincts:

• Modern horses are isolated in stables
• Horses are confined to small fields
• Horses are fed different food, in quantities and times determined by humans
• These practices led to ill health, diseases, and behavioural changes

Domestication’s Impact

• First domestication was around 6,000 BC, with small 11-12hh horses depicted in cave drawings and sculptures
• Initially, horses were used as draught animals to pull chariots and be ridden
• Evidence of human interaction dates back to 2,700 BC on stone tablets
• Selective crossing of types produced bigger riding horses
• Invading armies introduced foreign breeds
• Potential ancestors such as the Barb and Arab produced the English Thoroughbred and elsewhere, the Warmblood
• Native British ponies are still unchanged from their origins
• Outcrossing maintains the original hardiness and coarse food conversion ability
• Horses are not adapted to rich improved grasses and highly digestible energy concentrates
• Hence the susceptibility to endotoxemias, such as laminitis, obesity, and possibly intolerance to certain drugs

Types of Horses

• Harvested cereals rich in starch and improved pastures with lush growth are innovations of farming husbandry
• Their use dates from late BC for corn (maize) and the last 200 years for improved grass pastures
• Modern horses can cope with rich concentrate diets and pastures with slow introduction to give fibre to the digestion microbes so they can adapt
• There are 150+ breeds and types of horses, each influenced by humans
• Domestication led to selective breeding, producing good and bad faults
• More nutritious feeding has led to size and quality of horses
• Terms Cold Blood, Hot Blood, and Warm Blood describe types of horses
  • Cold Blood: heavy draught breeds from the prehistoric horse of Northern Europe, characterized by calm temperaments, powerful conformation, and physical attributes for work and living in cold regions
  • Hot Blood: pure breeding Arabians and Thoroughbreds, originated in the hotter regions of North Africa and Asia, lightly built with physical attributes to thrive in hot climate, suited to speed and endurance
  • Warm Blood: mix between the hot and cold blood, lighter riding type of horse for high-performance sport and competitive riding
• Three foundation sires of the Thoroughbred: Byerly Turk, Darley Arabian, Godolphin Arabian
• The Przewalski Horse, only truly prehistoric horse, can be found in Zoos/Reserves, and differs from the modern horse:
  • 66 chromosomes instead of 64
  • Has primitive features: big head, eyes set up rather than to the sides of head, is 12-13hh, long ears, thick neck, heavy body with dark dorsal stripe and zebra markings on legs, always yellowish dun colour with light coloured nose and dark mane which grows upright and is shed each spring
  • Has no forelock
  • Intractable nature and cannot be trained for riding
  • Survives on minimum food and endures extreme heat and cold

Feral Horses

• Feral horses (Mustangs, Brumbies, Camargue, Sorraia) escaped from early settlers and gone wild
• These are considered pests and are culled
• Evolution and domestication leads to questions:
  • How has domestication affected the horse?
  • Have the horse’s instincts changed?
  • How does the FFF response affect the horse when handled? (fright, flight, fight)

How Environments Affect Modern Horses Physically:

• Horse's hooves have become weaker, and are regularly shod or used on softer terrain
• Thoroughbred conformation has changed to increase speed for racehorses

Psychological Influences on Horses:

• Unlike wild horses, domestic horses are under immense training pressure.
• Domestic horses are often isolated and paired, which affects hierarchy
• Geldings affect hierarchy
• Stallions kept in close proximity affect behaviors
• Wild horses have one dominant stallion
• Horses confined in stables may become anxious or bored

Modern Horses

• Modern food is higher in protein and refined, so teeth don't wear down
• Horses don't travel, so laminitis is more common in domesticated horses
• Horses also may become irritable, nasty, or fearful because they are confined or bullied by other horses
• Horses confined in stables or paddocks instead of wide, open spaces have limited exercise
• This leads to respiratory and poor management problems
• Instinctive behaviour is the default position
• Humans taking a dominate role affects a horse depending on whether the handler is confident or fearful
• Interactions affect horses if routines aren't kept or horse is exposed to too much noise, or isolating

Horse’s Natural Lifestyle:

• Horses function as herd animals and socialize
• Horses feel safer with a dominate leader
• As trickle feeders, horses graze for upto 16 hours a day to accommodate for a small stomach
• Grass is natural feed
  • Fright/Flight/Fight Response: startled horse will flee, and fight when cornered
  • Defensive behavior: kicking, biting, striking, bucking, rearing
  • Horses spend a large part of the day looking for food
  • Horses move around in large spaces
  • Horses are protected from weather by natural oils in their coat and other hairs
  • Hooves worn down by different terrains
• Because horses are a prey animal, a horse is sensitive to threatening movements and sounds
• Horses: shouldn't be isolated, should have quality grazing and water, need exercise, be handled with calm confidence, have natural protection maintained (grooming), have feet checked by farriers every 4-6 weeks, be treated for worms, have shelter, roughage, water and company

Equine Instinct

• Horses are herd animals that use the herd to identify dangers
• Modern-day horses retain instincts of prey animals

Learned Behavior

• Horses learn by watching, training, or from experience, and will repeat actions for good rewards
• Examples include banging door for food, barging electric fences and entering a feed room

Horse Communication

• Vocal noises include nicker, neigh, snort, blowing and squealing
  • Snorting: excitement or uncertainty
  • Nicker: friendly greeting
  • Neigh or Whinny: friendly call
  • Squealing: greeting
  • Blowing: relaxed noise
• Regular blowing while traveling means air vibrating within the nostril

Fright / Flight

• Equines have quick responses to danger as prey animals and flee from 'predator'
• When riding this appears in the following instances:
  • Spooking: leaps away from object
  • Shying: looks at object, moves away
  • Spinning: turns and runs the other way
  • Leaping: jumps forwards

Practical Tips

• Spooky object Training: Practice with objects with experienced instructor
• Horses can sleep lying down or standing via locking mechanism within the Patella.
• Stabled horses sleep lying down
• Horses at grass take turns to sleep
• Horses need regular exercise - fit, young excitable horses need more consistent work
• The energy may cause bucking, spooking, or cheeky behaviour
• Ensure food monitoring
• Young or unexpereinced horses learn from positive experiences, or become anxious
• Take an experienced horse with to instill confidence

Dominion Hierarchy

• Herd need company
• All horses have a pecking order
• The dominate horse uses body language
• To communicate their needs to herd
• Dominant horses push others away during feeding
• Body language includes ears back, a swishing tail, kicking out and lunging at others
• Rolling helps improve coat condition, remove parasites, shift hairs and achieving a thick layer during winter
• Excessive rolling can indicate discomfort such as colic
• Domestic horses use grooming socially, for example a mare will groom her foal
• Two equine friends stand head to tail and groom each other

Horses

• All horses are individuals
• Horses are fearful, confident or dominant
• Horses behaviour will help you to achieve sucsessful training
• Some negative behaviour toward humans includes: biting, kicking, chopping, barging, rubbing against
• When mounted negative behaviors can appear: Bucking, rearing, shying, and nipping
• None are acceptable as they could cause injury

Horse Rearing

• To yield the hindquarters:
  • Pick up one rein and pull it to your hip, bring the horse's head around towards your toe
  • Put your inside leg back and apply pressure at the horse's flank
  • Once the horse moves off the pressure, take your leg off
  • Wait for the horse to soften to the rein and then release the rein

Horse Bucking

• Rule out physical reasons for why such as a sore back, fitted badly
• Shorten reins, sit up, get head up, and use leg aids
• Get support and guidance from a expert when addressing mounted vices

Safety First

• If you don't feel safe immediately get off
• A more experienced rider deals with a rearing horse using one rein to turn the head
• Never pull back on both reins when on horse (when rearing)
• In order to prevent vices:
  • Keep horses in a stable only when necessary and ensure hay and water are always available
  • Do not put sensitive or nervous horses near a busy part of the stable
  • Turn horses out first when feeding so they do not stay in stable to long
  • Give them hay 30 minutes before any feed
  • Have clean bedding
  • Lunge or exercise horses
  • Reduce feed on rest days

Other Safety Tips

• Check for creases and straining on rugs to prevent discomfort from cold weather.
• Minimize noise and activity in the yard
• Remedy for horses who bully by the horse, move them
• Place the horse in a strong attitude with plenty of distance away
• This will discourage biting/snapping while others walk past

Wind Sucking/Crib Biting

• Boredom encourages crib bitting
• Some do this to ease the discomfort of a stomach ulcer or irritation
• Horse takes hold of edge/ object with his teeth then arches then gulps
• Distinctive grunt, windsucking occurs without biting down, gulps with neck
• They'll use fences to do it, other horses will imitate this
• Time spent cribbing or windsucking, means less time grazing

Remedies Used

• Portable bin can be removed, horses cant grip the edge with teeth
• Horses cant grip to the teeth
• Cribbox is grease made of bitter alos
• Anti-cribbing strap that stops horse from arching neck
• Muzzle when horse isnt eating/drinking
• Horses are prone to develop this, making it difficult to break

Prevention

Horses require:

• Food
• Turn out
• Space to walk around.
• Electric wire can prevent bite
• Clean Water
• Excercise

Weaving

• Causes a lack of rest
• Put stress on joints
• This must be declared when selling a horse is weaving!

Weaving Causes

• Nervous Habrit
• Boredom

Weaving Symptoms

• Anxious or agitated
• Rocks front leg onto the other
• They lift the leg when weight changes
• Lack of condition due to stress put on joints.
• Causes horse to be lame

Remedies Tips

• Can be hard to prevent
• Anti-weaving grids
• May place bricks hanging to help sway the other horse
• Keep Routine
• Move to Quieter Part
• Turn the horse to much to help calm
• Ensure you can keep the habit a minimal
• Feed and Turn out
• Regular excersise

Other Common Behaviour Issues?

• Box is walking, head is shaking
• Kicking the door/all
• eating wood ect
• Tearing and Rugs

Adresssing Poor Behaviour

• Use horse friendly toys, as a distraction
• Placing titbits inside toys may help engage a horse
• this isn't always s successful management

Good Stable Management (Prevents Vices)

• Correct techniques for feeding, grooming, and maintaining a daily timetable
• Always have clean water and sufficient amounts of food
• Horses should turn out
• Keep stress to a minimal inside the yard when the horse is in stables
• Ensure regular D worming and Teeth checks and in good condition
• Reduce hard feed and provide companion

Remedial Techniques to Remedy Acquired Behaviorial

• Natural Horsemanship: understanding how the horse thinks and communicate helps avoid stress

A Join Up

• is a trust activity and develop the horses body lamuage

Round Pen Tips

• Class room for respect
• Leadership, Communication, the the foundation for training movement can the controlled
• Helps handler communicate and control safety.

Click Training

• uses positive actions if I Do actions I will achieve good behaviour