Horses as Prey Animals

Unlike cats and dogs, which are predators, horses are prey animals. This makes horses different from cats and dogs. Humans are both predators and prey. I know little about horses; this is what friends have told me.

Maryann Rinsma started this. She said that since horses are prey animals, their horses' reason for grouping together is different from wolves.

The limit is determined by the available grazing and the ability of a stallion to keep mares from other males.

Herds in a desert or other harsh environments are quite size-limited, and may be as small as one stud, one mare and their young offspring. (The sire will have driven off the older colts, and another stallion may have enticed away older fillies.)

... one stallion can only 'claim' so many mares in the wild state, and I have not heard of a single male holding more than ~ 15 mares (although there are rare cases of an alpha stud permitting a beta male to be part of the herd, which can then be a little larger; the beta may or may not be permitted to breed any of the mares, however. The presumed advantage to a younger male who holds beta status but is not allowed to breed: if the alpha is injured or dies, he can take over without a dangerous fight, and having been part of the herd he is already known and acceptable to the mares.)

For wolves, on the other hand, an overly large pack provides little food for each member. An appropriately sized pack can bring down an elk and feed comfortably. Too few wolves, the elk escapes and the wolves do not eat. Too many wolves, and the dead elk does not provide enough for all.

Maryann also said that both dogs and horses are hierarchical, but horses are less hierarchical than dogs.

In a herd, stallions protect the others and breed, but the individual horse who finds good grass is often the lead mare. She also decides when to move to various parts of the herd's range. The lead mare will discipline rowdy youngsters and keep the other mares `in line' as well. There have been documented cases in which the lead mare actively helped maintain an injured or ill herd stallion's status until he recovered.

Unlike elk or deer, long-term emotional (or for the purists, preferential) bonds can be formed between a stallion and the mares of his herd; I recall reading somewhere of one pair being together for ~15 years (with other mares varying), and of another mare escaping, after a year, from the winning stallion and successfully finding her previous mate. (This from studies of American mustangs - I think these were in Montana.)

Unlike dogs in packs, in a herd, every mare in a herd breeds, but not every stallion.

Horses have the equivalent of left and right handedness. That is to say, they have different acuities on the left side and the right. Some horses prefer to be approached and mounted on the right rather than the left. Some prefer the rider to sit during a trot with either the right or left hind foot, start a cantor with either the left or right hoof first.

Horses have color vision that is different from humans': they see blue and yellow.

In a `just so story' mode, I can remind you that yellow is the color of the direct sun and blue predominates in shade. The contrast usefully helps you determine whether you are in shade or not.

Moreover, I would think that blue in association with yellow enables a horse to distinguish among different shades of green, and therefore among different qualities of grass. Both sensor capabilities would cause those horses, or proto-horses, that possessed yellow/blue vision to reproduce better than those which lacked them.

Moreover, while horses enjoy overlapping sight, or binocular vision, they also have a 3 foot blind spot right in front. If you approach a horse in its blind spot, you may startle it.

The angles covered by horses' binocular vision are small compared to humans', since the eyes are set more on the sides of the head than in front, as in humans. On the other hand, horses enjoy a more extensive field-of-vision than humans.

There is also a blind spot right behind - ditto the startle. I never approach a horse from the rear without talking to it -- and if an ear doesn't focus on me, I move to the side until it sees me.

To jump, a horse and its rider need to team together: the horse needs to look for ahead to see the jump; when it actually jumps, the horse is showing faith in the rider.

... is exposing it's vulnerable belly to whatever monster might be hiding behind the obstacle -- a leap of faith indeed!

And when it heads for a low branch, it is showing disdain for the rider. We had a pony who generally trotted straight toward such a branch as soon as anybody got on her. But ponies are small, grumpy versions of horses.

As Maryann Rinsma said, "Where horses' ears are, their eyes are." Horses move their ears in a manner that indicates where they are focusing their attention. A horse's ear may come back so a horse can see his or her rider.

Body language is crucial in communicating both your intentions toward and your expectations of the horse; they are incredibly keen observers of your tiniest move -- where are your eyes focused, as you walk up, is your body balanced to jump sideways or run, or is it relaxed "nooope, no monsters anywheers here-aboots..." If you hold your breath while riding, the horse will assume that you've seen something dangerous, and react accordingly.