Horse Signals

GIVING OUT VALUABLE INFORMATION. YOU JUST NEED TO HAVE AN EYE FOR IT.’

www.centaurpaardenadvies.nl

www.roodbont.com

The book starts by teaching you to look closely and objectively at your own horse and at other horses. Don’t leap to conclusions, but always ask yourself three questions first: what do I see? how does it happen? what should I do? For example, a licking horse can give information about the feeding rhythm and swollen legs can indicate a lack of exercise. You can then use this knowledge to take targeted measures. Horse Signals teaches you the difference between looking and seeing.

This unique and richly illustrated practical manual is intended for all horse lovers, from beginner to professional. It contains clearly worded explanations and 350 photos and illustrations drawn from everyday practice.

Everywhere and all the time, signals are there to be picked up… provided your antennae are ready to receive them. Horse Signals helps you develop those antennae.

In a nutshell: an essential practical guide for every horse lover!

MENKE STEENBERGEN JAN HULSEN

Horses are constantly sending out signals about their health, welfare, nutrition and behaviour. The art is to pick up these signals, and to understand and use them. Horse Signals explains how to put this into practice.

C o pr py ot ri ec gh te t d

HORSESIGNALS

‘HORSES ARE CONSTANTLY

HORSE SIGNALS LOOK, THINK, ACT

MENKE STEENBERGEN JAN HULSEN

C R E D I T S

Authors Menke Steenbergen Jan Hulsen Co-author Anneke Hallebeek

Roodbont Publishers PO Box 4103 7200 BC Zutphen The Netherlands T +31(0)575 54 56 88 E info@roodbont.com I www.roodbont.com

C o pr py ot ri ec gh te t d

Photography Cover photo: Crystal Craig (Dreamstime) Other photos: Menke Steenbergen, Jan Hulsen, Anneke Hallebeek, Marcel Bekken (pag. 56 opening photo chapter), Arnd Bronkhorst (pag. 6 opening photo chapterk, pag. 42 opening photo chapter, pag. 83 photo at the top), Laurie Fix (pag. 73, www.lauriefixphotography.com).

For books and customized editions:

Illustrations Marleen Felius

For training, lectures and advice

Design Erik de Bruin, Varwig Design Translation Agrolingua

Content editor of English edition Daniel Mills, Helen Warren

With the collaboration of Marije van der Vlist, Machteld van Dierendonck

Thanks to Aagje Hardeman, Wilfred Franken, Nelleke Krol, Rens Neef, Aide Roest, Willem Brouwer, Klaske van der Horst. Special thanks go to all of the horse keepers involved for granting access to their stables, and for their confidence and inspiration.

Centaur Paardenadvies Dr. Stärckelaan 10 3734 XB Den Dolder The Netherlands T +31(0)30 27 66 935 T +31(0)6 24 46 03 84 E info@centaur.pro I www.centaur.pro

Specialist in veterinary nutrition, Dr. Anneke Hallebeek

Š Jan Hulsen, 2013

No part of this publication may be duplicated, photocopied, reprinted or reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the publisher.

The authors and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of information contained in this book. However, we assume no liability for damage of any kind resulting from actions and/or decisions based on the content of this publication.

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Moerstraatsebaan 115 4614 PC Bergen op Zoom The Netherlands T +31(0)165 304 125 F +31(0)165 303 758 I www.voedingsadviespaard.nl

ISBN 978-90-8740-076-7

1 . Lo o k i n g at h o r s e s Looking can be learned Looking consciously What do you see?

Why does it happen?

UNOs What do you do?

Risks and problems

6 8 9 10 12 13 14 15

5 . At p a s t u re Social organisation Spring Pasture facilities Dunging behaviour and intestinal worms Catching a horse Poisonous plants Summer Grass: growth and content Make hay or silage?

Autumn Winter

56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67

6 . H a n d l i n g h o r s e s Pressure Learning with pressure Working with your horse Using the partnership model Getting control A relaxed horse Handling a herd animal Handling a flight animal

68 69 70 72 73 74 75 76 77

7 . G e n e ra l c a re Approaching your horse First impressions Do the Horse Health check Brushing 1: curry comb Brushing 2: hard brush Brushing 3: soft brush Check the legs Hoof picking Hoof signals Grooming Staying warm or cool Combing the tail and mane Safety Teeth

78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92

8 . Th e h o r s e at wo rk Saddle Bit Bit and leg protectors Muscle power, back and balance Suppling Phase 1: rhythm and pace Phase 2: supple in the body Cooling down After-care

94 95 96 97 98 100 101 102 104 105

I n d ex

107

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4

2 . How a h o r s e i s b u i l t

How a horse sees the world How a horse smells the world How a horse hears the world Horse language Exterior The skeleton Leg conformation The horse in motion

16 18 20 21 22 24 25 26 30

3 . I n t h e s t a b l e Daily exercise Social contact Group housing Feeding groups Stable design Bedding Heat, cold and light Climate control Healthy conditions

32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

4 . Fe ed i n g a n d e at i n g Feeding Digestion and gastrointestinal tract Roughage: hay and silage Concentrates Dung and belly signals Keep a close watch Keep looking and thinking Body condition score Too thin - ideal - too fat High-risk groups and nutrition Older horses and sport horses

42 43 44 46 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55

CO N T E N T S

I nt ro d u c t io n

3

2

How a horse is built

H oe

een

p a a rd

in

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e l k a a r

z it

C H AP T E R

Horses are what they are: grass-eating, gregarious, flighty prey animals. Its original environmental conditions have made a horse curious and inquisitive. As a herd animal, it knows how to lead, follow and make friends and is expert at reading body language. Its physical structure and muscular system determine the way it moves. To keep a horse correctly, you need to provide conditions that suit its nature and mirror its natural environment as closely as possible.

Understanding behaviour

16

Perhaps the most important thing is to understand how a horse reacts to you. In other words, how you and your behaviour influence

the horse. Your partnership will benefit, and the horse will learn only desired behaviour.

Again, try to put yourself in the horse’s shoes.

Don’t assume that a horse thinks logically like a human; it responds and learns on the basis of its own curiosity and need for social contact.

In the wild, horses live in herds to increase their chances of survival.

If one keeps watch, the others can rest.

On its own, a horse tends to be insecure and fearful. Two or more horses feel a lot safer.

Watch and learn

Body language

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Horses are group animals. There is safety in numbers; many pairs of eyes are better than one.

Each social group has a lead mare who knows where the grass is, and where it is safe. The group follows her. There are internal pecking orders within groups, as well as friendships.

Horses communicate via physical signals and sometimes nibble and fight. Stallions protect the mares in a herd and will fight other stallions for possession.

Eating on the hoof

Horses have a need to move about and explore, to find the tastiest grass for example.

If you don’t have a large expanse of grass, find other ways to provide enough exercise and plenty of roughage.

Horses are quick to make associations between a place, a stimulus and an event, which is useful if you want to teach them something. But, for a horse, learning never stops. For example, if you react to something with panic, fright or impatience, the horse will ‘learn’ that the situation is dangerous. If you stay calm, the horse will learn that there is no cause for panic.

b u i lt

The horse is a prey animal that will flee at the first sign of danger. Each horse in the group keeps a constant vigil, over each other and their environment. They can move at speed and have excellent stamina.

Prey animals are vulnerable and need be able to flee easily and safely. A horse also has a very good memory. It doesn’t want to make the same mistake twice, so it will remember exactly what happened, why and where.

is

Horses evolved to live off rough grass. They need to eat a lot of it to get enough energy. In the wild, horses graze continuously for up to 16 hours a day. And they are on the move a lot, looking out for fresh grass, water, a place to rest and something to roll in.

horse

GROUP ANIMAL

a

F LI G H T A N I M A L

H ow

PLAINS ANIMAL

Horses are expert at picking up physical signals, and they react to them faster and better than people do. The horse develops a leading or following relationship with you as well, so always bear in mind that your behaviour constantly elicits a response from your horse.

17

Horses are strongly focused on sight, hearing and smell. They are constantly looking and listening out for signs of danger and predators, and communicating with each other through smells and body language.

Although they taste, smell and touch, horses are not particularly fussy eaters. Usually, they enjoy sweet tastes and and avoid bitter food such as poisonous plants. They have extremely sensitive skin, with additional long hairs around the mouth and nostrils that act as sensors.

EYES

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sees the wor l d horse a H ow

Sight – hearing – smell – touch – taste

A horse’s eyes are high up on the side of its head.

This means that the animal has a wide field of vision in each eye. The horse can judge distance well only from the front, which is why two eyes are needed.

18

The horse has a blind spot directly over its head. When it tucks its nose in it can’t see ahead very well. Contrasts help in assessing distance, which is why horses tend to clear striped poles more easily than self-coloured poles.

H ow a sees the wor l d

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horse

Human field of vision

The horse actually sees in a horizontal radius all around itself, enabling it to turn its head quickly towards the object it wants to look at.

With its head raised, a horse can see through virtually 360 degrees. Horses are much more sensitivie to seeing movement than seeing colours. They see only blue from yellow; but other colours are harder to distinguish. The top picture shows a colour image as seen by a human; below that is the image seen by a horse. In half-light, a horse sees better than a human: an area at the back of its eyeball reflects light back onto the sensitive cells of the retina.

A human’s field of vision (left) is much smaller than that of a horse (right). The horse estimates distance best in the area of overlap where it sees with both eyes (white). It can also estimate distance with one eye (pale blue), but less well.

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X

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s m e l l s the wor l d horse a H ow

S M ELL

Smell plays an important role in the formation of groups and in reproduction. When horses smell something unusual, they exhibit the ‘flehmen response’. The top lip curls up, allowing air to enter a specialised organ of smell in the nose. Dung and urine are rich sources of odours, which explains why horses sniff each other’s dung. Typically, a stallion or gelding will aim to deposit its own dung on top. Train your horse not to do this during riding, or you will have to stop at every dung pile.

20

Horses nuzzle each other’s faces in greeting.

They do this with people as well. If you don’t like it, put your hand out and let the animal sniff that instead. Don’t frighten the horse by pushing it away as this will damage its trust in you.

The lips and long hairs on the muzzle are extremely sensitive touch organs. A horse can’t see its own nose, so it uses the hairs to help select grass carefully and to investigate the feed trough. It also uses them when nuzzling another horse, so never cut these hairs.

H ow

H E A RI N G

0

Puzzle picture

Normal conversation

TRRRROT? Does a horse understand you?

A horse doesn’t understand English, it can only recognise sounds. If you change the tone of voice, it makes a big difference to the horse what you say, even if the words are the same.

?

Whinnying mare

Optimum hearing range of a horse

1000

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4000

he a rs the wor l d

10.000

Maximum pitch heard by a human

horse

Horses have better hearing than people. Unlike people, they can hear an ultrasonic dog whistle. Older horses start to lose the ability to hear high-pitched sounds like these.

Normal conversations between people are in the region of 1,000 Hz, so horses can hear your voice very easily.

Maximum pitch heard by a horse

20.000

a

Pitch (Hz)

By moving its cuplike ears in all directions, a horse can easily detect where a sound is coming from without turning its head. Useful for keeping a close watch on its surroundings. Useful for us too, because we can tell what its attention is focused on. The horse’s ears give it away.

21

GIVING OUT VALUABLE

TO HAVE AN EYE FOR IT.’

Horses are constantly sending out signals about their health, welfare, nutrition and behaviour. The art is to pick up these signals, and to understand and use them. Horse Signals explains how to put this into practice.

www.centaurpaardenadvies.nl

www.roodbont.com

The book starts by teaching you to look closely and objectively at your own horse and at other horses. Don’t leap to conclusions, but always ask yourself three questions first: what do I see? how does it happen? what should I do? For example, a licking horse can give information about the feeding rhythm and swollen legs can indicate a lack of exercise. You can then use this knowledge to take targeted measures. Horse Signals teaches you the difference between looking and seeing.

This unique and richly illustrated practical manual is intended for all horse lovers, from beginner to professional. It contains clearly worded explanations and 350 photos and illustrations drawn from everyday practice.

Everywhere and all the time, signals are there to be picked up… provided your antennae are ready to receive them. Horse Signals helps you develop those antennae.

In a nutshell: an essential practical guide for every horse lover!

MENKE STEENBERGEN JAN HULSEN

C o pr py ot ri ec gh te t d

INFORMATION. YOU JUST NEED

HORSESIGNALS

‘HORSES ARE CONSTANTLY

HORSE SIGNALS LOOK, THINK, ACT

MENKE STEENBERGEN JAN HULSEN