Investigating equine ingestive, maternal, and sexual behavior in the field and in the laboratory.

This paper discusses various methods of studying social, reproductive, and ingestive behavior in horses, considering multiple factors such as dominance hierarchies, reproductive behavior, and intake control.

Understanding Dominance Hierarchy

• The paper explores the social behavior in horses, focusing on the concept of dominance hierarchy or patterns of agonistic behavior. This hierarchical order is detected by studying the horses feeding in pairs or groups from a single food source.
• Another method can be long-term observation of undisturbed groups of horses. While this method is time-consuming, it provides valuable information about both competitive (agonistic) and cooperative (affiliative) relationships among horses.

Reproductive Behavior

• The research also discusses reproductive behaviors in horses, particularly the flehmen response which is a characteristic facial expression (lip curling) often exhibited by male horses when detecting the scent of a female horse’s urine or feces.
• Both field observations of natural horse groups and laboratory testing of male horses exposed to female excretions can provide insights into the functional significance of the flehmen response.

Ingestive Behavior

• The paper considers ingestive behavior, which can involve intake of food, salt, potassium, or water. The researchers suggest techniques for direct and indirect measurements of intake to answer various questions
• These techniques can reveal information such as a horse’s ability to control its energy intake when the diet is changed, the impact of wild equids on an area’s ecology, and horses’ ability to compensate for dehydration and low blood volume (hypovolemia).