Shoshoni's Meadow

06/03/2026

05/06/2026

In the arid basins of the American West, survival for a wild horse is dictated entirely by movement. The environment is brutally dry. A herd must travel up to twenty miles a day just to cycle between sparse grazing areas and isolated water sources. For a prey animal in this ecosystem, a crippling leg injury is a biological death sentence. If you cannot maintain the pace of the herd, you are left behind to face dehydration or predators.

Equine ethologists monitoring the Onaqui Mountains herd in Utah documented a behavioral sequence that completely defied this ruthless biological math. Their field observations focused on a bachelor band. These are small groups of young male horses that rely on tight social bonds for survival before they can secure their own mares.

During a harsh summer season, one of the young stallions in a heavily monitored bachelor pair sustained a massive, debilitating injury to his front leg. He was entirely incapable of bearing weight. He could not walk to the distant water holes. He could not run.

The standard survival protocol dictates that the healthy horse must abandon the crippled one. Thirst and the prey instinct to stay on the move should easily override any social attachment.

The field observations revealed the exact opposite. The healthy stallion completely anchored himself to his crippled partner.

The healthy male went into a state of absolute defensive survival mode. He actively refused to leave the immediate area. Because the injured horse could only limp a few yards a day, the healthy stallion deliberately starved himself of better forage. He chose to graze on the depleted, dusty scrub brush right next to his partner. When the injured horse finally collapsed in the dirt from exhaustion, the healthy stallion did not rest. He stood directly over him. He placed his massive body between his vulnerable companion and the open desert, acting as a physical shield and a visual deterrent to any approaching coyotes.

He maintained this protective vigil for weeks. He absorbed the massive caloric deficit and the physical exhaustion of standing guard. Because he provided that absolute security, the injured horse was not forced to move prematurely. The damaged leg was given the necessary time to heal.

By the end of the summer, the crippled stallion had regained enough mobility to bear weight. The two horses eventually walked out of the basin together.

Source: Bureau of Land Management / Equine Behavior Research

02/25/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KgV9Gvp1R/

Following on from a previous post about behaviour and pain, how interesting is this? A recent paper describes a 14-year-old Welsh competition pony presented for explosive, dangerous behaviour in canter, just three weeks after a change of ownership. She was referred for investigations and later found to have malformed spine and an extra rib!

Previously, the mare had competed in low-level dressage and showjumping. On arrival with her new owners, a mild hindlimb lameness was noted, which didn't resolve with rest - what escalated was her behaviour under saddle. On examination she had:
• Marked epaxial muscle atrophy over the mid-thoracic spine
• Visible right-sided scoliosis
• Severe restriction in thoracic flexion and extension (T9–T12)
• Pain reactions on palpation and mobilisation
• Stiffness and difficulty maintaining canter leads
• No neurological deficits

Radiographs revealed abnormal vertebral bodies, partial fusion between T11–T12, an additional malformed spinous process, and mild kyphosis.

Postmortem CT confirmed complex congenital thoracic malformations, including:
• Scoliosis centred at T10
• Partial vertebral fusion
• Abnormally shaped vertebral bodies
• A malformed additional rib with altered rib-to-spine articulations
• Degenerative changes in multiple articular and costovertebral joints

In simple terms: the spine was structurally abnormal from birth. Over time, altered biomechanics likely increased mechanical stress, restricted motion, and contributed to pain, particularly at canter, where spinal motion demands increase significantly.

What makes this case especially important is the timeline: the pony had worked previously - she had competed. The behavioural escalation followed a change in ownership and management which the authors suggest could be due to compensatory mechanisms gradually failing, or that subtle discomfort had previously been attributed just to temperament.

This paper reinforces several key points:
• Not all back pain is kissing spines.
• Not all pain presents with neurological deficits.
• Structural abnormalities can exist in mature, functional horses.
• Behavioural change (especially after changes in rider, workload or management) deserves investigation.

Importantly, the authors stress that severe imaging findings alone are not an automatic indication for euthanasia. Findings should always be interpreted in context and with correlation to clinical symptoms. But when behaviour changes, particularly in a previously “coping” horse, it’s certainly worth asking why. This paper also highlights how sometimes the story starts long before the behaviour becomes impossible to ignore - right back when the horse was developing in the womb!

If you have any concerns about your horse's behaviour or think a work-up is needed, do feel free to contact us to discuss and we can arrange a visit with Emiliano!

Read the full paper here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0737080626000365?dgcid=author

09/29/2025

Horse peoples commitment to believing dominance theory / “Alpha” theory despite the lack of evidence showing it to be a real thing is an incredible thing to watch.

There is currently very little, if any, evidence suggesting that horses have a static herd hierarchy in natural environments and that even IF they did, that said hierarchy would apply to how they view humans.

The man who initially perpetuated alpha theory with research on wolves later rescinded his enter belief system due to said study being impacted by the stressors of the domestic lifestyle in addition to the fact that wolf packs are generally family groups, meaning that the older more experienced wolves did take on leadership roles to educate their younger pups… but not for the purpose of exerting dominance.

Now, horses are not wolves but similar findings have been reported.

Much of what is viewed to be attempts of asserting dominance in domestic horse herds is actually resource guarding.

A horse guarding a PERCEIVED lack of resources, this does not mean that the resource actually has to be lacking

Reduced space, infrequent hay feedings, environmental frustration and general stress can increase the aggression we see in domesticated horses.

In feral herds, horses don’t spend much time engaging in aggressive behaviours because such behaviours are expensive physically and risk injury.

Sure, we see lots of photography and video of this happening but those tend to be the more “exciting” shots and thereby more popular, not necessarily more common.

Even in instances where feral stallions are actually fighting, it isn’t an attempt to be the “alpha.” It is attempt to protect and/or secure resources such as breeding rights to mares, space etc.

In addition to this, young horses, especially male horses, will practice fighting behaviours in play and this can be mistaken for real aggression.

Dominance theory is used by humans to label horse behaviour as “naughty” or “disrespectful” which is then often used to justify use of physical punishment.

The issue with this is that much of the behaviour we label as dominant behaviour from horses towards humans stems from fear, frustration, confusion, pain and general stress.

Escape behaviours are merely a horse trying to evade an undesirable situation, not an attempt to exert dominance.

Horses are natural peace makers and would generally prefer to not put up a fight.

But, so much of horse training in the human lens involves disciplining fear based behaviours, creating more fear and then blaming the horse for responding with stress.

We create the very types of environments that make it more likely to see what we perceive as “dominant” behaviours and then blame the horse for it.

The vast majority of undesirable domestic horse behaviours are directly caused by, or at least contributed to by, human influence.

So, it’s about time we reflect inwardly, get with the times and accept the fact that research doesn’t support the idea of dominance theory.

The level of attachment people experience with this theory despite the lack of evidence I think speaks for how desperate many of us are to justify our use of force in horse training.

It is such an odd hill to die on and the level of ferocity that people who speak out on the myth of dominance theory are met with I think exemplifies the crux of the problem: a desire for complete control at any cost rather than a desire to understand and communicate.

Communication and partnership will get you a lot further with horses than dominance, despite what much of traditional horse training may have taught you.

Here is a good fairly recent study on dominance pertaining to horse training: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0737080617300059

“Highlights
•
It is unlikely that horse–horse social status translates to analogues of human–horse interactions.

•
The concept of leadership as advocated in many training manuals proves to be unreliable in the horse.

•
Horses' responses to training are more likely a result of reinforcement rather than a result of humans attaining high social status and a leadership role.

•
Knowledge of horses' natural behavior and learning capacities are more reliable in explaining training outcomes than the application of dominance and leadership concepts.”

09/11/2025

Can Horses Really Smell Fear?

A recent study demonstrated that horses are capable of detecting and responding to human emotional states, such as joy and fear, through olfactory cues.

Specifically, the research showed that horses exposed to human scents collected during episodes of fear or joy exhibited clear behavioural and physiological responses, indicating that emotional signals can be transmitted from humans to horses via scent.

In the study, scientists collected human sweat samples during controlled episodes designed to elicit fear (by having volunteers watch a horror film) or joy (by watching comedic or uplifting videos), ensuring strict controls over hygiene and diet to prevent confounding odour cues.

These human odour samples were then applied via cotton pads to the nostrils of 43 Welsh mares, which were grouped to receive odours from either the fear context, the joy context, or unused/clean control pads.

The horses underwent a series of behavioural tests including grooming with a familiar human, a human approach test, a suddenness (startle) test, and a novel object test to assess their reactions to the different scents.

Physiological indicators, such as heart rate and cortisol levels, were also measured.

Horses in the fear-odour group showed higher maximum heart rates, signifying increased arousal and stress.

Equally important, these horses were less likely to initiate contact with humans, indicating a clear reduction in their willingness to engage socially. These results support the idea of emotional contagion—the transfer of an emotional state from humans to horses via chemosignals.

This research demonstrates how human emotions transmitted unconsciously through smell, may shape horses’ stress levels, reactions, and cooperative behaviours, underscoring the importance of calm, positive human–horse interactions.

📑 Human emotional odours influence horses’ behaviour and physiology by Plotine Jardat and colleagues.

08/29/2025

08/24/2025