Tri-Tronics^®, Inc.

P. O. Box 17660

Tucson, AZ  85731

support@tthorse.com

1-800-808-8423

ARTICLES & EDUCATION

Factors - Why Horses Begin Bad Habits

This section is designed to help you better understand why horses begin bad habits. Hopefully by understanding why horses perform many bad habits, we can make changes in their environment that will prevent them from ever starting in the first place.

Horses have evolved to be free ranging social animals. The majority of every 24-hour period would be spent grazing on various grasses and occasional grass seeds. They would have interaction and social contact with other horses of varying ages from birth and would form strong social bonds. Depending on the availability of forage and water they may cover quite a bit of ground daily. The closer we can get to this "ideal" scenario, the better for the horse. Unfortunately this scenario is not practical for many reasons for the modern domesticated horse. Modern horses, like humans, have jobs. Some have better jobs than others do; some have better working conditions than others do, and some jobs have higher health risks, just like their human counterparts. Regardless of whether that job is to run fast, jump high or sweetly carry the grandkids around twice a year, each horse has a job to do and these jobs often dictate an environment that can be far different from the "ideal" scenario. With this in mind, if we can take into consideration the horse's free roaming social nature as much as possible, when we are designing all aspects of the horse's environment, from housing to feed to exercise, the better it will be for the horse's mental health. This will make them less likely to start many bad habits.

Not all bad habits are started from exposure to a less than ideal environment, however. Some horses may naturally be more aggressive or dominant animals. Mimicking, which is discussed in a little more detail later in this section, also plays a large role. Horses learn many things by watching other horses. These habits can range from pinning ears and kicking to cribbing. Horses also learn many bad habits by interacting with humans and other horses. They may have become trained by their owner, that if they paw their feeder loudly, they will be rewarded with food. Or of they pin their ears and bite at the owner, they will not have to go for a ride. In some cases, the horse may have learned a bad habit from previous experiences and will continue this bad behavior even though their environment has been changed. If you examine your horse's lifestyle and find that it is as close to ideal as possible, the ViceBreaker is the answer to successfully stopping many bad behaviors permanently.

1. Confinement. Confinement is one of the most important contributing factors to many behavior problems. When the horse is confined to a small area, he is receiving little mental stimulation and he is using very little energy. It is boring and this becomes stressful. Unfortunately free range is not practical for most modern horses. Confinement is necessary for many reasons. They may be confined for health reasons. Some injuries require extended periods of stall rest in order to heal properly. They may be confined for reasons related to their "job". Show and racehorses must be stalled when they travel to shows and races and many must be stalled during training. Many people in suburban areas do not have access to large pasture areas and keep their horses in boarding facilities. Space is a limiting factor in all of these situations where large numbers of horses need to be housed in one location. In pre-automotive times, horses were used primarily for some form of work. Stalls were originally designed to house horses that usually worked long periods of every day. When they returned to a small stall, they were happy to eat and rest. Today's stalled horses are usually worked far less and therefore spend much longer periods of time in confinement. These horses have nothing to occupy their time for the majority of the day and the result is that many stalled horses develop a bad behavior of some sort.

2. Unnatural feeding schedules. As we mentioned earlier, horses have evolved to graze on primarily grass for a large portion of every 24-hour period. Modern horses (that are not kept on pasture) are fed bulk meals twice a day, since this is more feasible for our human schedules. Horses will usually consume a full feeding in a relatively short period of time leaving them nothing to do until the next feeding. These concentrated meals meet the horse's nutritional requirements but do not satisfy their instinctive urge to forage. Some people theorize that this unfulfilled urge to nibble is the reason many pick up bad habits involving their lips and mouth.

3. Unnatural Feeds. Again horses are designed primarily to graze on grasses and occasional grass seeds. Some breeds that evolved in harsh climates take that a step further and have developed to do well on very limited, poor quality feeds. The modern horse eats high quality concentrated feeds including hays, grains and supplements. Many horses are fed too much concentrated feed for the amount of work they are doing. Depending on the horse's profession his ration may have a higher energy content and less roughage to allow him to reach his peak performance level while carrying minimal weight. This provides high energy levels and further reduces the volume of feed and time they spend eating.

4. Pent-up Energy. Pent-up energy itself is a significant factor in many behavioral problems. It is usually the result of the combination of factors we have already discussed including confinement, high-energy feeds and lack of exercise. In some cases this excessive energy is desired. For certain types of show horses, the ideal breed standard will be an extremely animated, flashy individual. Racehorses are fed and trained to have the maximum amount of energy available for peak performance. In other cases this energy can be the cause of a vicious cycle. Many inexperienced horse people feel they are providing excellent care for their horse with a clean stall, grain and supplement combinations twice a day and regular veterinary and farrier care. Even if they rode every day, which many don't, the horse builds up an enormous amount of pent-up energy in the other 20-23 hours he is standing confined. These horses will often be hyper and they may buck, rear, spook or fidget which can frighten the owner and make the riding experience unpleasant. As a result, the intimidated owner may take the horse out less and less frequently, which only compounds the problem. Many horses will begin bad habits in an attempt to release this energy.

5. Lack of Socialization. Horses are naturally very social animals. They have evolved to live in herd groups and daily interaction with other horses is an important part of their lives. When horses are housed individually, especially if they cannot even see other horses, it is extremely stressful to them and over time, can lead to the development of bad habits. Unfortunately horses can play rough and normal horse behavior can result in one being injured. For this reason valuable horses are kept separated but it is still very important that they have some form of communication with other horses. Horses that have been raised in isolation often have a difficult time adjusting when they are later exposed to other horses. These horses may be overly aggressive or reclusive due to the fact that they never developed any socialization skills. Please see our Tips section for some practical ideas to safely increase contact between horses.

6. Genetics. Some people feel that certain bad habits (for example cribbing and weaving) are passed down family lines genetically but this has not been proven. What is more likely is that the predisposition to be a nervous, sensitive or high-strung horse may be genetic. When combined with the contributing factors of confinement, high energy feeds, limited exercise and lack of socialization, these horses may also begin the bad habit that their sire or dam performed. Typically offspring of family lines that are successful at a particular skill, such as race or show horses, will often perform the same job as their ancestors so they will be subjected to the same confined living conditions and feed programs. This may contribute to the appearance that the bad habit was linked to a particular family.

7. Mimicking. Horses can pick up bad behaviors, mannerisms or habits by copying other horses. Learning by watching and copying is an important part of the horse's thought process. This may be their dam or a horse in a neighboring stall. Many foals will learn aggressive behaviors from an aggressive mare. They may even learn to be difficult to catch or to crib at a very young age if their dam performs these bad behaviors. The fact that horses will copy each other often creates a large problem for people that own a horse with a bad habit…..no one else wants it around his or her horse. Horses can pick up ANY bad habit from pawing to cribbing just by watching another horse.

8. Temperament. Some horses will never pick up a stereotypic behavior no matter, what they are fed, how they are housed, or who their neighbors are. Others will become extremely stressed from any slight change in their daily routine. A sensitive, high-strung individual is more likely to begin a bad habit when exposed to many environmental factors.

9. Boredom or Overstimulation. As with people if a horse's life is dull and monotonous, they can become bored which leads to the development of many behavioral problems. They are seeking some form of stimulation to make their lives more bearable. Similarly, too much of a good thing; too much noise or excitement, too many strange horses and/or people coming and going, basically too much stimulation can cause stress which can also lead to behavior problems.

10. Sudden Change of Routine. Change in routine can be very stressful to some horses. This is often seen in horses that are coming off a rigorous training schedule to retirement or lay-up due to an injury. It can also be seen in horses that are sold to new owners or shipped to a breeding facility. Anytime a horse is accustomed to a daily routine (daily visit from owner, daily grooming and riding etc.) they are at risk of becoming stressed when that routine is suddenly altered.

Here are some additional factors that might contribute to stress in your horse and result in them starting a bad behavior:

• Pain

• Addition of new or removal of existing neighboring horses or herd-mates

• Insufficient exercise

• Absence of fiber in diet

• Low light intensity

• High and prolonged light intensity

• Wind drafts

• Constant high or low temperature

• Poor ventilation

• Crowded

• Restricted/tied

• Isolation

Anything that causes a horse stress may lead them to perform a bad habit. It is important to realize that what may be stressful for one horse will not be for another. Individual personality and experiences play a large role. We have to realize that some behavior problems are the signs of an inadequate environment for that particular horse. Often it may be a combination of many environmental factors and not just one thing alone.

Due to the fact that some habits are dangerous to the horse's health and that, once started they are often extremely difficult to stop, it is important that we give attention to preventing bad habits where possible. Please read our Tips section for practical ideas on how to improve your horses environment.

Unfortunately, not all bad habits are caused by a stressful environment and those that are often cannot be stopped with environmental changes alone. This is where the ViceBreaker^® is essential.

Our goal at Tri-Tronics is to improve the quality of life for horses and their owners. The first step is the prevention of bad habits through careful environmental design. The second step, when possible, is to eliminate an existing bad habit by improving the horse's environment. Improving the horse's environmental conditions can prevent a bad behavior from starting but often it will not cure an established behavior alone. Even though these horse's lives are improved and special care is given to their mental and physical needs, the bad habits are so strongly ingrained that they are difficult to stop. The ViceBreaker^® is very successful in permanently stopping these bad behaviors. The ViceBreaker^®, combined with lifestyle change where appropriate, is the key to a safe, happy, healthy horse.