21/01/2025
This is a great article on horses grieving for their herd mates. It is really important that they be let process death where this can be accommodated.
Equines and losing their herd mates.
Most equines don’t process death in the same way we do, but its important to understand how they look at it.
Firstly its they way they understand it, they can watch it but it does not mean much, it’s the smell that tells them. So horses should be allowed to smell their departed friend, this is two part, firstly its for them to work out they have died, second part is they will be smelling for adrenalin and endorphins. Generally animals don’t fear death but they fear pain and the process of dying, which if most people are honest is the same for us, most people don’t fear death it’s the getting there, when its your time most people just hope its instant or they go in their sleep, animals are often the same.
You can put a horse down with another one watching and they will often finish their bucket of food before they go to investigate why their mate is laying down. Then they smell a lot around the dead one and if there is no adrenalin or endorphins then they died quickly and were not attacked, so nothing to worry about, even though they saw it the nose overrides all other senses, (hence why horses dislike the wind, stops them smelling in one direction)
So how do we help the horses, ponies etc accept the death of a herd member.
Time is the most important thing, giving them long enough to investigate.
The best thing is to put down the horse in an area that’s safe to let their heard mates into afterwards loose.
This is because some horses run “tests” to check they are dead, this will involve walking in arcs up to them, running away in short bursts (trying to get a flight response) grazing next to dead ones head, pawing with hooves, sometimes biting. If there is some blood they will often put on their nose or taste it, again checking for adrenalin or endorphins to ensure that they are safe and it was not a lion hiding in hedge that killed it. They will then walk away grazing and return about 3 times, after this they accept it and just walk away.
The time it takes varies on the position in herd of the one that’s dies, (one that has been pushed out of herd due to being ill the others will only take 20min to accept as they were expecting it, on other hand if it’s the leader of herd that unexpectedly died, accident etc, it takes far longer as no one is giving instructions so the upset is 2 fold this might take a hour and a half to accept whilst sniffing)
Also the breed is big factor, Shetland ponies for example only take a few minutes (they appear hard and uncaring often due to this) where a thoroughbred or Arab takes on average 45min to accept.
Leading a horse up to dead one tends to slow process down or sometimes they don’t understand at all as they will try to feed of body language of the one who’s leading them and we are not good at horse body language. If there is no choice due to are its still better then not showing them at all but its best done with long lead rope and keeping it as loose as possible to allow the horse to jump around as remember this is partly how they work it out.
The more horses in the herd the quicker they will figure out that’s one died but its nothing to worry about as they will look to each other.
Some special cases, donkeys are terrible at being so attached they one died they will pine to death, so they need another animal for company when their mate goes and we find they should have a least 12 hours with their deceased friend, this is why when we put down donkeys we recommend they we put it down one day and we will come back next day to collect, even trough this means 2 trips.
Mares when they lose their foals (or if foal pts ) again if we have put foal down and you are not going to foster mother then its best to do it and leave foal in stable for example where mother has free access, it can take her up to 48hr to realize her foal is dead and not just sleeping at which time she will bury it and its then safe to remove it without causing any upset.
All of this is why we allow at least a hour and a half for every horse we are putting down but are prepared to wait even longer if needed, 2 part it ensure the euthanasia is never rushed so we can ensure its instant and best as it can be but also the grieving process is vital to any other horse that are part of hear if they were attached. And the more time they have with their field mate who passed on the better.
If you have very closely bonded herd I’m always happy to discuss what’s the best way not only for the one who’s going but also for what’s best for their companions.
This photo shows a group of horses checking out their sadly deceased field mate, no stress just working it out and accepting it.
*edit*
I will add that the times I have said are different horse to horse and it's the time it takes them to normally understand the their friend has died and not just injured or sleeping.
Once they accept this they will then start to greve, like people some horses will take a few hour, some a few days and some a couple of weeks to get over a major change to their herd. But it's much better when they know what's happening to the other option my friend is missing and they will keep looking sometimes for months..
Re-home a brumby - NE Victoria. We aim to provide Brumbies with every opportunity to be saved -
