Zillicoah Animal Behavior

04/03/2024

Separation Distress

Separation related problems are extremely common in domestic horses, this is most likely due to widespread weaning practices where horses are weaned early and abruptly rupturing maternal bonds ( McMilan,2016, Rybovak,2022).This then can impact a horse throughout their life. It is not uncommon for horses to experience social flux on livery yards where horses are frequently added or removed from the group or in some cases kept in isolation which can exacerbate separation distress. Early in life a horse’s dam acts as a secure base from which to explore the world and the mare/foal bond is crucial for influencing future relationships both with other horses and humans. It is crucial to understand that separation anxiety is a normal response to a dependent experiencing lengthy or prolonged separation from their main attachment figure (carer), however, if it is excessive it can interfere with an individuals ability to cope.

Separation distress can give rise to a range of emotions including anxiety, fear and even frustration as the horse seeks to re-connect with their carer or main attachment figure. Frustration occurs as the horses attempt to reach their companions are thwarted.

Social panic, bonding and attachment is opioid-mediated, so separation and social isolation produce an analogous response to that of opioid withdrawal (Panksepp et al,2005,Panksepp,2011,Eisenberger,2012,McMilan,2016). In other words, separation is physically painful. True separation distress extends far beyond simple frustration or anxiety at being on their own, instead it is a fear or aversion to the absence of an attachment figure that triggers a panic like response. Separation distress like all other struggles horses may have are multifaceted and may be rooted in a range of causes including but not limited to

🐴Epigenetics

🐴Genetic predisposition

🐴Trauma

🐴Previous experiences in particular those early in life including early weaning and the breaking of maternal bonds

🐴Early life stress

🐴Attachment ruptures

🐴Temperament

🐴 Breed traits

🐴Pain or pain memory

Separation anxiety can manifest in a range of ways including

🐴Vocalisation

🐴Fence walking

🐴Increased movement

🐴Increased urination and/or defecation

🐴 Panic

This panic response from an evolutionary standpoint is understandable as to a young mammal the loss of their dam and social group poses a threat to life.
Horses are a highly gregarious species who are extremely dependent on each other in order to survive and thrive. They also likely form bonds with human caregivers, however, research on this is sparse in comparison to the dog-human bond. The limited research that has been conducted points to attachment difficulties associated with the human caregiver occur when the caregiver is inconsistent in their behaviour such as the sporadic use of punishment (Lundberg et al,2020) This echoes the human literature where attachment problems occur as a consequence of disorganized attachment as opposed to hyper-attachment this is commonly seen in other animals such as dogs.

Keeping horses in isolation is also common practice which may lead to the development of separation distress in some cases (Newberry & Swanson,2008,Lansade et al,2022) In comparison to other species we have less understanding of how horses form and maintain attachment bonds.
Attachment behaviours include: -

🐴Proximity Seeking: Closeness to the attachment figure in order to gain a sense of security and protection.

🐴Secure Base: This is where the attachment figure provides a secure base from which the individual can leave the attachment figure and explore the world. This extends to other relationships not just that of the mare/foal bond.

🐴Safe Haven: The attachment figure provides a sense of security during times of stress or if an individual is struggling to cope.

Disturbances of social groups and contexts has been researched on other species such as elephants and given horses face similar denials of or disruptions to equine social structures it is possible that this also exists for horses and may influence their behaviour and ability to cope (Manrique et al,2022).

Social behaviour in horses involves the use of MUTUAL communication between all herd members. Horses communicate via body language and behaviours through the giving and responding of signals to develop a mutual language between them. Their behaviours gain meaning through being given consistently and predictably over time. Each individual horse has their own comfort zone or bubble around them and they communicate who is or is NOT allowed to share their space (Bartlett et al,2022, Woltee et al,2018, Kieson et al,2023) Friends or preferred conspecifics will be allowed closest but other horses they would prefer to have further away. It is important not to confuse this with resource sharing, guarding or dominance. A horse’s bubble can be influenced by stress, pain, illness or tiredness among other factors. Recent and emerging research suggests horses display social bonds through: -

🐴Proximity

🐴Mutual movement and synchrony

🐴Mutual touch

Supporting horses who are experiencing separation distress involves a combination of ensuring their social, physical and emotional needs are met, careful management to ensure that they aren’t put in situations they cannot cope with and the gradual titration and pendulation of a droplet of stress and back to safety. VERY careful systematic desensitisation and counter-conditioning is also beneficial. How this looks for each horse is unique and length of time this takes is also dependent on the individual. It is not enough to train an alternative behaviour over the top we need to address the horses underlying emotional state and recognise we can’t teach safety we can only support the conditions in which safety can grow. With time , patience and attunement we can also become a source of safety in the absence of horse friends .

If you would like support with your horse’s separation distress please send me a message for a no obligation chat 0776 3317464

©️ Jessie Sams (2024) Animal Behaviour and Trauma Recovery Service

08/16/2023

Feeling alone in R+ with your horse?
It can be incredibly isolating. You are probably the only one at your barn using it. People may even be giving you a hard time about positive reinforcement.
Although there are many things that can help with that, I always encourage my clients to go follow a bunch of R+ social media accounts. Surround yourself with R+ on social media if you can't surround yourself with it physically. It will really change your perspective.
Go follow people and like several of their posts in a row, encouraging the algorithm to fill your feed with similar posts. Engage with them on social media. Watch their stories. Comment every once in a while. That will really swing your algorithm to show you more of those things.
Train your social media!
I will be sending out an email later this week of some awesome resources I utilize and some wonderful people I follow. So go to my website and sign up for my email to get that info later this week!
As far as social media, here are a few people I highly recommend you follow!









Farmhouse Equestrian

I'm sure I am missing a bunch of awesome people.
Tag your favorites in the comments below! And don't be afraid to promote yourself!

07/28/2023

* BUT PRESSURE AND PUNISHEMENT ARE NATURAL WAYS OF COMMUNICATION BETWEEN HORSES *

This argument is very popular amongst people who chose to use negative reinforcement and punishment as the main way to get the desired behaviours from horses.

This statement is partially right - but it's not just horses who adjust their behaviour in a response to aversive stimuli, every single living being does. Part of survival is to be able to detect and avoid /escape from threatening stimuli.

Here is the thing: the aversive pressure used in communication between horses is only used for NEGATIVE interactions.

The agonistic interactions communicate that one horse is not happy with whatever the other horse is doing and wants to create in another horse distance (distance increasing behaviours) .

And that's all - it's not there to look for particular behaviours, it's not there for prolonged times, it's not there to control every movement. It's only there as a swift action to say "hey, get out of my way!". It doesn't create strong bonds or positive relationships - right the opposite. It doesn't trap a horse at the end of a lead rope, in the roundpen, in the school or between the whips. It's not even a big part of a daily life (unless the horse's needs are not being met) as in healthy groups of horses positive interactions dominate because horses are peaceful animals.

And most importantly it doesn't take the autonomy away.

A horse on the receiving end is free to move away from the oppressor and not engage with him again but within the human -horse interactions this freedom is taken away .

A horse is made to endure the escalation of pressure and/or punishment multiple times often for an hour or longer. It's not natural for a horse to keep on reengaging with something that sends threatening signals to his nervous systems and activates avoidance and escape behaviours.

06/10/2023

Why Tom Thumbs shouldn’t exist.

All bits fall into 2 categories- snaffle or leverage. Snaffle means no shank and has NOTHING to do with the mouthpiece. A Tom Thumb (pictured) is a single jointed mouthpiece with a shank.

A shank dramatically changes the action of a mouthpiece- just because this mouthpiece might work on your horse as a snaffle does not mean it will work on the same horse as a shank. A lot of bit manufacturers make Tom thumbs and a lot of people buy them- but that does not make them a good quality bit. (it just means people don’t understand the mechanics of a snaffle versus a leverage bit.) Because many horses go well in a single jointed mouthpiece, people, assume adding a shank is a good idea, but nine times out of 10 it just makes the horse twist their head funny. The other 10% of horses just tolerate it, but would still do better with something else.

If you want to try a shank bit, (and some horses just honestly do go much nicer in a shank) I would suggest first trying a rotating cannon style mouthpiece instead. Myler makes nice ones. They don’t twist a horse’s head the way a Tom Thumb does. They almost act a little bit like a slobber strap until the curb strap engages, meaning they have a little bit of a pre-cue, which is nice. Or even more ideal is a go straight to a solid curb if you and your horse are ready.

Historically the only two bits people used were either a single jointed snaffle (which is why it’s now common for people to think that “snaffle” means a single joint) or a solid one piece curb. They both had very different actions for a very different purposes. Both designs were good at what they were intended for. now people try to be clever and combine the two without really understanding the action and purposes of each, which were really never meant to be combined (unless we are talking about a double bridle wear a horse would wear both at the same time.)

A Tom Thumb is like someone looked at both a car and a plane and thought they were both fantastic, and decided to try to build one contraption that was the best of both, without understanding how either one worked.

06/07/2023

You brain doesn't belong to others. It belongs to you

Your brain, your horses brain, can be compared to a muscle. If you work it out, it gets better at handling loads.

The type of workout you do, says a lot about what sort of activities your brain gets good at. You can become really adept at handling change, if you practice change and adaptability. You can get really good and sticking to a plan and routine, if that is what you practice. Your brain can learn to accommodate a huge amount of stress if you know how to titrate its exposure to difficulty without flooding it.

The thing people kept saying to me at the Spring Clinic Tour was
"I don't know how you do it. It's a lot. To remember all these people and to manage so much travel! How do you do it, you must be so overwhelmed."

That would be a projection. Just because it overwhelms you, doesn't mean it overwhelms everyone else. What are we projecting onto others... onto our horses?

I have seen horses who were desperate for a holiday, a reprieve who had the hustle and grind culture projected onto them. Flip that. Horses too, who were in real need of a goal and activity being held back by an owner who projected the need to have utter calm and deep relaxation always and only.

It is a muscle, a skill. We show up prepared to do the thing, or not at all. To travel for clinics, I have to build up a level of resilience to integrating with a huge variety of people and horses, and a big tolerance for chaotic travel, and very seldom do I feel overwhelmed by it.

The things we do are not the problem. It is our brains capacity to hold space for the things, which might be.

This is where calming signals, and the scientific conversations around them become sticky. Sticky because many of us (myself included in the past) get stuck in one way of seeing them. We see a calming signal as a sign to stop, but actually it is a moderate exposure to difficulty that enables us to handle more and more and have an increased window of tolerance and nervous system threshold.

Something I have a very low threshold for, and perhaps you do too, is brutality. Brutal and unkind people and attitudes. I am intolerant of it. A little taste of it sends me way over threshold and I get only a nervous system response. I have made an intentional choice to not change that and not enhance my window of tolerance to bullies, rudeness and aggression. I have decided to remain totally sensitive to it.

But other things like skill acquisition, learning hard stuff, getting good at things, travel, meeting new people, and integrating in strange situations is something I have chosen to be good at and have a huge tolerance for.

Can you think of areas in your life where you have chosen to expand your window of tolerance, and areas you have not?

In the end, your brain belongs to you. Your horses brain, and body, belongs to them. Of course we are influenced by the outside world. But at the end, the holy grail of horsemanship and personal satisfaction is the ability to be mentally and physically free in mind, body, heart, spirit and nervous system. To be free to choose. Rather than a victim of external circumstance.

04/25/2023

What to do when your horse says “NO!” ? ❌

When your horse stops at that fence…

Or balks at that scary corner of the arena and refuses to go past…

Don’t reach for the whip to give them a swift smack. 🛑

Don’t repeatedly kick them on hard with frustration, as if they’re just intentionally defying you just to be malicious.🛑

Instead, try to remember that they’re flight animals. That they’re wired to flee from perceived danger. That sometimes their body starts moving away in response to a threat before their brain fully registers what they’re reacting to. ✅

They also could be responding to pain or discomfort.

Scaring them more won’t make them less scared. It won’t solve any underlying pain problems if there are any.

Instead, approach it with patience & gentleness.

Let them take a look from further away if they need to. Walk up to the fence slowly, allowing them to pause if needed.

Reward them for investigating, for being curious, instead of punishing their fear.

Make it feel safe to investigate new things, instead of making it more stressful & scary by hitting them.

Their confidence will grow.

Their courage will bloom.

They will be more reliable & consistent.

We work with flight animals & we need to have patience and understanding when they behave like flight animals.

Fear isn’t something that should be punished.

Stress impacts learning. Increasing the degree of fear your horse feels in training will actually make them LESS able to take in what you’re teaching.

Instead, we should gently coax confidence out of horses through supporting & rewarding their success and helping them feel safe.

Once you take away the risk for being punished for wrongs, you open the door for your horse to be motivated to offer you an abundance of different answers until they find the right one.

There’s more incentive for the horse to participate when they’re being rewarded for the right answer instead of punished for the bad.

If we’re going to ask them to go against their natural instincts as flight animals, we need to make it worth their while.

Punishing horses for fear is like throwing gasoline on a fire. 🔥

Rewarding curiosity & soothing fear is putting that fire out.✨💧

04/24/2023

Whenever I hear criticism of Positive Reinforcement (R+) training, also known as Clicker Training, Force Free Training, Reward Based Training, Fear Free Training, etc most times it's due to less than ideal training, not because Positive Reinforcement doesn't 'work' or is unethical, unsuitable or somehow there is an animal on the planet that is immune to the way every organism on the planet learns and changes their behaviour. 😄

Problems can arise due to trainer inexperience, lack of knowledge of the underpinning science (and that especially includes Classical Conditioning, Systematic Desensitisation and Counter Conditioning) or even following incorrect or psuedo-science.

Further, problems can happen due to poor mechanics, lack of attention to foundation behaviours, inappropriate food and lack of attention to the animal's needs first and foremost ie. eliminating pain and ill-health and meeting the Five Domains of animal welfare.

No one has to turn up to their horse one day and be completely force free.

Baby steps towards improving how they live, how they are handled, approaching the relationship in a more reciprocal way and giving both yourself and your horse the benefit of the doubt when experiencing problematic behaviour, will reap instant rewards for both of you. Any tiny step or teeny little bit of R+ training that you do, is money in the bank of your trust account. Being kind, empathetic and giving your horse things they like, can never be wrong. It's not easy, I understand that, but for every small effort, you will reap the benefit, both you and your horse.

One of those absolutely marvellous benefits is Discretionary Effort. I've experienced this so many times, it is so wonderful and amazing. This is not something you will ever get with Negative Reinforcement (R-) or training with R- with food on top.

"Discretionary effort is the level of effort people could give if they wanted to, but above and beyond the minimum required." —Aubrey C. Daniels, Ph.D.

It's one of the amazingly wonderful "fall outs" from Positive Reinforcement.

When we gain something we like for our behaviour, we feel good! It also makes us feel good about lots of things connected to the behaviour we were positively reinforced for. In a work situation, this could mean feeling good about our job, our co-workers, our workplace, ourselves and even our boss! When we feel this way, we are more likely to stay back a little later to finish a project or put extra effort in without being asked.

The same goes for R+ horse training. When we train our horses with Positive Reinforcement, they feel good about everything connected to the training. They like us, the training environment, the gear and what they are doing. We get this wonderful merging of extrinsic motivation with intrinsic motivation to do things and do even more things - because the horse enjoys it.

This can be the horse making that extra unexpected effort. For example, my horse Mercedes will offer a trot when I'm shaping a faster walk, or will continue to do laps of the obstacle course when she's supposed to be having a break, or my donkey Seymour will push his face quite hard into my hand when I'm shaping (gentle) face targets.

It's a pretty wonderful thing when you start to notice it.

It's not something that you'll ever get from using pressure release training, which is where the animal will only do the bare minimum required to make the pressure stop.

How great is Positive Reinforcement! You can read more about Discretionary Effort in this link, where the corporate world is getting on the feel good band wagon, in order to not only motivate, but keep staff happy :-

https://www.smore.com/rzygf-discretionary-effort-through-r?fbclid=IwAR2Vk1Q_IAOn0kLMTpcP_dTHLBm9xS38dDFskNVk91MUgjynCEgVSD4iMjg

(Photo Credit: www.aubreydaniels.com )

03/30/2023

"The key themes that emerged throughout several of the questions were: that fear and/or anxiety is very poorly recognized by horse caregivers; that the more overt signs of more extreme fear are more likely to be recognised than the more subtle signs; and that fear and/or anxiety is often misinterpreted by horse caregivers."

(Suzanne Rogers &
Catherine Bell, Perceptions of Fear and Anxiety in Horses as Reported in Interviews with Equine Behaviourists, Animals 2022)

* * * *

(Click on the picture to see my full infographic)

Please note that all behaviour needs to be taken in the context of the environment in which the horse finds themselves when you see these (and there are other) signs/behaviours. Note that we and our behaviour is also part of our horse’s environment. All behaviour needs to be considered in context ie. what happened prior, during and after and what is the horse's history, etc.

If your horse is snoozing under a tree and yawns, dry licks and c***s a leg, clearly the horse is not experiencing fear. (Although they could be experiencing discomfort or pain.)

If you've just done or are doing some groundwork, round pen work, ridden work, gone for a hack, or dentistry, bodywork, worming or vaccinations, you may well see these signs and more.

Learn to understand the horse's thresholds and read the early signs to prevent escalating fear behaviour. Change our behaviour, the environment, lower our expectations and review our training plans to avoid progression of fear responses.

Also consider that after fear as been ruled out that these behaviours may be caused by the horse's internal environment, which means always rule out pain as a cause for behaviour.

03/16/2023

Looking from the front does NOT help. (Horse may be standing uneven, or saddle be a bit crooked) Take them off and compare lengths if you think the holes are uneven. (Measure western stirrups, but those are less likely to stretch uneven)

Uneven stirrups is a great way to ruin your riding in 5 seconds. 🤪
PLEASE PLEASE do NOT EVER make them uneven on purpose (unless you have a prosthetic or similar issue).
If, let’s say, your right stirrup feels long, instead of shortening it, MOVE YOUR PELVIS TO THE RIGHT!!! Literally put your left butt cheek in the middle of the saddle, and drop your right hip down… guaranteed your right stirrup will suddenly feel better.

02/02/2023

We endorse this New Research for BITLESS BRIDLES - Identifying IMPORTANT Welfare benefits* of riding horses bit-free. We have as a Bit-free community known these advantages for a very long time!
**HIGHLIGHTS
*•Bitless horses had better welfare during riding compared with bitted horses.
*•Bitless horses performed fewer hyperreactive behaviours than bitted horses.
*•Rider safety did not differ between bitless or bitted horses.
*•Rider satisfaction was greater for riders of bitless horses than bitted horses.
*•Horse-rider partnerships were better for bitless horses compared with bitted horses.
'Bit use and its relevance for rider safety, rider satisfaction and horse welfare in equestrian sport'
Authors Karen L. Luke, Tina McAdie, Amanda K. Warren-Smith, Bradley P.Smith

"Given the effect of bits (and the manner in which bits are used) on horse behaviour, respiration and musculoskeletal health, it was hypothesised that bitless horses would have better welfare and exhibit fewer hyperreactive behaviours than bitted horses, and that riders of bitless horses would experience fewer accidents and injuries and greater satisfaction with their riding."
"Considering current challenges to the industry’s social licence to operate due to poor horse welfare, increased adoption of bitless riding may present a valuable opportunity to improve horse welfare."
"Moreover, bitless bridles have the welfare advantage of being intrinsically less aversive than bitted bridles, irrespective of how they are used."
"In an era where the sport horse industry is at risk of losing its social licence to operate due to poor horse welfare (Douglas et al., 2022, McGreevy and McMa**s, 2017, Taylor, 2022), these findings, in conjunction with other research, highlight that riding horses without bits could be an opportunity for riders and equestrian organisations to improve horse welfare."
Links to the study and the references below
(see also the World Bitless - https://worldbitlessassociation.org/resources/bit-free-23/)
Bit use & its relevance for rider safety, rider satisfaction & horse welfare in equestrian sport -Science direct
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159123000278/pdfft?md5=2c50118d59e9f9df4a01dba4538ba516&pid=1-s2.0-S0168159123000278-main.pdf

02/02/2023

New research on bits versus bitless!

“
Highlights

• Bitless horses had better welfare during riding compared with bitted horses.

• Bitless horses performed fewer hyperreactive behaviours than bitted horses.

• Rider safety did not differ between bitless or bitted horses.

• Rider satisfaction was greater for riders of bitless horses than bitted horses.

• Horse-rider partnerships were better for bitless horses compared with bitted horses.

“

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159123000278?fbclid=IwAR0dPSAkpknATdwYDF0_wMqQ3OjJoquv2IaF6Lxy-5kYdrpbojLQzTmQ7IQ&fs=e&s=cl

01/23/2023

Bits were designed in medieval times, when mounted soldiers went into battle and controlling their mounts was a matter of life and death. They were defending people, women and children, land and countries from invasion, or perhaps they were the invaders.

Either way, it is a medieval device and although other medieval devices and practices have fallen by the way side, because we realise how inappropriate and barbaric they are, the bit has stuck around for horses through the eons.

Imagine detectives using thumb screws and the rack on people. Unimaginable! Yet we continue to subject horses to medieval devices that inflict pain and fear.

Even though we know that we can train horses humanely, people continue to use bits and come up with all kinds of reasons and defences for their use.

We don’t need pain or discomfort or fear to control horses, *anymore*.

If you wouldn’t do it to your dog, cat or child, try not doing it to your horse.

12/11/2022

12/08/2022

Fascinating Facts About Horse Digestion

Many people anthropomorphize horses. We think they should be clean. We think they should wear nice, warm blankets when it’s cold, and we think they should eat two or three meals a day.

Horses are horses–not humans. They should be treated like horses. They like to get dirty. They can regulate their own body temperature in most cases. They have a unique digestive system that is very different from the human digestive tract.

Understanding horse digestion should be a top priority. It sometimes seems that the horse’s digestive system is quite delicate, but many of the common digestive problems are due to the unnatural way horses are fed. When a horse is out in the wild with thousands of acres of free-roam grazing, and the only external demand is to maintain itself and occasionally run from predators, this configuration serves it quite well, most of the time.

A minimum of 10 acres is required per horse to make enough forage for consumption, allow adequate movement, and to minimize parasitism. This is difficult to achieve in the modern world for most people. Riding or lunging must suffice for exercise, and the horse is much more reliant upon hay. Dewormers, of course, rid them of parasites- at least most of them, there are exceptions.

Here are some fascinating (and good-to-know) facts about horse digestion:

1. The horse is a non-ruminant herbivore. The digestive system share features with dogs and cats (and humans) which are monogastric, as well as the ruminant in which there are 3-4 gastric compartments. (Camelids have three).

2. As forage (the horse’s natural food) is chewed by the horse, the salivary glands produce up to 10 gallons of saliva (per day). Saliva is crucial for neutralizing stomach acids and reducing the risk of gastric ulcers. Horses do not make as much saliva when eating grain-type feeds.

3. The esophagus, which empties into the stomach, only works in one direction for the horse. Food cannot be regurgitated or vomited.

4. Gastric capacity is 8-10 liters, which is quite small compared to other parts of the digestive system.

5. Water only remains in the horse’s stomach for about 15 minutes before moving on to the small intestine. Food retention varies depending upon the type- grass, hay, or grain.

6. When the stomach is empty, acid can attack the squamous cells in the stomach lining, often resulting in ulcers. Therefore, small frequent meals, access to a slow feeder, or access to pasture are important.

7. Most of the digestion and absorption of sugars, starches, proteins, and fats occurs in the small intestine.

8. Horses do not have a gall bladder. Instead, the small intestine aids in the digestion of fats.

9. More than 1g/kg of sugars and starches spill into the colon, potentially causing colitis and diarrhea. Horses should be fed primarily forage and only small amounts of a low carbohydrate concentrate.

10. The cecum is homologous to the human appendix.

11. The colon is shaped like a stacked horse shoe, with varying dimensions to allow proper food mixing and digestion.

12. Food enters and exits the cecum at the top. This is a common site for impaction colic, which is often due to lack of water intake.

13. The cecum and other parts of the large intestine contain active populations of bacteria and yeast, which help break food down in a process called fermentation. This results in the formation of free fatty acids, from which the horse derives most of its energy. It also results in a large amount of gas, as a by-product.

14. The bacterial and microbe populations become specific in fermenting the type of food the horse normally eats. When a new food is introduced suddenly, the bacteria/ microbes cannot ferment it effectively and the result is often colic. (Therefore, all feed changes should be made very gradually.)

15. Borborygmic sounds or ‘Gut sounds’ indicated that food is moving through the digestive tract. An absence of gut sounds likely means there is some digestive upset or obstruction.

16. A horse requires a minimum of 1.5% of his body weight daily of long-stemmed roughage (grass/ hay) for normal digestive tract activity; this is 15 pounds of roughage for a 1000 lb. horse.

17. The entire digestion process, from oral to aboral, takes about 36-72 hours.

18. If it were to be stretched from end to end, the horse’s digestive tract would be about 115 feet long, from mouth to a**s.

Fox Run Equine Center

www.foxrunequine.com