07/14/2025
Herd behavior is fascinating to watch. It's interesting to see the different groups that horses choose to hang with and make their closest friends with. This picture is a snapshot from the big pasture that shows a few groups of horses. You will notice the different groups, but also keep in mind that they have 40 acres to roam and they choose to be this close together in their groupings, most of the time.
Horses are highly social herd animals. They depend on the herd for social stimulation as well as a sense of security. Safety from predators may not be an issue for most domestic horses, but that need is still deeply ingrained in the horse as a prey species. Horses are a quiet species and they prefer calm, and learn most efficiently in tranquil, familiar settings. An equine’s happiness directly effects his/her health as well. Horses are most comfortable if they can touch another horse. Touching, nipping, grooming and swishing tails is important to a horse’s overall well-being. Horses can develop anxious behaviors for a few reasons such as lack of exercise, limited turnout and management practices that don’t align with a horse’s nature, such as highly concentrated feedings and lack of socialization being common contributors to equine anxiety. With horses being herd animals, they depend on the herd for survival. There is no way for us, as humans, to be a surrogate or make up for lack of being with their own species as company. I think many of us have dealt with “separation anxiety” in horses to some degree at some point along the way. Serious separation anxiety can lead to self-injury in the horse and can be dangerous for the human involved. In the long term, separation anxiety can lead to chronic exposure to the stress hormone cortisol. Over time, this can be detrimental to the horse’s immune, cardiovascular, and digestive systems. In every horse’s life, some type of separation is necessary and unavoidable at points. Fortunately, it’s not always a source of significant suffering and is very temporary separation, such as joining a new group of horses when their home changes. When it comes to training horses to tolerate separation, sooner is always better than later. Horses can be conditioned to be separated from the herd and be okay with that. They know they will join them again and the temporary periods of separation they learn to handle well. It’s great when horses are taught that from a young age, as prevention of this behavior developing is the best, but we do not get the benefit of that having happened for some of the equines that come to us here at MHWF. This is one of the things we put a lot of work into with a lot of the horses that come to us who have some form of separation anxiety.
