Cross Breeds

Behavioral differences between horses in the wild and in captivity?

Hello, I was wondering if anyone could indentify bhevaioral differences between horses in captivity and in the wild and perhaps add why they might have these differences?

Public Comments

1. They tend to "spook" easier, survival...
2. Horses in captivity still retain many of their "wild" counterpart behaviours. Though they might not be obvious, if you observed a herd of captive horses together in a field, they would become more apparent. Horses have hierarchies. One horse is in charge, and the others file through a ranking. The dominant horse eats first if food is given, drinks first if water is given, and the other horses will follow him/her, and will be submissive in nature. The dominant place will be challenged as other horses become more mature, or if the alpha horse becomes sick or injured. In the wild, the Dominant horse is "responsible" for keeping the herd safe, and is usually both a mare and a stallion. This is true in captive horses, and a horses' owner may even form part of the hierarchy without their knowledge. Dominant horses will charge, bite, and kick at other horses that impede on their space, or entitlements. Submissive horses will always submit to their dominant horse, unless they are challenging that horse for Dominance. One horse will always be Dominant over another, except for the lowest in the pecking order which are the oldest and most sick horses. There are many facets to horse behaviour, so I hope that's a decent insight for you. They really aren't that different between the wild and captive horses - they just aren't that obvious until you know what you're looking for :)
3. The "herd dynamics" won't be much different between tame (I disliked your term "captive") horses in a field and a herd of wild horses. There will be a definate "pecking order" within the herd. Wild horses will be more apt to run off upon being approached by anything resembling a threat. Their survival instincts are probably somewhat sharper.
4. Wild and domesticated horses have the same behaviors. The difference with domesticated horses is that they've been conditioned to accept humans as part of the herd. When the human is dominant, the horse will naturally trust and follow him. It is this trust that enables us to get them to do things that are not natural to them. When the human is not dominant, the horse will treat him as someone they don't need to pay attention to. These are the horses that will bite, kick, get in your space, and/or ignore you.