Crowell-Davis, S. L., Houpt, K. A., & Kane, L. (1987). Play development in Welsh pony (Equus caballus) foals. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 18(2), 119–131.
Abstract: The structure of the play of colts and fillies living on pasture was studied from birth (n = 15) for up to 24 weeks. Foal play was categorized as running and bucking alone, running and bucking in a group, interactive (contact or combat) play, play with an object, and play at an adult. The rate of play decreased with increasing age and ambient temperature. Fillies and colts played with equal frequency, but engaged in some different types of play at different rates. There was no difference between colts and fillies in the proportion of play bouts of running and bucking in a group or playing with an object. Fillies engaged in running and bucking alone more than colts. Colts engaged in interactive play and play at an adult more than fillies. While there was no significant difference between colts and fillies in the duration of either type of running and bucking play, the interactive play bouts of colts were significantly longer than those of fillies. Both mares and stallions were tolerant of foal play which involved use of their body as a play object, including mounting play. Both fillies and colts engaged in mounting play. Foals used various natural objects found in the pasture for repeated bouts of play with inanimate objects, a behaviour which may explain, from a developmental perspective, the occasional use of “tools” in adult equids. The sex differences in type of play were consistent with the social structure of unmanaged adults in which males must compete with each other in order to associate with females.
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Crowell-Davis, S. L., Houpt, K. A., & Carini, C. M. (1986). Mutual grooming and nearest-neighbor relationships among foals of Equus caballus. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 15(2), 113–123.
Abstract: A 3-year study was carried out on the developmental behavior of foals from birth to 24 weeks of age and the behavior of mares living with foals. Mutual-grooming partners of foals were primarily other foals. The peak frequency of mutual grooming occurred during Weeks 9-12, when fillies mutual-groomed 1.6 times h-1 and colts mutual-groomed 0.9 times h-1. Fillies mutual-groomed more frequently than colts (P < 0.025). Fillies mutual-groomed randomly with colts and other fillies (P < 0.05), whereas colts mutual-groomed almost exclusively with fillies (P = 0.03). At all ages studied, if a foal's nearest neighbor was not its mother, it was more likely to be another foal than would be expected if the foal was associating randomly with non-mother ponies. Fillies were more likely than expected to have a filly rather than a colt as their nearest neighbor (P = 0.01). Thus, during their first few months of life, the foals studied exhibited patterns of behavior which were consistent with the development of the usual social milieu of unmanaged adults, in which several mares form a cohesive herd with one or more stallions associating with them.
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Crowell-Davis, S., & Houpt, K. A. (1985). The ontogeny of flehmen in horses. Anim. Behav., 33(3), 739–745.
Abstract: Flehmen behaviour in Welsh pony (Equus caballus) mares and foals living on pasture was observed during 807 h of focal sampling. A series of flehmens performed at one site was defined as a flehmen incident. Colts exhibited flehmen incidents and performed flehmen more frequently during an incident than did fillies or mares. Filies exhibited flehmen incidents more frequently than did mares, but did not flehmen more frequently during an incident. Colts exhibited a peak frequency of performing flehmen and of flehmen incidents during weeks 1-4 with a subsequent linear decrease in frequency up to weeks 17-20. Usually, flehmen occurred without the subject having had direct contact of the nostrils, lips, or tongue with a possible stimulant. Twenty-six per cent of the flehmen incidents occurred during or after urination by another pony. Seven per cent of the incidents occurred during or after urination by the pony showing flehmen.
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Houpt, K., Marrow, M., & Seeliger, M. (2000). A preliminary study of the effect of music on equine behavior. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 20(11), 691–737.
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Houpt, K. A., & Rudman, R. (2002). Foreword to special issue on equine behavior. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 78(2-4), 83–85.
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Caanitz, H., O'Leary, L., Houpt, K., Petersson, K., & Hintz, H. (1991). Effect of exercise on equine behavior. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 31(1-2), 1–12.
Abstract: The effect of short periods of strenuous exertion, in this case treadmill exercise, on the subsequent behavior of Standardbred horses was examined. Six horses were exercised on a high-speed treadmill 4 or 5 days per week, for 3-4 miles (approximately 1.8 m s-1 for 3 min, 5 m s-1 for 12 min, 9 m s-1 for 3 min, 3 m s-1 for 3 min, 1.8 m s-1 for 3 min). The behavior of the horses was observed in the horse's home stall immediately after exercise and 2-7 h after exercise. Focal animal sampling for a total of 150 h revealed that the horses spent significantly more time drinking and less time resting after exercise than they did on control (non-exercise or rest days). The greatest influence on behavior was seen immediately after exercise. The horses spent 13.2+/-2.7 s per 15 min drinking after exercise and 7.2+/-2.3 s per 15 min drinking on non-exercise days. They spent 7.3+/-1.5 min h-1 stand resting after exercise and 9.7+/-2.1 min h-1 on non-exercise days. These changes in behavior may be related to the physiological changes that accompany exercise. Eating, walking, elimination and self-grooming were not significantly influenced by exercise. In a second experiment the activities of two groups of six Standardbred mares were compared. One group was exercised on the treadmill and the other was not. The exercised horses spent more time drinking and lying, but urinated less than the non-exercised group.
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Boyd, L. E., Carbonaro, D. A., & Houpt, K. A. (1988). The 24-hour time budget of Przewalski horses. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 21(1-2), 5–17.
Abstract: A herd of 8 Przewalski horses were observed on pasture in summer. Fifteen-minute focal animal samples were used to determine the time budget of the horses during the periods 00.00-04.00, 04.00-08.00, 08.00-12.00, 12.00-16.00, 16.00-20.00 and 20.00-24.00 h EDT. The behavioral states recorded were feeding (grazing and eating grain), nursing, drinking, standing, stand-resting, self-grooming, mutual grooming, locomoting, playing, and lying laterally and sternally. The average number of behavioral states occurring per hour, and the defecation, urination, aggression and vocalization rates were also determined. Overall, the horses spent 46.4 +/- 5.9% of their time feeding, 1.3 +/- 0.1% nursing, 0.5 +/- 0.1% drinking, 20.6 +/- 5.4% standing, 15.7 +/- 3.2% stand-resting, 1.7 +/- 0.2% self-grooming, 2.2 +/- 0.7% mutual grooming, 7.4 +/- 1.0% locomoting, 1.2 +/- 0.3% playing, 1.2 +/- 0.5% lying laterally and 4.1 +/- 3.0% lying sternally. The horses averaged 45.2 +/- 5.8 behavioral states per hour, and 0.2 +/- 0.0 defecations, 0.3 +/- 0.0 urinations, 1.5 +/- 0.3 aggressions and 0.7 +/- 0.1 vocalizations per hour. The horses spent the greatest amount of time foraging between 20.00 and 04.00 h, when the temperatures were lower. They spent 68.2 +/- 2.2% of their time between 20.00 and 24.00 h feeding, but only 31.2 +/- 2.1% of their time feeding between 08.00 and 12.00 h. Recumbent rest was most common between 00.00 and 04.00 h. As temperatures rose during the daylight hours, the horses spent more time drinking and standing, rather than grazing. Stand-resting was the most common form of rest during the day. The horses exhibited the greatest number of activities per hour from 08.00 to 20.00 h. While standing in close proximity to one another during these hours, the horses exhibited the highest number of aggressions per hour (1.9-2.4).
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Hunter, L., & Houpt, K. A. (1989). Bedding material preferences of ponies. J Anim Sci, 67(8), 1986–1991.
Abstract: The bedding preferences of ponies were determined using video recordings of nighttime (1900 to 0700) behavior of individually housed ponies. The ponies' behavior each minute was recorded to determine time budgets. In Exp. I, preference for bedding was determined using three mares, three stallions and two geldings given access to bedded and unbedded areas in a box stall. The ponies spent more time (66%) on the bedded area and were never observed lying on the unbedded areas. In Exp. II, three mares and six stallions were given access to a box stall, one side of which was bedded with wood shavings and the other with straw. Although some individual animals preferred one bedding over the other, neither form of bedding was preferred consistently. Time budgets in Exp. II were similar on both bedding materials. The ponies spent 12% of their nighttime lying, 2% walking, 35% eating and 50% standing inactively. Some ponies had a relatively strong preference for bedding, but the type of bedding preferred varied with the individual animal. Some individual ponies had no clear preference, but instead had a side or position preference
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Boyd, L., & Houpt, K. A. (1994). Przewalski's Horse. The History and Biology of an Endangered Species. SUNY Press.
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Hogan, E. S., Houpt, K. A., & Sweeney, K. (1988). The effect of enclosure size on social interactions and daily activity patterns of the captive Asiatic wild horse (Equus przewalskii). Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 21(1-2), 147–168.
Abstract: Two herds of Przewalski horses at the Minnesota Zoological Garden were observed during 1980 in each of 2 enclosures that differed in size. The larger enclosure was a 3.4-ha pasture; the smaller enclosure was a 17 x 30-m grass-less pen. One herd was composed of a stallion, 3 adult mares and 2 foals. The other consisted of a stallion and 2 mares. All occurrences of aggression, mutual grooming and snapping were recorded, and 5-min scan-samples of the activity state of each horse were taken. The time budgets, frequency of aggression and frequency of mutual grooming differed significantly with enclosure size for both herds. More time was spent pacing and milling in the smaller enclosure, and the frequency of aggressions and of mutual grooming was also higher. Only the foals exhibited snapping; frequency of snapping did not vary with enclosure size. More time was spent feeding in the larger enclosure. Provision of hay in the smaller enclosure eliminated the differences in time spent feeding. A second study was conducted during the spring of 1984 in an intermediate-sized enclosure, 0.4 ha, a sub-division of the pasture on which the horses were kept in 1980. One herd consisted of a stallion, 2 mares and 2 yearlings; the other consisted of a stallion, 3 mares and a foal. One of the stallions and all of the mares were those studied in 1980, but that stallion and one of the mares were in different herds than they had been in 1980. The frequency of aggression was similar to that observed in 1980.
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