Abstract: Stable vices include oral vices such as cribbing, wood chewing, and coprophagia, as well as stall walking, weaving, pawing, and stall kicking. Some of these behaviors are escape behaviors; others are forms of self-stimulation. Most can be eliminated by pasturing rather than stall confinement. Trailering problems include failure to load, scrambling in the moving trailer, struggling in the stationary trailer, and refusal to unload. Gradual habituation to entering the trailer, the presence of another horse, or a change in trailer type can be used to treat these problems.

Abstract: Behavior problems in zoo equids commonly result from a failure to provide for needs basic to equine nature. Equids are gregarious, and failure to provide companions may result in pacing. Wild equids spend 60 to 70 per cent of their time grazing, and failure to provide ad libitum roughage contributes to the problems of pacing, cribbing, wood chewing, and coprophagia. Mimicking the normal processes of juvenile dispersal, bachelor-herd formation, and mate acquisition reduces the likelihood of agonistic and reproductive behavior problems. Infanticide can be avoided by introducing new stallions to herds containing only nonpregnant mares and older foals.

Abstract: A common characteristic of horses, Rocky Mountain goats, and cattle is that they all have a well developed lingual prominence on the dorsal surface of the posterior area of the tongue. Foliate papillae were found in the horse studied but not in the goat or in cattle. The horse filiform papillae had a long and slender external form with a thin and slender CTC, while in the goat and cattle the external form consisted of a large thick main process and the CTC consisted of a bundle of numerous rod-shaped protrusions. The special papilla found on the lingual prominence resembled larger filiform-like papillae in the horses; however, in the goat and cattle it was a very thick and large tongue like papillae. The horses had two large vallate papillae, while the goat and cattle had 15 or more vallate papillae at the posterior area of the lingual prominence. This suggests that the fine structure of horse tongues may display a more primitive pattern than that present in goats and cattle.

Abstract: Summary Reasons for performing study: Previous studies have suggested that temporomandibular joint (TMJ) kinematics depend on the type of food being masticated, but accurate measurements of TMJ motion in horses chewing different feeds have not been published. Hypothesis: The temporomandibular joint has a larger range of motion when horses chew hay compared to pellets. Methods: An optical motion capture system was used to track skin markers on the skull and mandible of 7 horses as they chewed hay and pellets. A virtual marker was created on the midline between the mandibles at the level of the 4th premolar teeth to represent the overall motion of the mandible relative to the skull during the chewing cycle. Results: Frequency of the chewing cycles was lower for hay than for pellets. Excursions of the virtual mandibular marker were significantly larger in all 3 directions when chewing hay compared to pellets. The mean velocity of the virtual mandibular marker during the chewing cycle was the same when chewing the 2 feeds. Conclusions: The range of mediolateral displacement of the mandible was sufficient to give full occlusal contact of the upper and lower dental arcades when chewing hay but not when chewing pellets. Potential relevance: These findings support the suggestion that horses receiving a diet high in concentrate feeds may require more frequent dental prophylactic examinations and treatments to avoid the development of dental irregularities associated with smaller mandibular excursions during chewing.