How horses live: herd life and natural behaviour

A prey animal's instincts

Almost everything about horse behaviour makes more sense once you remember that horses are prey animals. Their behaviour and instincts evolved around staying alive: finding food and water, avoiding being eaten, and reproducing.

When a horse feels threatened, it has three basic responses:

• Flight: running away. As a prey animal, this is its first line of action.
• Fight: if it is trapped or confined, a horse may kick, bite, rear or buck.
• Freeze: the horse suddenly stops and becomes completely still, often very alert, with its head and neck held high and its heart rate raised. The British Horse Society explains that in the wild this could confuse a predator. A freeze is often followed by a burst of flight, such as spinning and bolting.

Bransby Horses points out that a freezing horse can be mistaken for a stubborn one, when it is actually a natural response to fear or pressure. Horses are not being "naughty": their behaviour is how they tell us something is wrong.

Life in a herd

Horses are herd animals. They naturally live in groups and enjoy socialising: grooming each other, playing, grazing, relaxing and lying down together. World Horse Welfare describes the herd as helping horses feel safe and build social bonds. They communicate with each other through body language, facial expressions, touch, vocalisation and smell. See Reading your horse for what those signals mean.

In a stable group, where relationships are well established, there is little conflict over resources. Keeping the group together is, from a horse's point of view, an important survival strategy. World Horse Welfare notes that aggression is much rarer among feral horses than among domestic ones, largely because domestic horses have less space, less forage and fewer chances to move and socialise freely.

Mutual grooming is one of the most common social activities. Horses often prefer the withers, and the British Horse Society notes that scratching the withers and the base of the neck can lower a horse's heart rate and help it relax. You'll know you've found the right spot when its nose starts twitching, or it tries to groom you back with its teeth.

Bringing in a new horse

When a new horse arrives, the established herd's social structure changes, and there is usually a period of increased conflict and risk of injury. World Horse Welfare suggests:

• letting the new horse meet the herd over a safe barrier for a day or two (a single electric tape is risky, as horses can catch their legs if they strike out), and even swapping droppings so they learn each other's scent
• feeding hay on either side of the fence, because eating close together is something only horses in the same group do
• removing shoes if possible, at least on the hind feet, as kicks from bare hooves are much less likely to cause fractures
• making sure everyone has eaten and drunk first, giving plenty of space, and providing more hay piles and water than there are horses
• allowing at least two weeks to settle. Some aggression is normal and should ease over three days to two weeks, but it can take several months for a new group to stabilise.

Always follow biosecurity procedures before a new horse meets the others.

Grazing and moving

Horses evolved to eat little and often. The British Horse Society says they graze and browse for up to 16–18 hours a day, an activity that is instinctive and also good for the gut. Chewing matters for their mental wellbeing as well as their digestion. World Horse Welfare notes that horses fed a low-forage, high-sugar and high-starch diet are more likely to show unwanted behaviours. See The digestive system for why the gut needs a steady supply.

Horses also evolved to roam. World Horse Welfare says horses will move 10–20 km a day when they have the chance. The British Horse Society cites a study of feral horses in Australia that travelled between 8 and 23 km a day.

Rest and sleep

As a prey animal, a horse needs to feel safe before it will rest. A relaxed or sleeping horse may rest one hind leg, lower its head and neck, close its eyes and relax its ears, or lie down.

Horses can doze standing up, but the British Horse Society explains that to reach REM sleep, the deep sleep with complete muscle relaxation, a horse must lie flat out or with its forelegs folded under it. A horse needs enough room to lie down, or it risks sleep deprivation. Give a stabled horse a big, deep bed, and give a horse at grass a field with shelter and friendly company.

The 3Fs: friends, forage and freedom

World Horse Welfare sums up a horse's essential needs as the 3Fs, developed by equine behaviourist Lauren Fraser:

• Friends: turnout in a herd is ideal. If that isn't possible, walk out in hand with another horse, and make sure your horse can always see other horses, in the field and in the stable. Physical contact matters too.
• Forage: a forage-based diet of grass, hay or haylage, for gut health and to fill the long hours horses need to spend eating.
• Freedom: freedom to move, ideally herd turnout on varied ground, and freedom of choice: different forages, ways of feeding and places to be.

When horses can't meet these needs, stress and behaviour problems often follow. See Stress and stereotypic behaviour.

Coping with change and being alone

Horses are often said to thrive on routine, and changes such as moving yard, coming in for winter or going out for spring can be stressful. World Horse Welfare advises making changes gradually: for example, extending time at grass or in the stable by as little as an extra 10 minutes a day in the first couple of weeks, and moving horses together with their friends.

Being alone can be very frightening for a herd animal. World Horse Welfare recommends allowing a new arrival at least a full week to settle, and ideally much longer, before teaching it to be left. Horses can take six months to a year to settle fully into a new home. Teach a horse to be on its own in very small steps, keeping both horses calm, and don't leave a horse in a field where it can't see other horses. See How horses learn for the training principles.