Stereotypical Behaviour

What are "Stereotypical Behaviour's"?

The most common behaviours are:

Box Walking, Crib Biting, Weaving and Wind sucking. 

These vices are called stereotypies because they are repetitive, constant in form and serve no real purpose. 

Slightly less common problems include head nodding, self mutilation (flank biting), redirected aggression and box walking. 

Useful web sites:

Equine Self-Mutilation Syndrome: A Stereotypic behaviour

University of Pennsylvania - Equine Behaviour Lab

Horse behaviour- a short intro

Stable Vices and how these can be stopped or reduced with a Stable Mirror. Showing ahorse which had been weaving and crib-biting for 12 years cured within minutes with a Stable Mirror. Why do they occur?

There are many theories about why they occur, but most are thought to be as a result of boredom or stress and are probably the result of horses being maintained in an unnatural environment. Another theory is that some horses might wind suck if the have a sinus problem. 

Vices can appear at almost any time in a horse's life, and may occur either spontaneously or can be copied from other horses. Heredity may also predispose a horse to certain vices.

Control

Firstly establish why your horse is displaying these symptoms and remove its cause as early as possible. It is important that all horses/ponies are kept as naturally as is possible i.e. time out to play and socialise.  They naturally eat for large parts of the day/night so it is important for them to have a constant source of food.

It is also important that the horse is fed according to the work and exercise that it does and that the stable is big enough to move about freely.

NB: Vets or horse owners in the unfortunate position of having to euthanase horses which had a stereotypy can donate brain material in order to aid research into whether horses are born with a pre-disposition to crib-biting etc. Contact Dr Sebastian McBride, The University of Wales, Tel: 01970 621690 or email: sdm@aber.ac.uk.