Stereotypies

IS STOPPING THEM REALLY IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE HORSE?

Behaviours such as crib-biting, wind-sucking, box walking and weaving in horses are known as stereotypies or stereotypic behaviours, and there are many theories as to why horses carry them out and even more theories as to how they should be managed. The long-debated question we will be looking at here is whether stereotypies can really be stopped if they have already been learned and whether attempting to do so is actually a good idea.

THE KEY FACTORS TO CONSIDER

Stopping a horse’s stereotypic behaviours depends on:

• How long the horse has been performing the behaviour

• His age

• The type of stereotypy he performs

If the behaviour is new and not well-established, you have a better chance of stopping it in its tracks and in these cases the most important thing you can do is to seek veterinary assistance immediately. If your vet can find no physical problems that might have triggered the behaviour, then contacting an equine behaviourist would be advised to try and detect the cause and set up a plan to reduce or hopefully resolve the behaviour. Sometimes a simple management change is all that is needed in these cases, but other times the issue can be more complex.

On the other hand, stereotypies are almost completely impossible to stop if they have been performed repeatedly over the long term. In these instances, it is still worth chatting to your vet and a behaviourist to see if improvements can be made, but the chance of full resolution is minimal.

Similarly, the older the horse, the more difficult it is to stop the behaviour. Stopping the behaviour when the horse is a foal is much easier and may come about through something as simple as a change in feed in the case of oral stereotypies.

Finally, some stereotypies are naturally easier to eradicate than others, as they can be managed without adding stress to the horse but instead making welfare-improving management changes. For example, locomotor stereotypies appear to be more easily fixed than oral ones. In the case of locomotor stereotypies, increasing the amount of turnout and turnout in groups has been shown to be quite effective in reducing the frequency of the locomotor stereotypies, and in some cases, the management change has stopped them altogether.

CAUSE AND EFFECT

Animals often perform these behaviours when they have no control over their situation. Confinement, social isolation, limited access to forage, over-feeding of concentrates, constant low-grade pain, the inability to escape frightening or stressful situations, and environments without any enrichment can all be contributing factors. In some individuals, episodes of stereotypy occur at predictable and regular times, or particularly in association with certain environmental events e.g. food being distributed. In other individuals, the episodes are sporadic but again triggered by environmental events (e.g. at away shows). Some horses with stereotypies seem nervous and prone to panic, and others seem relatively calm and even-tempered. The stereotypic behaviour is often initially developed as a foal. Horses who experience traumatic or early weaning are at the greatest risk of a stereotypy developing. Foals fed concentrates after weaning, and those confined to a stable rather than put in a paddock are also more likely to start windsucking or crib-biting than foals with forage-heavy diets, and those with extensive turnout. Once the behaviour starts, there is a high risk of it becoming a habit, as performing the action becomes rewarding for the horse. Research has, in fact, found that cribbing has a similar effect on the horse’s brain to that of cocaine usage on the human brain.

Horses who have performed certain behaviours over a long period may start to perform them habitually rather than just at a particularly stressful time. For example, a horse who has cribbed for many years only when stabled may also start to perform the behaviour when turned out, despite having the room to move and a more enriching environment.

THE RISKS OF STEREOTYPIES

The health risks of stereotypies include the following:

• Oral stereotypies like cribbing and wood chewing can cause damage to the teeth and gums.

• Locomotor stereotypies (weaving, box walking and head bobbing) can put excessive strain on the joints.

• Weaving and pacing expend a lot of energy, and in these cases, the horse may be a poor doer with owners struggling to keep weight on the horse.

• Self-mutilation and behaviours like wall kicking can cause wounds and injuries.

NOTE: Horses that crib-bite and windsuck are often found to have gastric ulcers. There is some debate as to whether the horse starts performing the stereotypies to produce saliva that will buffer the stomach acid, which eases the pain caused by the gastric ulcers, or whether the ulcers are caused by the stereotypies and the stress which precipitated them.

Additional challenges include:

• Vets often advise against purchasing a horse that performs stereotypical behaviours, reducing his financial value.

• Horses with vices are often not welcome on livery yards due to the damage they can cause to fencing and stable doors and their potential to influence those around them.

AVOIDING STEREOTYPIES

To prevent horses from developing stereotypic behaviours, it’s vital to ensure that their innate needs are being met:

• WEANING: Foals should be weaned gradually from their dam, keeping stress to a minimum. Weaning should be done no earlier than six months old and ideally later.

• FRIENDS, FORAGE AND FREEDOM: The best way to relax your horse is to give him as much access as possible to turnout, equine company in a friendly stable group and ad-lib grazing or good quality forage. If your horse has to be stabled, ensure that he can see – and ideally touch and interact with – other horses.

• ENVIRONMENTAL ENRICHMENT: Research has shown that ‘enriching’ a horse’s environment can provide mental stimulation and reduce the risk of boredom. As stereotypies are often postulated to be ‘vacuum’ activities (performed when the horse has little else to occupy him), decreasing the risk of boredom could be key. You could (for example) try:

• Hanging root vegetables from your stable ceiling or from tree branches in the paddock.

• Hiding treats such as apples and carrots in your horse’s haynet or around his stable.

• Purchasing toys that release treats.

• ROUTINE: Maintaining a consistent daily routine with feeding and paddock-time at a regular point each day helps to keep horses calm. Keeping horses in the same groups, and with regular handlers is also key.

• SLEEP: It is important that horses feel safe enough to sleep and rest. If your horse is bullied by a paddock mate, try and turn him out with friendly company instead. If he is stabled, make sure he has a big stable and a deep enough bed for him to lie down comfortably.

• FEEDING: Access to grazing is ideal, but you can also feed good quality forage as a replacement. Research has shown that horses crib-bite less when fed forage at the same time as their concentrate. Feeding heavily forage based diets as opposed to lots of concentrate is also recommended.

NOTE – AVOID REINFORCING STEREOTYPIES: Whilst stopping stereotypic behaviours may not be in the animal's best interests, we should be very careful that we are not inadvertently rewarding the horse for the behaviour. For example, giving a horse who paws and digs at feed time his food bucket in response to the pawing reinforces the behaviour and makes it less likely that the stereotypy will ever be extinguished. Similarly, if a horse weaves when he wants to go to the paddock and we take him to the paddock while weaving, we show him that his behaviour has the desired outcome. In both cases, we should wait until the horse has stopped performing the behaviour before ‘rewarding’ them. In fact, rewarding horses with stereotypies when they are not performing said stereotypy can be a powerful motivator for them stopping the behaviour altogether.

SHOULD WE PREVENT STEREOTYPIES

Research has shown that performing stereotypic behaviours can reduce stress and relieve physical discomfort. Therefore, preventing a horse from performing the behaviour could be detrimental to his welfare. A whole range of devices is available to try and prevent stereotypies, such as anti-weaving grilles and collars to prevent crib-biting or windsucking. However, simply trying to stop the behaviour does not address or resolve the cause and could result in more stress for the horse, causing him to find another unwanted behaviour to perform. Instead, avoiding reinforcing the behaviour as described above or even rewarding the horse when he is not performing the behaviour are mechanisms of encouraging the horse to stop performing the behaviour himself. This is a much lower stress approach for the animal and avoids precipitating additional stereotypies. Finally, it goes without saying that prevention is better than cure, so getting to the root of the problem and preventing it from happening in the first place or reducing the frequency and intensity is the far better and safer option.