4,777 answers about horses & farm animals
Horses and farm animals run on routine — feeding schedules, hoof and health care, safe fencing and calm handling, in all weather. This page gathers the horse and farm animal library of KinsLe Answers in one place, organized by topic from daily care to travel and senior animals. Every answer is original, written by KinsLe, and tied to a real KinsLe feature.
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356 answers in Behavior & Training — page 12 of 15
Rooting is not your pig being destructive — it is the behaviour her whole snout was built for, the way she searches the ground for food and investigates her world. A bare pen gives that powerful urge nothing legitimate to do, so she ploughs the pen itself, flipping turf and pushing at fencing in search of anything…
Your mare is not being difficult on a schedule — her hormones genuinely change how the world feels to her across her cycle. When she is in season she may be squealy, distracted, sensitive over her back and flanks, keen on other horses and short-tempered with interruption; between seasons the same mare is settled and…
Weaving — swaying the head and neck from side to side while shifting weight between the front feet — is a stable stereotypy, a coping behaviour rather than a vice he has chosen. It usually begins where turnout is short, forage runs out, or the yard routine leaves long stretches of anticipation at the door, watching…
Head-tossing under saddle is a protest, and the bit is only one of the things it can be about. Sharp points on the teeth, a bit that pinches or sits wrong, a saddle bridging behind the shoulders, flies in the ears and plain excitement can all produce the same snatch at the rein, so the pattern matters: only on a…
A constantly swishing tail is your horse's irritation made visible, and the likeliest cause depends on when it happens. In the field in fly season it is usually insects worrying his hindquarters and belly; under saddle it more often signals discomfort, frustration with the aids, or a saddle that no longer sits…
A horse who refuses to be caught has usually done the maths: being caught predicts work, the dentist, or the end of grazing, while staying free predicts grass and company. Walking straight at him and chasing only confirm that people mean pressure, so he keeps a polite distance and the game repeats daily. The cure is…
Pinned ears are your horse's clearest warning sign, and they are aimed at the other horse, not at you. Ears flat back say keep away — over a hay pile, at the stable door, or when a bolder fieldmate crowds his space — and the message usually works before teeth or heels ever need to follow. Horses whose warnings are…
Pawing before feeding is anticipation with a long learning history behind it. Your horse knows the sounds and smells of feed being made, the wait feels frustrating, and pawing is how he fills it — and if the bucket has ever arrived mid-paw, he has learned the hoof brings dinner faster. The fix is timing, not…
A horse who naps towards home is telling you where his security lives. Leaving the yard means leaving the herd, and the moment the route bends homeward the pull of home, herd and haynet takes over, so he jogs, leans on the rein and hurries while the outward leg dawdles. It is insecurity rather than naughtiness,…
Crib-biting is a stable vice where your horse grips the top of the door with his front teeth, arches his neck and pulls back, drawing in air with a grunting sound. It is most often linked to stress and a routine short on forage and turnout, and once learned it becomes a habit he reaches for whenever he is frustrated,…
Barging is anticipation plus success: beyond the gate sit turnout, dinner or friends, and every time your horse has pulled through, pushing has worked. Replace it with a set routine — halt a few strides before the gate, wait for a loose rope, open the gate while he stands, walk through at your pace, turn and stand…
Goats investigate the world with their mouths, so chewing and licking fencing, clothing and gates is mostly curiosity — topped up by boredom in an under-occupied pen, or by appetite if minerals are short. Give the behaviour somewhere legal to go: branches to strip, things to climb, and free-choice goat minerals, then…
Dust bathing is feather maintenance: hens work dry, loose material down through their feathers to the skin, where it soaks up excess oil, loosens dirt and makes life harder for lice and mites — then they shake it all out. Provide a dry, sheltered spot of loose soil or sand, deep enough to dig a shallow bowl into, and…
The pecking order is the flock's settled ranking of who eats, drinks and roosts first, negotiated through brief face-offs, pecks and retreats until each bird knows her place with every other. Far from causing conflict, a clear order prevents it — daily life runs on stares and small courtesies instead of fresh fights…
Start from the idea that the bite is information: girth straps press where horses get sore, and a rug or girth fastened too fast, too tight teaches a horse to object before it hurts. Check for rubs, swelling and flinching along the girth groove and back, try a softer or wider girth, and do straps up in stages with a…
Ducks come in when the routine never varies: the same time at dusk, the same call used only for coming in, a slow walk-up from behind with your arms or a hurdle widening your shape, and a scatter of feed or peas waiting inside the house. Never chase — being pursued at dusk teaches ducks to avoid you — and let…
The early signs are a hard fixed stare, head held high with hackles raised along the back, stiff sideways approaches, pawing, and a goat who plants himself in gateways, leans into your legs or lowers his head toward you at feeding time instead of toward the bucket. Herd head-butting is normal rank behaviour; the shift…
Humming is an alpaca's everyday commentary, but constant humming through handling sessions usually means unease: being caught, held and touched is hard for a prey animal, and a rising, insistent hum in a tense body is anxiety rather than contentment. Shorten sessions, keep a companion in sight, and release pressure…
Watch for a horse who cannot settle: head up with a fixed stare, ears flicking or pinned, pawing, box-walking or weaving at the door, calling to others, sweating in a cool stable, or going off his hay. At the yard, stress usually follows a pattern — a changed routine, a moved companion, less turnout, feeding order…
Look for softness: a content horse has a round, unhurried eye with slow blinks, ears tipped loosely sideways, a loose lower lip, slow even breathing, and often one hind leg resting with the hip cocked. He eats steadily, lies down to sleep, and grazes in loose company rather than pacing or standing apart. Read the…
Train a youngster in sessions of five to ten minutes, one clear ask at a time — lead and halt, stand, accept touch, lift a foot — releasing pressure the moment he tries, and stopping while he is still relaxed and succeeding. Several short sessions a week teach more than one long drilling, because a young horse's…
Teach the farrier visit in pieces at home: pick up each foot daily, hold it a little longer each time, tap the hoof wall, and reward your horse for standing quietly, practising where the farrier will work. Keep sessions short and finish while he is calm, so stillness — not fidgeting — is what he remembers. Before the…
Standing still is a trained behaviour, not a personality trait, so build it in short, rewarded blocks: tie up safely with a quick-release knot or have a helper hold him, groom in a set order, and reward the moment he stands square and quiet, stopping the session while he is still calm. Tack up in stages too — saddle…
Rushing is usually anticipation, not defiance: the gate means friends, food or freedom, and every successful barge makes the next one more likely. Teach a different script in hand — walk, halt, stand for a breath, then through — practising first along a quiet stretch of fence line, then at a gateway he cares less…
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