Horse Question

Hey,
For y'all who have horses, have had horses, knows horses, etc.
Do your horses vocalize a lot?
One of my arabs - he's a 1000 pound cockatoo. He paces the fence line and calls us constantly. Not just when he's hungry or another horse is out and getting attention. I swear he's a cockatoo. The more attention he gets, the more vocal he gets when we leave him. He can have his face in a pile of food and he'll lift his head and whinny if he hears us open and close the back door.

What is this?

That's very unusual. They aren't such touchy-feely critters typically, and they don't use their voices very often either. Mostly horses vocalize when food is coming or when an over-bonded buddy has left. Occasionally they'll nicker for the arrival of a human, but pacing and calling suggests to me he's hoping for food even when he already has it. Do you feed by the clock? How long does the hay last at each feeding? What kind of sound is he making -- a full up whinny, loud and trilling, or a soft nicker? If it's the latter, maybe he is a reincarnated 'too.

He's an Arab

No, but really - they're just more highstrung than most. I don't think it's out of the ordinary. My mom's trail horse is a bit of a skitzy Arab-headed QH and he'll call if he's getting hungry or if he's on the house-side of the corral and we open the back sliding door. He'll also scream his head off if a horse trailer pulls in our driveway or whenever we load up my horse to take him somewhere, but that's just a herd thing.

Like Deborah said, not necessarily normal, but I wouldn't worry about it. I, personally, love it when they're vocal as long as they're not yelling in the middle of a class or something, haha. A yelling horse is a much sweeter sound to my ears than a yelling bird

Yeah, I did leave out yelling at other horses (or trailers which are apt to contain them.) In the show ring, it's usually calling for a buddy, which can in some cases be a new-found friend of the day. I do find horses loudly vocalizing for people, rather than other horses, to be out of the norm. Do any of the birds imitate him? That could be an intersting dynamic.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

Do any of the birds imitate him? That could be an intersting dynamic.

That would be AWESOME!!!

I know he's not "normal". Horses are supposed to be quiet!

We've left him with bermuda 24/7 and he still screams. It's a full blown whiny. He wants attention - fer sure. If we take another horse out he whinnies and paces and works himself into a sweat. If we take him out only he's quiet. He really doesn't care about his companions. He wants US! He doesn't like to be left behind. If I ride another horse, I usually pony him along as he'll scream the entire time we're gone. When we get back, he's not wanting to check out the other horse, he wants to barge out and be in our fray. We can take him riding by himself and he's quiet and well behaved, so he's not herd bound. The other night he was going off so much that I went out just to check that he wasn't impaled on something. He's standing by the gate and nickering as I come up. With him, I can so imaging the Bedouins with horses in their tents.

No the birds haven't picked up horse whinnies. That would BE cool!

patdbunny wrote:

I know he's not "normal".

He is an Arab, as you said....

Quote :

If we take another horse out he whinnies and paces and works himself into a sweat. If we take him out only he's quiet.

That's pretty typical. The one being taken out is focused on the job at hand and the human leadership. It's the one left behind that feels abandoned. The one taken out usually only acts up if its not confident in the human-horse relationship. So it basically means he's fairly herd bound, but you've done a good job working with him.

I'm not an expert on herd dynamics, but it seems to me that horses care a lot about whether or not they are in charge at any particular moment. They care less about a permanent structure or individuals, although they certainly can form strong specific attachments. Some do, and some never really get that strongly bonded to anyone. So they can fluidly move from a pasture-herd situation to a human-horse situation and retain their aplomb, but if they are left behind and their leadership figure has gone away, then they freak out.

ScooterNScotty wrote:

I'm not an expert on herd dynamics, but it seems to me that horses care a lot about whether or not they are in charge at any particular moment. They care less about a permanent structure or individuals, although they certainly can form strong specific attachments. Some do, and some never really get that strongly bonded to anyone. So they can fluidly move from a pasture-herd situation to a human-horse situation and retain their aplomb, but if they are left behind and their leadership figure has gone away, then they freak out.

That actually makes a lot of sense in explaining my 1000 pound cockatoo.