Stereotypes and Stable Habits

Cribbing, Weaving, Pacing, Not Bad Horses, Adaptive Horses

There are behaviours in horses that people label quickly.

Cribbing.

Weaving.

Stall walking.

Fence pacing.

Wood chewing.

They are often called vices.

As if the horse is choosing wrongdoing.

But these are not moral failures.

They are stereotypies, repetitive coping behaviours that emerge when a horse is trying to adapt to an environment that does not meet its natural needs.

In the wild, you do not see horses weaving in place.

You do not see a horse cribbing on a tree.

You do not see pacing for hours along a fence line.

These behaviours are almost entirely products of domestication.

They are the horse’s nervous system doing what it can to self regulate.

A horse that weaves is often trying to create movement where movement is restricted.

A horse that cribs may be altering tension and brain chemistry through repetitive action.

A horse that paces is often expressing unresolved anxiety, social stress, or confinement pressure.

These are not bad horses.

These are honest horses showing us the cost of adaptation.

Owners sometimes respond by trying to stop the behaviour mechanically.

Cribbing collars.

Anti weave bars.

Punishment.

Isolation.

But stopping the outward behaviour does not remove the internal cause.

It is like turning off a warning light while ignoring the engine.

The question should never be, “How do I stop the habit?”

The question should be, “What is the horse missing?”

Most stereotypies trace back to predictable roots.

Feeding gaps and hunger stress.

Low forage time.

Confinement and movement deficit.

Social isolation or unstable herd pressure.

Chronic gastric discomfort.

An environment the horse cannot relax in.

The behaviour is communication.

Not manipulation.

And it is important to understand this.

Many horses with these habits are not damaged.

They are adaptive.

They have found a way to cope.

The goal is not blame.

The goal is improvement.

More fibre and continuity.

More turnout.

More stable companionship.

Better management of stress.

A life that reduces the need for coping behaviours in the first place.

The domestic horse is always making adjustments to survive in our world.

Stable habits are not rebellion.

They are a mirror.

They show us where the domestic environment has drifted too far from the wild design of the horse.

And the horse, as always, is doing its best.