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Recognizing Pain in Stoic Horses
—Sarah, Westborough, Massachusetts
A.Judging the level of pain or discomfort a horse experiences can be a challenge for anybody. We have to rely on behavioral signs that differ among horses and change across situations. Responses to pain include active behavioral indicators (such as ear-pinning, flank-biting, and lameness), or suppression of behavior; stoic horses fall into this latter group. This lack of expression could indicate a higher tolerance, but suppressing signs of pain might also reflect an evolved survival strategy in prey animals, including horses, because it hides vulnerability in the presence of predators1.
The horse can reveal pain, fear, irritation, and contentment through its body language. Some aspects of these emotional states are involuntary and impossible for even the most stoic horse to suppress
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Written by:
Robin Foster, PhD, Cert. Applied Animal Behaviorist (CAAB), Cert. Horse Behavior Consultant (CHBC)
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