Sue McDonnell, PhD, Certified AAB
Sue M. McDonnell, PhD, Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, is the founding head of the Equine Behavior Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. McDonnell is the author of Understanding Horse Behavior, published by The Blood-Horse Inc., which is available at www.exclusivelyequine.com or by calling 800/582-5604.
Articles by Sue McDonnell
Personality in Horses
September 27, 2006
How can you predict adult temperament? There is no established battery of tests of character and temperament for horses yet. Many savvy trainers will take a horse, work with him, and get a good idea. Read More
Horses Afraid of Other Species (Book Excerpt)
August 30, 2006
For example, you also hear about the rare horse which has grown up without seeing a dog, deer, or cow, and is initially wary or fearful of those species. But they usually don't seem quite so fearful as with pigs. Read More
Can Horses Think Through Problems? (Book Excerpt)
August 16, 2006
My roommate and I were debating whether horses have the capability to think through a problem--something like unlatching a gate. I'm having trouble finding research on this specific problem. Do you know of any research that has been done in this area Read More
No Vertical Vision?
August 01, 2006
I follow Pat Parelli's training methodology. While doing the exercise of desensitizing my horse to a ball, I quickly realized that her focus never followed the ball over her head. If I rolled it at her feet, or played with the ball anywhere belo Read More
Trashing the Place
August 01, 2006
Why do some defecate onto the walls of the stall, pasting manure onto their tails, hindquarters, and all over Read More
Daily Hoof Washing?
August 01, 2006
I have heard horses should get their feet washed every day, and that this is called the natural moisturizing cycle for hooves. In the horses you have observed in the wild, do they wet their feet every day? If so, please explain how they do Read More
A True Gelding? (Book Excerpt)
July 19, 2006
Many geldings also retain this stallion-like tendency to defecate and urinate in an organized fashion, in one to three places rather than randomly. So, as with the grasping and holding behavior, it is difficult to differentiate a cryptorchid from Read More
Savage Stallions
July 01, 2006
Q: I have worked with many different breeding stallions, including Thoroughbreds and Warmbloods back east, then mostly Arabians and Quarter Horses in Texas. We now have a halter stallion that does something I've never seen Read More
Can Horses Be Carnivorous? (Book Excerpt)
June 07, 2006
My horse has become carnivorous! She eats roadkill such as dead birds, and now I've discovered her stomping on a live rabbit in her stable. She picked it up in her mouth, bashed it against the stable wall, and ate it. Read More
Horse Learning
June 01, 2006
In a web site advice column written by a veterinarian, he claimed that if a blacksmith trims or shoes a horse incorrectly so that the horse becomes lame within a couple of weeks of work, the horse will make the connection that the blacksmith was Read More
Superstition
May 01, 2006
I have a BS in animal science and am now taking graduate courses in animal behavior while working to save up for vet school. A topic we are discussing in class is comparative cognition in a psychology and neurobiology program. This has to do wit Read More
Unpredictable Fear (Book Excerpt)
April 26, 2006
I have inherited a mare that no one wants because every once in a while she spooks and bolts, big time, without warning. No one has ever been able to figure out for sure what sets her off. But she can go from being normal one second to a serious Read More
Sexual Misbehavior Vaccine?
April 01, 2006
I am looking into ways to settle down a colt that is showing full-blown sexual interest already at a 1 1/2 years of age. He's just too much for us to handle, but we are not ready to geld him. If you try to correct him when he's all excited, he Read More
Rushing a Mare During Breeding (Book Excerpt)
March 15, 2006
Mounting without erection happens more frequently with novice breeding stallions and is more often a general response rather than specific to one mare. But I have seen exactly what you describe in experienced breeders --mostly in stallions with the w Read More
Cribbing Weanling
March 01, 2006
I have a client with a foal that was weaned a few days ago, and it has started cribbing. Within only a few hours after it was separated from the mare, it was seen doing something funny that the owners now appreciate was cribbing. Once they Read More
Incompatible Horses: Bickering Minis (Book Excerpt)
February 22, 2006
Often these incompatibilities change when another animal comes along. While I'm not suggesting you go buy another horse, if a gelding or another young female were added, things might quiet down. Read More
Pony Girthing/Mounting Issues
February 01, 2006
My 11-year-old daughter is having trouble with her pony nipping at her when she is girthing him, and when she goes to mount without an assistant. He also smacks his tail and pins his ears, almost looking like he might cow-kick at her sometimes. Read More
Semen Collecting from a Blind Stallion
February 01, 2006
We have a Standardbred stallion that had a minor neurologic episode a few months ago that was never really figured out. He has recovered slowly back to normal, except that he has gone completely blind. He does well at pasture and you would hardl Read More
Rude for Food (Book Excerpt)
January 04, 2006
In the colt's mind, he learned that he has to be aggressive in order to get his supper. Even though the behavior does seem rude and frustrating, it probably represents a healthy ability to learn by association. Read More
Trailer Unloading Problems (Book Excerpt)
December 20, 2005
In my experience most horses that rush out of the back of the trailer, or similarly out of a stock or chute, seem truly afraid. In most cases you'll probably never know what frightened the horse to rush out backward in the first place Read More
Can't Catch My Horse (Book Excerpt)
December 06, 2005
It involves teaching the horse or pony that "all good things come from people," and that "people are always good." First, at least for a period of training, the pony needs to become dependent on people (and coming to people) for food and water. Read More
Licking/Chewing=Learning?
December 01, 2005
I'm studying for an MSc in Equine Science and am researching equine behavior. Having studied scientific literature, including your catalog of horse behavior (The Equid Ethogram, A Practical Field Guide to Horse Behavior), I cannot find any Read More
Age to Breed a Colt (Book Excerpt)
November 29, 2005
Most yearlings and two-year-olds can and will breed under good circumstances. There's probably not a horse practice without a firsthand story of the pregnant filly that was only with a colt until a year of age. So for sure, many fairly young colts Read More
Biting and Snapping Pony (Book Excerpt)
November 23, 2005
In most horses, correcting biting is easy and quick, but for certain individuals it can be very challenging. The head shyness and the quick attacks you describe mean that the pony has failed to get the message that it is only the biting that is bad. Read More
Fear of Cows (Book Excerpt)
November 09, 2005
My problem is that in the five months I've had him at a boarding stable, he hasn't gotten over his fear of cows and their field, which is about 10 feet away from the indoor arena and the outdoor ring. Read More
