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
Keeping Horses in Harems
November 01, 2005
I am a veterinarian in Atlanta with a special interest in behavior. I also own and raise Arabian horses. I have a 2 1/2-year-old stallion, and I would like to keep him in a harem situation. He is now pastured with another gelding and is quite Read More
Kicking Problems
November 01, 2005
My horse constantly kicks his stall, and in the pasture he's very rough with other horses, biting and kicking them. How can I stop this behavior? Jess; Boulder, Colo.
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Rolling in Dirt (Book Excerpt)
October 26, 2005
Almost every time we let our horses out of the stalls after feeding them, they roll in the dirt, dust, or mud. Why? Read More
Water Bucket Blues (Book Excerpt)
October 12, 2005
Dipping of hay into water is a pretty common behavior in stalled horses. While some people attribute all sorts of bad intentions to such behavior, hay dipping is interpreted by behaviorists as a learned behavior. Read More
Deliberate Abuse?
October 01, 2005
I hope you remember me from psychology graduate school back in the early '80s. Time flies. Anyway, I still have horses and enjoy your contributions on behavior to The Horse magazine and web site. Sometimes I wish I had gone into horse or dog Read More
Drinking Water Temperature (Book Excerpt)
September 28, 2005
If during cold weather horses have only warm water available, they will drink a greater volume per day than if they have only icy cold water available. But if they have a choice between warm and icy water simultaneously Read More
Transportation Trio: Kicking and Pawing
September 01, 2005
My 4-year-old kicks the lorry (van or truck) and paws its floor, both with company and when alone. He doesn't seem scared and loads easily. He is turned out on a regular basis as well. We need to understand what is going on with him, and most Read More
Transportation Trio: Runny Nose and Cough
September 01, 2005
Every time we trailer our horse, he arrives with a cough and runny nose. Our vet has suggested that he is sensitive to the dust from bedding in the trailer or bits of hay from the hay net bouncing around in front of his nose. It has been Read More
Transportation Trio: Loading Trick
September 01, 2005
I found an amateur video clip in our tack room and nobody knows where it came from. It shows an amazing demonstration of loading two horses on a trailer. The horses, without a lead or halter, went right into the trailer, one after the other, whe Read More
Won't Cross Railroad Tracks
August 24, 2005
Editor's Note: This is from Understanding Your Horse's Behavior by Sue McDonnell, PhD, Certified AAB. The book is available from Read More
Eating Poop
August 01, 2005
Our first foal is 10 days old and has already been spotted eating manure. We have accepted the fact that eating manure is normal foal behavior and are trying to ignore it. A quick question: When should he get over this behavior? via e-mail Read More
Barn Aversion
August 01, 2005
Our elderly Connemara gelding was unfortunately exposed in his stable to multiple bee stings on more than one occasion over a period of two weeks before the problem was figured out and fixed. He used to be very calm and content in the stable, Read More
Physical vs. Psychological Issues
July 27, 2005
Editor's Note: This is from Understanding Your Horse's Behavior by author and equine behavior specialist Sue McDonnell, PhD. The book is available from Read More
Gelding Grouch
July 19, 2005
Editor's Note: This is from Understanding Your Horse's Behavior by author and equine behavior specialist Sue McDonnell, PhD. The book is available from Read More
A Stallion as a Problem Breeder
July 01, 2005
We purchased a stallion for breeding at nine years of age. He had bred before, but curiously had very few offspring for his impeccable credentials. He was a lovely stallion, very well-behaved, and a perfect gentleman to work around. When we Read More
Finding a Stallion Handler
June 01, 2005
We have expanded our semen collection/shipping facility, so we can now keep up to eight stallions in residence and accommodate local stallions trailering in just for semen collection as needed through the season. In the past we have depended upo Read More
Is My Horse Psychotic?
May 01, 2005
I bought my gelding as a stallion from a local sulky racetrack a year ago (where he never got out of his stall except for training). He had just turned three and was very excitable, so we had him gelded. After several months, he seemed to calm Read More
Foals of Non-Milking Mares
April 01, 2005
I have a gorgeous palomino Quarter Horse mare that I would like to breed, but I have a problem. She ran into barbed wire as a yearling and she cannot produce milk as a result of that accident. The man who owned her before bred her twice, and he Read More
History of the Horse
March 03, 2005
Who, what, when, where, and how? These journalistic questions also are the backbone of historic research into the history of the world. There are many scientists who have studied and theorized about how man and horses came to be together, but Read More
Stallion Washing Aversion
March 01, 2005
My husband and I run a business of shipping semen from a few stallions that we board. We have some started ourselves, and some have started elsewhere. Most of them do really well with our simple collection routine. We bring them to the breeding Read More
Men vs. Women Handlers
January 01, 2005
Your answer to the question about the fellow with the peculiar method of "dominating stallions" (December 2003, www.TheHorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?id=4749) led to a very long Read More
Breeding Your Stallion On Cue
January 01, 2005
Our stallion has a great pedigree, and we have kept him intact hoping he could eventually become a breeding stallion. We’ve put a lot of effort into getting him to show well enough to be worth breeding. He has always done really well except for Read More
General Social Organization of Equids
December 22, 2004
Editor's Note: This excerpt is from The Equid Ethogram--A Practical Field Guide to Horse Behavior by Sue McDonnell, PhD. The book is available from Read More
Sleeping Patterns
December 01, 2004
I think my 11-year-old mare isn't getting enough sleep. My mother and I have seen her start to fall asleep in her paddock and in her stall during the day. Her eyes begin to close, her lower lip hangs loose, and her head slowly lowers. When it Read More
Using the Twitch Properly
November 01, 2004
I attended a short course on horse behavior at New Bolton Center where you explained how a twitch works and your recommendations for how to use it most effectively. It seemed to make so much sense why sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, Read More
