I'm just commenting on the parts I found out more
about.
--- "Robert J. Chassell" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
<snippage>
> My friend also said that both dogs and horses are
> hierarchical, but
> horses are less hierarchical than dogs.
A colleague who raises both dogs and horses thinks
that their dominance structures are nearly equal in
intensity/importance.
> Horses have color vision that is different from
> humans': they see blue and yellow.
According to the site I posted in 'more on domestic
mammal vision,' it's more the 'greenish-yellow' and
'purply-blue' wavelengths, and occurs in other herding
ungulates as well.
> Is there any evidence that this `just so story' is
> true?
>
> Moreover, while horses enjoy overlapping sight, or
> binocular vision, they also
> have a 3 foot blind spot right in front. If you
> approach a horse in its blind
> spot, you may startle it.
See the vet site on visual fields and blind spots; the
article from the 'horseman' magazine referred to the
blind spot in front as very small and being more below
the horse's head than in front -- which makes more
sense to me when you look at eye placement.
> Nick Arnett said
>.... We had a pony who generally trotted
> straight toward such a
> branch as soon as anybody got on her. But ponies
> are small, grumpy versions of horses.
<grin> A friend (who loves her cat & dog and my
horses) described her childhood Shetland pony as "the
most evil creature I've ever had the misfortune to
encounter!" (I have no experience with ponies.)
> Deborah Harrell developed the thesis:
>
> Body language is crucial in communicating both
> your intentions
> toward and your expectations of the horse; they
> are incredibly
> keen observers of your tiniest move --
A good way to see this: observe a band of horses in a
pasture or at feeding time in a corral (they need to
have been a stable group for some weeks - a new
addition will throw at least part of the ranking in
disarray, as the 'newbie' tries to get a position
above bottom/omega). You will notice that some horses
seem to simply walk up and eat, while others go
through biting and kicking motions. The established
lead horse will 'magically' walk through the group as
if parting the Red Sea; in reality, s/he makes tiny
gestures such as a slight chin lift or ears flicking
backwards momentarily, or perhaps swishing the tail
once. A human handler can use a chin-lift,
eyes-narrowing, or head-tip instead (lacking mobile
ears and tails, we _are_ a little handicapped in
emoting Equinese!).
Hope that is helpful.
Debbi
Floppy-eared And Hip-shot Maru ;)
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