Why do stallions yawn

Is he really yawning or is it something else? The American Association of Equine Practitioners helped us with the answer. Unfortunately, there is no simple answer that explains why a horse yawns. There are some veterinary medical professionals who firmly believe that the behavior we attribute to yawning in the horse is actually a manifestation of pain or discomfort. Some believe that so strongly that they propose that a horse only yawns when he is uncomfortable.

Certainly, many horses will yawn when experiencing colic pain , but no one knows precisely why the horse responds this way or what the yawn might do to make him feel better. Horses also might yawn if they have oral pain , and some horses yawn just after removing the bridle, presumably to stretch jaw muscles.

At one time, many hypothesized that the horse might be trying to equalize pressure inside the inner ear, much like humans often do when driving in the mountains or riding in airplanes. This has not been proven. Is yawning an indicator of stress in horses? Favorite Share:.

Compulsive yawning can indicate a horse has developed encephalopathy Photo: iStock. Heather, via e-mail A. Create a free account with TheHorse. Sign Up Already have an account? About The Author. Related Posts.

Dead space. Search Search for:. Weekly Poll:. Do you plan to blanket your horse this winter? Yes, my horse will wear a blanket this winter. Yes, my horse will wear a blanket, but only during inclement weather. No, I do not plan to blanket my horse. Featured Horse Listing. They have been rehabilitated, retrained and…. Color: Other Please specify in details. Breed: Thoroughbred. Sex: Gelding. Might confinement and social isolation trigger both the yawning and the stereotypies in domesticated horses?

Was confinement the x factor? If confinement is x, the y factor might be social isolation. Would stress levels decrease in horses living in pasture groups? Do horses living in turnout yawn as much? What about horses in the wild, particularly Przewalskis, which are a separate subspecies from our domestic Equus Caballus friends?

Two groups of horses were observed to see how often they yawned. One group was Przewalski horses in a preserve, the other was a group of saddle horses living together in a semi-natural turnout situation that was considered close to ideal. Would they find that, by comparison, stall-dwelling domestic horses yawned more than outdoor-dwelling horses? Would the social factor of turnout life increase or decrease yawning behavior? If stress from confinement is x, the y factor might be social isolation.

What about horses in the wild, particularly Przewalskis, which are a separate species from our domestic Equus Caballus friends? The authors found that other factors, such as testosterone levels in male horses, and the heightened stress of social interaction, increased yawns in some horses, particularly stallions. But the domestic horses did not yawn more often than the Przewalskis when kept in a natural living situation.

The Przewalskis yawned when exhibiting aggressive social behavior, but they also engaged in more social situations than the domestic horses did. Ultimately, the researchers found that yawning in the domestic horses had social context, and that yawning might be a displacement activity to release tension. Their conclusion found good reason to consider frequent yawning in a welfare evaluation of a horse: "Since a high frequency of yawning was related to increased frustration in horses kept in a restricted stabling environment, it may also be supposed that the lower frequency of yawning in horses observed in undisturbed social groups may reflect increased welfare in equine groups living in favorable conditions satisfying their behavioral needs.

Increased occurrence of yawning in domestic situations could thus attract the attention of caretakers to make the alterations to improve the welfare of their horses. If that is the case, can stables be blamed once again for causing yawn-response stress in horses? Studies from several countries have recently advocated for more natural living situations for horses, or at least for stable designs that increase sight lines and possibilities for social behavior.

Obviously, the amount of time a horse spends in a stall affects how stressful stabling is. And, for some horses, turnout is a stressful experience. Research is conducted to increase the body of knowledge; other researchers use it to carry on studying horses and build the knowledge further.

In some research, the goal is to provide information of direct benefit to horses via informing owners and caretakers of findings. Other research is for the benefit of comparing horses to other species, or even to humans.