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47 September 2015 THE HORSE TheHorse.com BEHAVIOR SUE MCDONNELL, PHD, CERT. AAB TheHorse.com/Behavior Q If a horse's tail has been nerved, is he at a disadvantage socially when turned out with others, as far as body language being hampered? Sheryl Via e-mail A What a great question! I am not aware of any reports of scientific study of the effects of tail blocking or nerving on horse-to-horse communi- cation. Theoretically, a "dead" tail would be expected to have some effect in some situations. While tail and ear positions are the elements of social signaling that humans tend to report and rely upon when working around horses, there are likely many other components of equine social communication. Intra-species so- cial signaling typically involves consider- able redundancy, with facial expressions and head positions, ear, limb, and overall body postures, movement, and tension. In addition to visual elements, horses emit auditory signals reflecting respira- tion, limb movements, tail swishes, and of course vocalizations. Loss of one element or one perceptual communica- tion modality usually does not appear to impair communication significantly. Learning likely helps, too, as animals, like people, seem to "get to know" each other and their communication styles. My firsthand experience with tail- blocked horses has been limited to mostly breeding stallions, and it is rare for us to see them interacting socially other than along a fenceline. A similar but more common question about poten- tially impaired communication in horses concerns the use of fly masks. It's fairly common for handlers to remark that they feel less comfortable and in some cases handicapped when handling horses, either alone or around other horses, when not able to keep tabs on their facial expressions. It reminds us how we hu- mans tend to depend on these cues. And from an ethological (animal behavior) standpoint, you have to wonder about the fact that the fly mask not only covers the horse's expression but also alters the shape of his head. You also have to wonder about color patterns, protruding eye cups, and ear covers. What a good topic for a behavior student to design a research training project around! H An Old Horse Learns New Tricks Q One morning I decided to braid my 17-year-old Thoroughbred eventer in the wash stall instead of the aisle. While I was braiding he started trying to crib. In the 14 years that I have had him, I have never seen him crib! Why would he start now? I guess braiding is just too stressful for him! Shawna Georgetown, Kentucky A You are right, it does seem odd to see your horse trying to crib when you have never seen him do it before. Without a detailed description, I would wonder if it was, in fact, cribbing. If your horse truly was trying to crib, I would guess that he had cribbed at some time before this event. I agree that braiding the mane in the wash stall in and of it- self should not be stressful, and if it were so stressful I would expect him to show other behavioral indications of discomfort with the situation before or along with the cribbing attempts. Believe it or not, sometimes behaviors go on for a long time without anyone noticing. We find that to be the case with horses in our hospital that are videotaped or monitored. That's likely because horses can— and many do—behave very dif- ferently when people are present. When they're alone, it's clear they are uncomfortable or doing a ste- reotypy, but as soon as people are nearby, they look perfectly content and normal. The people go away, and the horse is back at it. If your horse was, in fact, cribbing, I bet if you set up a video to record his behavior when you are not there, you will see some cribbing. ABOUT THE AUTHOR 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 Your Horse's Behavior, which is available at shop.TheHorse.com or by calling 800/582-5604. ISTOCK.COM Tail Blocking's Effects on Communication Losing one communication method doesn't appear to impair horse communica- tion overall.