When I first saw @shaka's picture this week--the template for #LMAC #52-- the fact that the horses were wearing halters jumped out at me. I wondered if the horses had to wear halters twenty-four hours a day.
Wild Horses
Photo credit: Aljabakphoto. Picture taken in the Šar Mountains National Park in Dragaš, Kosovo. Used under a CC 4.0 license
I decided to learn a little about halter use and horse behavior in the wild.
@shaka's Photo
Horses and Halters
The rationale for a halter is that it helps to establish control over the horse. However, leaving a halter on during 'turnout' is dangerous. Turnout is when a horse grazes freely and exercises, as the horses are doing in @shaka's picture.
The horse can actually strangle itself if the halter catches on a fence. Plus if the horse gets in a fight, the halter can become a deadly weapon if the other animal seizes it.
A Horse in Turnout Without a Halter
Image credit: Paula Jantunen, Finland. Public domain.
The first thing I did in my collage was remove the halters.
I added a mare (white horse) at the center of the picture. According to Nebraska PBS, in a wild/feral horse herd, a senior mare is dominant and leads the herd. She finds the best grazing areas, and water. She finds salt licks, and shelter.
A dominant stallion will be at the back of the herd, looking for danger, ready to defend against threats, and corralling in stragglers.
Horse Herd, Chuya Steppe, Altai Mountains
Image credit: Alexandr frolov. Used under CC 4.0 license.
Horses and Birds
I've read that the relationship between birds (especially egrets) and horses is commensal, symbiotic, or mutual. Whichever phrase fits, horses and birds get along fine.
The bird hitches a ride and gets a neat perching area. The horse gets groomed as the bird makes a meal of parasites. This arrangement is so common between egrets and cattle, that the egrets are called cattle egrets.
Cattle Egret
Image credit: Nagarjun,Sultanpur National Park, Haryana, India. Used under CC 2.0 license.
There are a lot of egrets in my collage because, ordinarily, there may be a lot of egrets hanging around feral/wild horses. Egrets are not the only birds to hang around horses. Black-billed magpies have also been noted grooming cattle and horses.
Black-Billed Magpie on a Cow
Image credit: USFWS Mountain-Prairie. CC 2.0 and public domain.
Horses Are Social: They Communicate
There is a variety of vocalizations, body movements, and expressions horses use to communicate with each other.
Expressions
One facial expression you might see on a horse is the Flehmen Response.
Image credit: Brandinian. Public domain.
You are likely to see this expression on a stallion if he picks up the scent of a mare in heat.
Another expression you might see signals aggression: If a horse opens its jaws wide and exposes its teeth, watch out. An attack may be imminent.
Vocalizations
A whinny: According to Rutgers Agriculture: "Horses whinny to let others know where they are and to try to locate a herd mate." Here's a YouTube video in which a horse demonstrates the whinny:
A nicker may be heard between a mare and a foal. Or it many be used by a stallion signalling to his intended mate. Nickers are also sometimes used by horses that are asking for food.
Here's a YouTube video in which a horse demonstrates a nicker:
It's been a lot of fun learning and writing about horses. I hope, if any of my readers has a horse, or wants a horse they will do a lot more reading on their own. These are such complex, beautiful animals.
My Collage
After I removed the halters in @shaka's photo, I also removed the fences. I wanted to create a free environment for the horses.
I gave them a clean water source (in the background):
And a sun, shining in the sky.
They were provided plenty of grass to eat, and company. In the end I decided to have the mare in the center rear, to draw attention to her central role in the herd hierarchy.
All my animals, the water, shrubs, and the sun, came from Pixabay or Paint 3D.
Pixabay:
Source white horse, Source brown horse, Source light brown horse, Source water, Source horse by the water, Source foal and mare, Source horse lying down, Source mare with colt in the background, Source standing egret, Source sun,
Paint 3D
Shrubs by the water
Bird flying on the right
Two kinds of grass in the foreground
Elements in the horse border
Paint and GIMP were used to manipulate the picture, and to make a GIF
This was a fun exercise for me, because I love horses. I have taken a look at some of the other collages submitted in the LMAC contest so far this week. Some of these are brilliant. Check them out here on @shaka's blog. If you haven't tried your hand at making a collage, I suggest you jump in. There's even an LMAC collage school, to help you get started.
Your imagination can take you anywhere you want to go. In times of stress that is a wonderful thing. Thanks, @shaka for giving me the opportunity to create and to be part of the welcoming LMAC community.
