This book details everything from ongoing daily activites to social interaction among horses to abnormal behaviors. Each behavior is further explained by original line drawings, photographs or both.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
More than 15 years of research and observation from students and experts at the University of Pennsylvania's New Bolton Center have gone into McDonnell's formal catalogue of equine behavior. Designed to be useful to the widest possible range of readers, from veterinarians to high school students, and from horse buffs to those engaged in serious scientific study, this fully illustrated volume (the first of its kind) offers definitions of hundreds of actions observed in domestic horses and other equids such as zebras, donkeys and Przewalski horses (the domestic horse's primitive living ancestor). McDonnell (Understanding Horse Behavior) organizes the book into six general categories, including maintenance behavior, social communication, intermale interaction and play; each specific behavior is defined and illustrated with both a photograph and a line drawing. Additional comments about the behavior are often included in the entry (e.g. rearing is a way of establishing dominance), as well as brief lists of scientific papers that also identify the behavior. Many of the observations come from the study of a semi-feral pony herd that McDonnell established at the Bolton Center (and most of the photos, like the one captioned "foal picking up field data sheet," feature these ponies as well), but the author also includes a section on shaped and aberrant behaviors more common in "domestically managed" horses. A careful and serious reference, this volume is also an accessible introduction to horse behavior.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
About the Author
Sue M. McDonnell is an associate professor and founding head of the Havemeyer Equine Behavior Programme at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, New Bolton Center. She has published widely on stallion sexual behaviour and dysfunction and is author of The Equid Ethogram, A Practical Field Guide to Horse Behavior.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent scientific resource - but not for casual horse owner,
By
This review is from: The Equid Ethogram: A Practical Field Guide to Horse Behavior (Hardcover)
As a student of animal behavior and animal welfare, focusing on equine welfare, this book was a MUST for my bookshelf, as it will be for anyone studying animal behavior. While McDonnell gives a lot of great information in the foreward for the lay reader, I believe the ethogram itself would be a bit of a disappointment to the casual horse owner who might be looking for a description of what each behavior MEANS, which is not what an ethogram is, of course, though this book does sometimes include such commentary.
For horse owners who are already well versed in equid behavior, or those casually studying behavior and looking for a more in-depth description to assist them in reading the scientific literature, you need this book. But if you just want to know why horses do what they do, or are interested in better horsekeeping, then read "Equine Welfare" by Marthe Kiley-Worthington.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great book, with a set purpose,
This review is from: The Equid Ethogram: A Practical Field Guide to Horse Behavior (Hardcover)
Ethograms are used in the science world to document common normal, and abnormal, behaviors. They can be helpful in gathering data, or learning about the wide range of common behaviors that are typical to a species. If you want a book that *talks* about behavior, check out some of the author's other books. If you want to see (drawn) examples of what horses do, check this book out. It is very facinating, even if you watch horses regularly.
Again, this is an ethogram- it gives a basic description of behavior! It is meant to be combined with other readings.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like no ordinary horse behavior book.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Equid Ethogram: A Practical Field Guide to Horse Behavior (Hardcover)
This was a GREAT TREAT! It's like an illustrated dictionary of horse behavior, listing the natural behaviors of horses, from the cute little early behaviors of newborn foals to the complex social and sexual interactions of adult mares and stallions. There are also some of the common abnormal behaviors that are happen to stabled horses. This book is just great if you have a horse or pony and are wondering about the natural basis of its behavior. It's neatly organized and well referenced, so would be a SUPER learning tool. Teachers of horsemanship, equine science, or even pony and 4-H clubs will want each student to have their own copy. Even though it is like a mini-encyclopedia, you can get into it and go from cover to cover in one sitting. But then you'll want to keep it so you can go back to it whenevr you see a horse do something interesting. I have always been fascinated with horse behavior, but found it difficult to find good information. I never knew animal behavior could be so organized, simple, and understandable.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
