Is there a scientific (or traditional) name for the open mouth, air chewing, behavior foals and young horses do when introduced to older horses? Thanks!
Interesting. I wonder if there is. I call it the āIām a baby, so be nice to meā sign.
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Yup, everyone I know calls it some version of āIām a baby donāt kill meā face.
Just wondered if it had a name,
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Iāve heard it referred to as āclackingā.
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Yes, clacking. Itās interesting how long they can keep it up. My 6yo will still occasionally do it with the older horses heās been raised with. The difference between now, and 3 years ago, is that now heāll do it at the same time as being a pita LOL I donāt think the older horses are falling for it :lol:
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OKā¦ Clacking, although I donāt normally hear a clacking sound when the babies do this.
It definitely brings up all the right images and info when googled. :lol:
Iāve seen five year-olds do it and as above, it was usually after he did something obnoxious and attempting to quell the righteous wrath of the horse he was tormenting.
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Probably because by then the teeth ARE making an audible āclackingā sound.
A nice article with several possible explanations for the behavior:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/34963/why-do-young-horses-champ-their-mouths
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We call it the ābaby chewā, but I think clacking is the more wide spread term.
I once saw an older mare (teens) doing it while being bred. She could be a right nasty piece of work, especially to other horses, so we made a sort of joke that she had to revert all the way back to when she was a baby to be submissive enough to be bred.
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I have a 14 yr old Hanoverian mare that does it particularly when sheās in heat and someone is paying any attention to her face. Sheās the oldest horse Iāve seen do it.
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My horse was still doing this at age 20, but only when she was in heat and was approached by a particularly intimidating gelding. I interpreted it to mean that she felt conflicted by her need for attention from this horse and her fear of being attacked. He ultimately did kick the bejeezus out of her, resulting in a massive hematoma on her butt, so we moved to another place. Since then, sheās never been out with geldings sheās felt threatened by so I canāt say for sure whether sheād still exhibit this behavior, though I expect she would.
It does seem to be used as a āPlease Donāt Kill Meā gesture for horses of any age. I too have known older horses who use it with intimidating, bullying, pasture mates.
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Itās a submissive jesture. My 26 yr old mare will on occasion do it to my lead mare that is 18 yrs old.
It is also interesting that my 2 yr old will occasionally do this jesture to the 26 yr old mare, but not to her mom (the lead mare) any longer. The filly just gets out of the way if she is about to get into trouble with her mum.
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