Equine and ovine ethology is the study of the species-typical behaviour of the domestic horse (Equus caballus) and the domestic sheep (Ovis aries): their social organisation, feeding, reproduction, and interaction with humans and housing[1][2]. Both are grazing prey species, yet their social systems diverge: horses form stable groups in which affiliative bonds and tolerance structure interaction, and this sociality is treated as an ethological need that domestication has not removed[3]. Sheep are strongly gregarious, and their behaviour and welfare vary with the housing system and with the social bonds available within the group[4]. For both species, the repertoire set out in these accounts is the reference against which housing and handling are judged[1][2].
- equine ethology
- ovine ethology
- social organisation
- gregariousness
- domestication
References
- D. Mills; S. Redgate. Behaviour of horses.; CABI Publishing: Oxon, United Kingdom, 2017; pp. 169-188. [CrossRef]
- C. Dwyer. The behaviour of sheep and goats.; CABI Publishing: Oxon, United Kingdom, 2017; pp. 199-213. [CrossRef]
- Laura Torres Borda; Ulrike Auer; Florien Jenner; Equine Social Behaviour: Love, War and Tolerance. Animals 2023, 13, 1473, 10.3390/ani13091473.
- Małgorzata Bąkowska; Renata Pilarczyk; Marta Juszczak-Czasnojć; Beata Seremak; Agnieszka Tomza-Marciniak; Ewa Kwita; Lidia Felska-Błaszczyk; Bogumiła Pilarczyk; The Effect of Environment and Husbandry Practices on Sheep Welfare. Animals 2025, 15, 3314, 10.3390/ani15223314.