Horse Behaviour Explained - origins, treatment and prevention of problems
Margit H. Zeitler-Feicht, Technical University, Munich, Germany.

A general guide to understanding horse behaviour, how the horse learns and how horse handlers can adjust their behaviour to avoid creating anxiety in the horse. The author links difficulties arising from the management of horses today with the natural behaviour of the horse and recommends therapeutic, as well as training, methods for horses exhibiting behavioural problems.

The central theme of this book is prevention or cure of undesirable behaviour through understanding, making this book useful to anyone who routinely works with horses, and is concerned with equine wellbeing.

Contents:
Part A: The horse's adaptability to the environment. 1. Evolution, 2. Domestication, 3. Ontogenesis, 4. Limitations of behavioural adaptability.
Part B: Inborn behavioural patterns - implications for management and handling. 1. Daily routine of free-roaming horses, 2. Social behaviour, 3. Breeding behaviour, 4. Mare-foal behaviour, 5. Eating behaviour, 6. Drinking behaviour, 7. Resting behaviour, 8. Locomotion behaviour, 9. Excretion and marking behaviour, 10. Comfort behaviour, 11. Playing behaviour, 12. Curiosity and exploration behaviour.
Part C: Causes, diagnosis, therapy and prevention of problem behaviour. 1. Behavioural aberration or unwanted behaviour?, 2. Classification of behavioural abnormalities, 3. Causes and triggers of problem behaviour, 4. Diagnosis of problem behaviour, 5. Basics of handling and learning psychology, 6. Therapy and prevention of problem behaviour.
Part D: Problem behaviour in the stable. 1. Feeding behaviour, 2. Locomotion behaviour, 3. Social behaviour. 4. Comfort behaviour, 5. Resting behaviour.
Part E: Problem behaviour during handling and use. 1. Unwanted behaviour during handling, 2. Unwanted behaviour during use. Glossary, References, Index.

ISBN 1-84076-037-0, 224 pp, hardcover, 234 x 156 mm page size, 151 colour & b/w illustrations