Research Article

Cooccurrence of Yawning and Stereotypic Behaviour in Horses (Equus caballus)

Table 1

Type (oral/motor), name, and description of stereotypic behaviours recorded, adapted from [18, 25].

TypeNameDescription

OralCribbingThe horse grasps a fixed object with its incisors, pulls back, and draws air into its oesophagus while emitting a characteristic pharyngeal grunt.
Lip playThe horse moves its upper lip up and down without making contact with an object, or the horse smacks its lips together.
Tongue playThe horse sticks out its tongue and twists it in the air.
Lip or teeth rubbingThe horse rubs its upper lip or its upper teeth repetitively against the box wall.

MotorHead shaking and noddingThe horse bobs repetitively its head up and down or tosses its head in recurrent and sudden bouts.
WeavingThe horse sways laterally, moving its head, neck, forequarters, and sometimes hindquarters.