Socializing colts
Horse Health and Safety
Q.: I would like to know your thoughts on socializing colts. Do you feel they should be raised with geldings to teach them social skills or kept separate from other horses?

Dr. Suzanne Millman, Ontario Veterinary College

A.: I strongly think that colts should be socially housed. This could be with other colts or with geldings. The social environment is important since horses have evolved as highly social animals and need this type of interaction. Horses form strong social bonds, and this is an important factor in stress. Mutual grooming between horses has been shown to reduce hormones associated with stress, and horses kept in groups tend to be less anxious or vigilant. Young horses need to be socialized to understand displays or signals that we rely on later to handle and train them. In the absence of other horses, donkeys, goats or other animals can act as social partners also. In natural environments, males tend to form separate bachelor bands adjacent to the main harem, and this group consists of colts and stallions. Colts tend to leave the main harem and join bachelor bands when displaced by a sibling, but also when seeking out suitable playmates since colts play more often and more aggressively. Printed with permission of Equine Guelph, University

of Guelph. Visit www.equineguelph.ca, or

call (519) 824-4120.