Everything Horses and Livestock® Magazine February 2017 Vol 2 Issue 1

Everything Horses and Livestock Magazine

arousal” such as waking from a nap or after a sud- den fright. Horses may also yawn following some- thing pleasurable such as grooming and eating. Most equine yawning does not give owners an immediate cause for concern or alarm. Repetitive yawning during interactions with your horse could possibly be a sign of stress or pain. Excessive yawning, grinding of teeth or stretching to urinate may be signs of pain possibly from ulcers. As always, horse owners need to pay attention to changes in their horses’ behaviors. Consult your veterinarian to determine normal and abnormal behaviors. Yawning causes no harm to humans or horses. Beware, yawning can be addictive. If you see your horse yawn you will want to yawn, too! Be sure to check out EHAL Magazine’s Spring is- sue for a new question in “What’s Under Your Hat”? JANICE PACK

In our last Issue we ask our Readers “Why Do Horses Yawn?” As promised, I have some answers and theories about why horses yawn. Some owners say they have never seen their horses yawn and assume they do not. But rest assured horses do yawn even though most plant-eating mammals do not. My research did not reveal any other facts. Re- search did provide many reasonable guesses based on human yawning. Most of the time yawn- ing signifies weariness, boredom or as a means of taking in more oxygen. One theory says horses hold their breath when tense or under strenuous training. Yawning allows them to “let down”, relax and regain oxygen. Yawning could also indicate a release from other tensions or pain. Many horses yawn after receiving chiropractic, myofascial, massage, acupressure or acupuncture treatments. Yawning may indicate a change in the “state of

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