Stereotypic behaviors in horses including crib-biting and weaving indicate chronic stress and unmet behavioral needs. Prevention through management is more effective than addressing established stereotypies.
Stereotypic behaviors in horses are behavioral welfare indicators of chronic frustration and unmet needs. Each stereotypy represents a specific behavioral need that the management environment failed to accommodate: crib-biting relates to gastric pain and forage restriction, weaving to restricted movement and social isolation, wood-chewing to oral foraging need frustration. Prevention through evidence-based management in the critical early-life period eliminates the vast majority of stereotypy development. Managing established stereotypies requires addressing the underlying needs even though the behavior will persist, as the need to perform the stereotypy becomes independent from the original trigger over time.