Bolting (horse)
Encyclopedia
Bolting when referring to equidae
Equidae
Equidae is the taxonomic family of horses and related animals, including the extant horses, donkeys, and zebras, and many other species known only from fossils. All extant species are in the genus Equus...

, generally refers to two different equine behaviors
Horse behavior
Horse behavior is best understood from the perspective that horses are prey animals with a well-developed fight-or-flight instinct. Their first response to a threat is to flee, although they are known to stand their ground and defend themselves or their offspring in cases where flight is...

, both undesirable: the practice of running away without control, and the practice of eating food at a dangerously fast rate. However, there are other meanings as well. For example, in Australia a bolter is a racehorse that wins at long betting odds.

Runaways

Most often, bolting refers to a "runaway" - horses that gallop
Horse gait
Horse gaits are the various ways in which a horse can move, either naturally or as a result of specialized training by humans.-Classification:...

 off with a handler at high speed, whether being ridden
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

 under saddle
Saddle
A saddle is a supportive structure for a rider or other load, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is the equestrian saddle designed for a horse, but specialized saddles have been created for camels and other creatures...

 or driving
Driving (horse)
Driving, when applied to horses, ponies, mules, or donkeys, is a broad term for hitching equines to a wagon, carriage, cart, sleigh, or other horse-drawn vehicle by means of a harness and working them in this way...

 in harness
Horse harness
A horse harness is a type of horse tack that allows a horse or other equine to pull various horse-drawn vehicles such as a carriage, wagon or sleigh. Harnesses may also be used to hitch animals to other loads such as a plow or canal boat....

. There are many causes, most linked to fright that triggers the fight-or-flight response
Fight-or-flight response
The fight-or-flight response was first described by Walter Bradford Cannon....

 of the horse. In these circumstances, the animal is often running in a panic
Panic
Panic is a sudden sensation of fear which is so strong as to dominate or prevent reason and logical thinking, replacing it with overwhelming feelings of anxiety and frantic agitation consistent with an animalistic fight-or-flight reaction...

 and may not notice where it is going, creating a dangerous situation for both horse and rider.

Less often, bolting is a deliberate disobedience by a horse that wishes to rid itself of a handler or avoid an unpleasant situation. In both cases, bolting horses are usually stopped by being turned in some type of circle, as directly pulling on the rein
Rein
Reins are items of horse tack, used to direct a horse or other animal used for riding or driving. Reins can be made of leather, nylon, metal, or other materials, and attach to a bridle via either its bit or its noseband.-Use for riding:...

s has little impact.

Deliberate bolting is also sometimes seen in horse racing
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...

 when the horse chooses to ignore its jockey
Jockey
A jockey is an athlete who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing.-Etymology:...

 and run as it wishes, often in a manner that makes it difficult for the rider to maneuver the horse or rate its speed. Bolting race horses often head toward the outer rail of the track and even lose racing speed in an attempt to evade the rider's commands.

Horses may also bolt if greatly frightened when loose in a pen
Pen (enclosure)
A pen is an enclosure for holding livestock. The term describes multiple types of enclosures that may confine one or many animals. Construction and terminology varies depending on region of the world, purpose, animal species to be confined, local materials used, and cultural tradition...

 or pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...

. In a confined area, this may result in an animal running into or jumping a fence.

The phrase "take the bit in his/her teeth" is a colloquial
Colloquialism
A colloquialism is a word or phrase that is common in everyday, unconstrained conversation rather than in formal speech, academic writing, or paralinguistics. Dictionaries often display colloquial words and phrases with the abbreviation colloq. as an identifier...

 reference to bolting. However, in reality, a bolting horse usually does not take the bit
Bit (horse)
A bit is a type of horse tack used in equestrian activities, usually made of metal or a synthetic material, and is placed in the mouth of a horse or other equid and assists a rider in communicating with the animal. It rests on the bars of the mouth in an interdental region where there are no teeth...

 in its teeth
Horse teeth
Horses' teeth are often used to estimate the animal's age, hence the sayings "long in the tooth", "straight from the horse's mouth" and "Don't look a gift horse in the mouth".- Types of teeth :At five years of age a horse has between 36 and 44 teeth...

, as the bit rests on the gums in an interdental space where there are no teeth. What a horse actually does is to raise its head and tighten its jaw in a manner that allows it to ignore bit pressure. While a horse can move the bit to its molars and chew on it, this is not generally how a horse evades the bit when bolting.

Feeding habits

The term "bolting" may also refer to a horse that eats its feed
Fodder
Fodder or animal feed is any agricultural foodstuff used specifically to feed domesticated livestock such as cattle, goats, sheep, horses, chickens and pigs. Most animal feed is from plants but some is of animal origin...

 too quickly, particularly grain
Cereal
Cereals are grasses cultivated for the edible components of their grain , composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran...

 or other concentrated feed. This is undesirable as it can, in some cases, lead to choking
Choke (horse)
Choke is a condition in horses in which the esophagus is blocked, usually by food material. Although the horse is still able to breathe, it is unable to swallow, and may become severely dehydrated. A secondary condition, aspiration pneumonia, may also develop if food material and saliva accumulate...

 or colic
Horse colic
Colic in horses is defined as abdominal pain, but it is a clinical sign rather than a diagnosis. The term colic can encompass all forms of gastrointestinal conditions which cause pain as well as other causes of abdominal pain not involving the gastrointestinal tract. The most common forms of colic...

. Proper equine nutrition
Equine nutrition
Equine nutrition is the feeding of horses, ponies, mules, donkeys, and other equines. Correct and balanced nutrition is a critical component of proper horse care....

 may reduce bolting of feed. Methods to prevent bolting feed involve adding objects such as hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...

 cubes, chopped straw
Straw
Straw is an agricultural by-product, the dry stalks of cereal plants, after the grain and chaff have been removed. Straw makes up about half of the yield of cereal crops such as barley, oats, rice, rye and wheat. It has many uses, including fuel, livestock bedding and fodder, thatching and...

("chaff") or medium-sized rocks to a feed container to slow down the horse's eating.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK