[The "weaving" of horses].

Studies were made on 27 horses which were known to weave. They were stallions, mares and geldings between the ages of 3 and 22 years. The horses were individually observed for several days in their habitual surroundings. A period, in which a horse makes pauses of not more than ten minutes, is considered a weaving phase. Shorter pauses subdivide the weaving phase into weaving series. The basic unit of weaving is the weaving displacement, i.e. the head movement between the turning points. The number of daily weaving displacements of the horses examined varied from less than 400 up to almost 18,000. The time spent weaving per day was 67 minutes on the average. Weaving is presumably caused by an exceedingly stressful situation. Weaving phases were mainly released by certain environmental irritations. It is improbable that a horse would begin weaving by copying another. Horses which weaved strongly did not distinguish themselves by a quicker release of weaving but rather by a longer reaction to individual irritations. Therapeutic attempts seem to promise success only within certain limits. The health condition is only affected insignificantly, if at all, by weaving.