What is a group of horses called?

Horses are prey animals with a strong fight-or-flight response. Their first reaction to a threat is to startle and usually flee, although they will stand their ground and defend themselves when a flight is impossible or if their young are threatened.

They also tend to be curious; when startled, they will often hesitate an instant to ascertain the cause of their fright, and may not always flee from something that they perceive as non-threatening.

Horses are herd animals, with a clear hierarchy of rank, led by a dominant individual, usually a mare. They are also social creatures that are able to form companionship attachments to their own species and to other animals, including humans. They communicate in various ways, including vocalizations such as nickering or whinnying, mutual grooming, and body language. Many horses will become difficult to manage if they are isolated, but with training, horses can learn to accept a human as a companion, and thus be comfortable away from other horses.

However, when confined with insufficient companionship, exercise, or stimulation, individuals may develop stable vices, an assortment of bad habits, mostly stereotypies of psychological origin, that include wood chewing, wall kicking, "weaving" (rocking back and forth), and other problems.

More Info: en.wikipedia.org

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23 Comments

Anne Patrick

Please stop the overly simplistic questions. This used to be a site where I learned something, not one where I simply reviewed what I learned as a child!

dmarkc

Outlaws called them a posse.

Caroline Weis

Helga U. Williams, thank you dear, for bringing out some intellectual information about horses. By some of the comments here there are some that don't have a clue about horses. I, myself, don't know that much but I've read a lot of westerns and learned some terms about horses and I haven't heard of a rag term for horses either.

Helga U. Williams

A bunch of horses is ALWAYS a herd.. Domesticated horses at work can be a "team". Stated correctly, the first horse in a herd is usually a mare, the leadmare. The dominant stallion usually brings up the rear. In captivity, a stallion can be a "stud", if used for breeding services. A young female is a filly, a young male is a colt. Raising horses, I never heard of a "rag'. Somebody can buy a "string" of horses or cut out a string from the herd. (This is not in response to the narrative, this is in response to one of the comments here). Horses have personalities just like humans. Some are gentle, some are mean, sorme are very smart, some are just dumb. They definitely get lonely when alone in captivity. We raised different kind of horse breeds, and all of them had different traits and personalities. 😊

Helga U. Williams

Anne Patrick, please give us some of your questions. I need a challenge too!

Shirley Dutt

Lily on steroids, that's Carol.

gusroy

I’ve always referred to a group of horses as a rag!

Cora Jeske

Bob Gorby, ba-dum-tsss!! Nice dad joke! 😊

Wyla Reedy

It wasn't that long ago that a man without a horse was worse than being without a woman.

Mark Wheeless

A ramuda

Howard Groopman

In my last life I was a cat herder.

Richard G Schwartz

Their issues aren't so different from ours.

Ken Putnam

Albeck Wilson-Smith, Along with Brian, Ian, and ZAIN And I've got my eye on a couple others

Lorna Lake

Alternatively and more interestingly (I think!), according to the Old Farmers Almanac :It is alternately called a team, a harras, a rag (for colts), a stud (a group kept primarily for breeding), or a string (a group belonging to or used by one individual).