If you have multiple horses, you may have noticed some of their peculiar and sometimes strange behaviors. One that we get asked about a lot is the way horses stand together. This is a very common behavior, where horses will stand head to tail in a line. For us humans, it seems very strange that a horse would want their head so close to another’s tail and their butt. However, standing head to tail is very beneficial for horses.

Why do horses stand head to tail?

The main reasons that horses stand head to tail are fleas, vision, mating, and getting to know each other.

Fleas

You are probably well aware that fleas and flies love resting on horses, especially on their head and nose. This can be very problematic for horses, because unlike humans they do not have a hand to swat the flies away. Thus, horses have found a different way to get the fleas off their head. By standing head to tail with another horse, they can use the other horse’s butt as a scratcher. When flies land on their face, they can just rub them off by rubbing their face against the other horses backside. 

Vision

Standing head to tail is actually a survival technique to improve vision. By standing head to tail with another horse, they have a 360 degree angle of their surroundings. Therefore, if anything or anyone approaches (especially predators), the horse can alert the other one when they see something. This behavior dates back thousands of years to when horses were only living in the wild.

Mating

Standing head to toe is very common for two horses that are mating. By standing head to toe, they can nudge the other one with love taps, thus showing their affection for each other. They can use their nose and head to scratch the other horse’s back and butt. This can be compared to a human couple taking turns giving each other back scratches. 

Getting to know each other

Similar to other animals, horses have very distinct scents that they used to distinguish one another. When two horses meet for the first time, they might stand head to toe to get a good scent of the other horse. This is similar to the behavior when two dogs meet and they instantly smell their private parts. 

Is standing head to tail normal for horses

Yes, as you can see from the above examples, standing head to toe is 100% natural for horses.