Abstract：
In captivity, intact male horses, due to their sexual drive, are usually socially isolated from other horses. This lifestyle strongly contrasts with that experienced by horses living in free-roaming, feral, or semi-feral conditions, where adult stallions have several roles in their social group, with successful reproduction being their primary drive. Reproductive skew in wild populations is high; many stallions will fail to reproduce at all, while others achieve high levels of reproductive success, siring a large number of foals. Successful stallions are those with particular characteristics and abilities that facilitate harem formation and tenure, allowing them to successfully take over a harem or establish a new one, protect mares from rival stallions, employ appropriate social behaviour to maintain group cohesion, and avoid kin-mating, for example through kin recognition mechanisms. Whilst the life of free-living stallions is far from stress-free, they retain ancestral adaptations to selection pressures (such as predation and competition) exhibited by their natural environment over thousands of years. Here, we discuss the challenges faced by free-living horse stallions, the roles they play in social groups, and their resulting social needs. By understanding these pressures and how stallions react to them, we highlighted the importance of the social environment for the stallion. It is hoped that a better understanding of wild stallions\' lives will lead to their needs being more clearly met in captivity, reducing stereotypical behaviour and improving welfare.
摘要：
在囚禁中，完整的雄性马,因为他们的性欲,通常与其他马匹隔离。这种生活方式与自由漫游的马匹所经历的生活方式形成了强烈的对比，费拉尔，或半野生条件，成年种马在他们的社会群体中有几个角色，成功的繁殖是他们的主要动力。野生种群的生殖偏斜很高；许多种马根本无法繁殖，而其他人获得了高水平的生殖成功，牵着大量的小马驹。成功的种马是那些具有特殊特征和能力的种马，可以促进后宫的形成和任期，让他们成功接管后宫或建立新的后宫，保护母马免受敌对种马的侵害,采用适当的社会行为来保持群体凝聚力，避免亲属交配，例如通过亲属识别机制。虽然自由生活的种马的生活远非无压力，他们保留了祖先对自然环境几千年来表现出的选择压力（如捕食和竞争）的适应。这里,我们讨论自由生活的马匹所面临的挑战，他们在社会群体中扮演的角色，以及由此产生的社会需求。通过了解这些压力以及种马对它们的反应，我们强调了社会环境对种马的重要性。希望更好地了解野马的生活将导致他们的需求在圈养中得到更明确的满足，减少陈规定型行为，改善福利。
