In terms of ethology, horses are herd animals and flight animals. The form of husbandry closest to their natural way of life was in the herds of feral horses set up by landowners and lords of the manor on patches of land unsuitable for other uses (e.g. marshy or parched ground) and in open woodland (Forest), sometimes as early as the Middle Ages. Some of these developed into semiferal herds during the early modern period, with stallions introduced deliberately and feed provided in case of shortages…