Locomotory stereotypic behaviors involve an abnormal pacing or walking of the animal within its confined space. The pacing usually has repetitive patterns, please see below the scheme of the patterns illustrated by Clubb and Vickery (2006):

• Who is mainly affected?

Locomotion stereotypies affect all kinds of farm animals, but the prevalence has been found pretty high among horses – up to 15% of farmed horses performed locomotion stereotypies (Houpt, 1993) Note: Locomotion stereotypies start over a long distance and decrease over time (Houpt, 1993)

Examples of common locomotory stereotypic behaviors:

Pacing: It involves the walking of the animal in a consistent speed through a common pattern. Below is an example of a mink pacing within its enclosure – minks are common farmed species in Europe (Clubb and Vickery, 2006) .

Pawing:  This is a behavior usually observed among tied up horses, it involves a repetitive scraping of the floor – illustrated by the YouTube video below (Jc Fricot).

Other examples: 

• Swinging: Moving body back and forth or from side to side
• Kicking: Kicking the box repetitively with no purpose