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Krueger, K.; Flauger, B.; Farmer, K.; Hemelrijk, C. |
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Title |
Movement initiation in groups of feral horses |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Behavioural Processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
Behav. Process. |
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103 |
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91-101 |
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Horse; Equus ferus caballus; Distributed leadership; Herding; Departure; Rank |
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Abstract |
Abstract Herds of ungulates, flocks of birds, swarms of insects and schools of fish move in coordinated groups. Computer models show that only one or very few animals are needed to initiate and direct movement. To investigate initiation mechanisms further, we studied two ways in which movement can be initiated in feral horses: herding, and departure from the group. We examined traits affecting the likelihood of a horse initiating movement i.e. social rank, affiliative relationships, spatial position, and social network. We also investigated whether group members join a movement in dominance rank order. Our results show that whereas herding is exclusive to alpha males, any group member may initiate movement by departure. Social bonds, the number of animals interacted with, and the spatial position were not significantly associated with movement initiation. We did not find movement initiation by departure to be exclusive to any type of individual. Instead we find evidence for a limited form of distributed leadership, with higher ranking animals being followed more often. |
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0376-6357 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5738 |
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Author |
Gibbs, P.G.; Cohen, N.D. |
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Title |
Early management of race-bred weanlings and yearlings on farms |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2001 |
Publication |
Journal of Equine Veterinary Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Equine Vet. Sci. |
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Volume |
21 |
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6 |
Pages |
279-283 |
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Equine, management, growth, nutrition, marketing |
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Abstract |
A total of 58 Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse farms
that managed 1,987 weanlings and yearlings responded to
a survey designed to better characterize early management
of racing prospects. Average age at weaning was 5.5 months
and over half of all farms kept almost three-fourths of all
weanlings to be placed in pre-race training. Variation in
feeding practices was evident and while well over half
of all farms provided balanced nutrient supply to young
horses, 20% to 40% likely fed unbalanced diets. An obvious
preference existed for semi-confinement in young horses
with plenty of free exercise. The majority of farms reported
that young prospects were fed and managed for a moderate
rate of growth. Forced exercise occurred to a much larger
extent with yearlings than weanlings and 40% of farms
described the footing as soft, but not deep. Response to the
prevalence of developmental orthopedic diseases appeared
somewhat guarded, and average injury rate was low on
farms that attributed much of injury to horses playing too
hard. Technological advancements such as photoperiod
manipulation in broodmares were widely used, while
valuable tools such as body condition scoring were utilized
to a lesser extent. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5758 |
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Wolter, R.; Pantel, N.; Stefanski, V.; Möstl, E.; Krueger, K. |
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Title |
The role of an alpha animal in changing environmental conditions |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2014 |
Publication |
Physiology & Behavior |
Abbreviated Journal |
Physiol. Behav. |
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133 |
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236-243 |
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Alpha male; Horse; Equus ferus przewalskii; Bachelor group; Group structure |
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Abstract The maintenance and development of conservation areas by grazing of large herbivores, such as Przewalski's horses, is common practice. Several nature conservation areas house male bachelor groups of this species. When males are needed for breeding they are removed from the groups, often without considering group compositions and individual social positions. However, alpha animals are needed for ensuring group stability and decision making in potentially dangerous situations in several species. To investigate the role of the alpha male in a bachelor group, we observed the behaviour of five Przewalski's horse males during the enlargement of their enclosure. We analyzed the group's social structure and movement orders, as well as the animals' connectedness, activity budgets, and whether they moved with preferred group members and how factors such as social rank influenced the horses' behaviour. We also investigated the excretion of glucocorticoid metabolites (GCM) via faeces of the horses while exploring a new area as a parameter of glucocorticoid production. Our results show that the alpha male is important for a bachelor group in changing environmental conditions. The alpha male had the highest level of connectedness within the group. When exploring the new environment, its position in the group changed from previously being the last to being the first. Furthermore the whole group behaviour changed when exploring the new area. The stallions showed reduced resting behavior, increased feeding and did not stay close to each other. We found that the excretion of glucocorticoid metabolites of most horses rose only marginally during the first days on the new area while only the alpha male showed a significant increased amount of glucocorticoid production during the first day of the enclosure enlargement. |
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0031-9384 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5818 |
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Brinkmann, L.; Gerken, M.; Hambly, C.; Speakman, J.R.; Riek, A. |
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Title |
Saving energy during hard times: Energetic adaptations of Shetland pony mares |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2014 |
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The Journal of Experimental Biology |
Abbreviated Journal |
J. Exp. Biol. |
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217 |
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4320-4327 |
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Recent results suggest that wild Northern herbivores reduce their metabolism during times of low ambient temperatures and food shortage in order to reduce their energetic needs. It is however not known if domesticated animals are also able to reduce their energy expenditure. We exposed ten Shetland pony mares to different environmental conditions (summer and winter) and to two food quantities (60 and 100% of maintenance energy requirement, respectively) during low winter temperatures to examine energetic and behavioural responses. In summer ponies showed a considerably higher field metabolic rate (FMR) (63.4±15.0 MJ d-1) compared to restrictively fed and control animals in winter (24.6±7.8 MJ d-1 and 15.0±1.1 MJ d-1, respectively). During summer conditions locomotor activity, resting heart rates and total water turnover were considerably elevated (P<0.001) compared to winter. Restrictively fed animals (N=5) compensated for the decreased energy supply by reducing their FMR by 26% compared to control animals (N=5). Furthermore, resting heart rate, body mass and body condition score were lower (29.2±2.7 beats min-1; 140±22 kg; 3.0±1.0 points) than in control animals (36.8±41 beats min-1; 165 ±31 kg; 4.4±0.7 points; P<0.05). While the observed behaviour did not change, nocturnal hypothermia was elevated. We conclude that ponies acclimatize to different climatic conditions by changing their metabolic rate, behaviour and some physiological parameters. When exposed to energy challenges, ponies, like wild herbivores, exhibited hypometabolism and nocturnal hypothermia. |
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10.1242/jeb.111815 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5836 |
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Author |
Lovrovich, P.; Sighieri, C.; Baragli, P. |
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Title |
Following human-given cues or not? Horses (Equus caballus) get smarter and change strategy in a delayed three choice task |
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Journal Article |
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2015 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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166 |
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80-88 |
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Highlights
�Horses remember the location of food hidden by the experimenter after a delay.
�They understand the communicative meaning of a human positioned close to the target.
�The same horses are capable of changing their decision-making strategy.
�They are able to shift from accuracy inferred from human given cues to speed.
�Horses can use human cues or not depending on time, cost, experience and reward.
Abstract
To date, horses have seemed capable of using human local enhancement cues only when the experimenter remains close to the reward, since they fail to understand the communicative meaning of the human as momentary local enhancement cue (when the human is not present at the moment of the animal's choice). This study was designed to analyse the ability of horses to understand, remember and use human-given cues in a delayed (10 s) three-choice task. Twelve horses (experimental group) had to find a piece of carrot hidden under one of three overturned buckets after seeing the experimenter hide it. The results were then compared with those of a control group (twelve horses) that had to find the carrot using only the sense of smell or random attempts. At the beginning, the experimental horses made more correct choices at the first attempt, although they took more time to find the carrot. Later the same horses were less accurate but found the carrot in less time. This suggests that the value of the proximal momentary local enhancement cues became less critical. It seemed, in fact, that the experimental and control group had aligned their behaviour as the trials proceeded. Despite this similarity, in the second half of the trials, the experimental group tended to first approach the bucket where they had found the carrot in the immediately preceding trial. Our findings indicate that horses are capable of remembering the location of food hidden by the experimenter after a delay, by using the human positioned close to the target as valuable information. The same horses are also capable of changing their decision-making strategy by shifting from the accuracy inferred from human given cues to speed. Therefore, horses are able to decide whether or not to use human given-cues, depending on a speed-accuracy trade-off. |
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Elsevier |
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doi: 10.1016/j.applanim.2015.02.017 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5849 |
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Author |
Töpfer, D.; Wolter, R.; Krueger, K. |
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Fallstudie zum Platzangebot, Verhalten und Wohlbefinden der Pferde (Equus caballus) in Mehrraum-Außenlaufställen mit Aus-lauf und Bewegungsställen [A case study to space, behavior and well-being of horses (Equus caballus) in open stables and open active stables] |
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2014 |
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KTBL Schriften |
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Verhaltensbeobachtungen erfolgten an 112 Pferden in Mehrraum-Außenlaufställen mit Auslauf und Bewegungsställen. Bei vermehrtem Platzangebot sinkt das agonistische Verhalten in Bewegungsställen außerhalb des Fressbereiches. Mit zunehmender Stallgröße (überdachte Fläche und Auslauf) steigt in beiden Haltungsverfahren das affiliative Verhalten während das agonistische Verhalten mit Verletzungsrisiko sinkt. Daher wird für beide Haltungsverfahren ein möglichst großzügiger Stall je Pferd empfohlen. Die beobachteten Erkrankungen der letzten zwölf Monate zeigen vermehrt Hautkrankheiten in den Mehrraum-Außenlaufställen mit Auslauf, wohingegen Hufgeschwüre in Bewegungsställen auftraten. Wird der Fütterungsaspekt in den Bewegungsställen betrachtet, so ist die Transponderfütterung in Kombination mit ad libitum Fütterung aufgrund des deutlich geringeren, agonistischen Verhaltens beim Fressen, der reinen Transponderfütterung vorzuziehen. Mehrraum-Außenlaufställe mit Auslauf haben den Vorteil der synchronen Nahrungsaufnahme.
[The behaviour of 112 horses was observed in open stables and open active stables. Horses show less agonistic behaviour outside of the feeding area in open active stables as the space for each horse is augmented. Also the affiliative behaviour increases as a function of more space per horse while agonistic behaviour with a risk for injury decreases. These results are independent from the husbandry system. Due to this fact a stable with a larger area per horse is recommended. Diseases of the last twelve month were recorded and show skin diseases in open stables and abscesses in the hooves in open active stables. To consider the feeding in open active stables it was found that horses which were fed with hay controlled by transponders showed more agonistic behaviour in contrast to horses being fed using transponders but with access to hay ad libitum. Thus transponder feeding in combination with ad libitum feeding is recommended. Open stables have the advantage of synchronized feeding.] |
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KTBL |
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Darmstadt |
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KTBL Schriften |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5862 |
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Author |
Krueger, K. |
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Title |
Das Pferd im Blickpunkt der Wissenschaft |
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2010 |
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Xenophon Verlag |
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Wald |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6009 |
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Guidi, A.; Lanata, A.; Valenza, G.; Scilingo, E.P.; Baragli, P. |
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Title |
Validation of smart textile electrodes for electrocardiogram monitoring in free-moving horses |
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2017 |
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Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research |
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J. Vet. Behav. |
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17 |
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19-23 |
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This article focuses on the validation of smart textile electrodes used to acquire electrocardiogram (ECG) signals in horses in a comfortable and robust manner. The performance of smart textile electrodes is compared with standard Ag/AgCl electrodes in terms of the percentage of motion artifacts (MAs, the noise that results from the movement of electrodes against the skin) and signal quality. Seven healthy Standardbred mares were equipped with 2 identical electronic systems for the simultaneous collection of ECGs. One system was equipped with smart textile electrodes, whereas the second was equipped with standard Ag/AgCl electrodes. Each horse was then monitored individually in a stall for 1 hour, without any movement constraints. The ECGs were visually examined by an expert who blindly labeled the ECG segments that had been corrupted by MAs. Finally, the percentage of MAs (MA%) was computed as the number of samples of the corrupted segments over the whole length of the signal. The total MA% was found to be lower for the smart textiles than for the Ag/AgCl electrodes. Consistent results were also obtained by investigating MAs over time. These results suggest that smart textile electrodes are more reliable when recording artifact-free ECGs in horses at rest. Thus, improving the acquisition of important physiological information related to the activity of the autonomic nervous system, such as heart rate variability, could help to provide reliable information on the mood and state of arousal of horses. |
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Elsevier |
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1558-7878 |
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doi: 10.1016/j.jveb.2016.10.001 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6213 |
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Author |
Vetvik, H.; Grewal, H.M.S.; Haugen, I.L.; Åhrén, C.; Haneberg, B. |
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Title |
Mucosal antibodies can be measured in air-dried samples of saliva and feces |
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1998 |
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Journal of Immunological Methods |
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215 |
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1–2 |
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163-172 |
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Saliva; Feces; IgA; IgG; Air-drying |
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IgA antibodies reflecting airways or intestinal mucosal immune responses can be found in saliva and feces, respectively, and IgG antibodies reflecting serum antibodies can be found in saliva. In this study, antibodies were detected in samples of saliva and feces which had been air-dried at room temperature (+20°C) or +37°C, and stored at these temperatures for up to 6 months. In saliva the antibody levels increased, while the antibodies in feces decreased upon storage. The individual IgA antibody concentrations which were adjusted by using the ratios of specific IgA/total IgA were relatively stable in both saliva and feces, and correlated with corresponding antibody levels in samples which had been stored at -20°C. The results indicate that air-dried saliva and feces can be used for semiquantitative measurements of mucosal antibodies, even after prolonged storage at high temperatures and lack of refrigeration. |
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0022-1759 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5996 |
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Author |
Mejdell, C.M.; Buvik, T.; Jørgensen, G.H.M.; Bøe, K.E. |
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Title |
Horses can learn to use symbols to communicate their preferences |
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Journal Article |
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2016 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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184 |
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66-73 |
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Operant conditioning; Blanket; Rug; Thermoregulation; Cognition; Clicker training |
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Abstract This paper describes a method in which horses learn to communicate by touching different neutral visual symbols, in order to tell the handler whether they want to have a blanket on or not. Horses were trained for 10–15 min per day, following a training program comprising ten steps in a strategic order. Reward based operant conditioning was used to teach horses to approach and touch a board, and to understand the meaning of three different symbols. Heat and cold challenges were performed to help learning and to check level of understanding. At certain stages, a learning criterion of correct responses for 8–14 successive trials had to be achieved before proceeding. After introducing the free choice situation, on average at training day 11, the horse could choose between a “no change” symbol and the symbol for either “blanket on” or “blanket off” depending on whether the horse already wore a blanket or not. A cut off point for performance or non-performance was set to day 14, and 23/23 horses successfully learned the task within this limit. Horses of warm-blood type needed fewer training days to reach criterion than cold-bloods (P < 0.05). Horses were then tested under differing weather conditions. Results show that choices made, i.e. the symbol touched, was not random but dependent on weather. Horses chose to stay without a blanket in nice weather, and they chose to have a blanket on when the weather was wet, windy and cold (χ2 = 36.67, P < 0.005). This indicates that horses both had an understanding of the consequence of their choice on own thermal comfort, and that they successfully had learned to communicate their preference by using the symbols. The method represents a novel tool for studying preferences in horses. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6022 |
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