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Author Hausberger, M.; Fureix, C.; Bourjade, M.; Wessel-Robert, S.; Richard-Yris, M.-A.
Title On the significance of adult play: what does social play tell us about adult horse welfare? Type Journal Article
Year 2012 Publication Abbreviated Journal Naturwissenschaften
Volume 99 Issue 4 Pages 291-302
Keywords Social play; Stress indicators; Animal welfare; Domestic horse
Abstract (up) Play remains a mystery and adult play even more so. More typical of young stages in healthy individuals, it occurs rarely at adult stages but then more often in captive/domestic animals, which can imply spatial, social and/or feeding deprivations or restrictions that are challenging to welfare, than in animals living in natural conditions. Here, we tested the hypothesis that adult play may reflect altered welfare states and chronic stress in horses, in which, as in several species, play rarely occurs at adult stages in natural conditions. We observed the behaviour (in particular, social play) of riding school horses during occasional outings in a paddock and measured several stress indicators when these horses were in their individual home boxes. Our results revealed that (1) the number of horses and rates of adult play appeared very high compared to field report data and (2) most stress indicators measured differed between ‘players’ and ‘non-players’, revealing that most ‘playful’ animals were suffering from more chronic stress than ‘non-playful’ horses. Frequency of play behaviour correlated with a score of chronic stress. This first discovery of a relationship between adult play and altered welfare opens new lines of research that certainly deserves comparative studies in a variety of species.
Address
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Springer-Verlag Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0028-1042 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5649
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Author McGreevy, P.; Yeates, J.
Title Horses (Equus caballus) Type Book Chapter
Year 2018 Publication Companion Animal Care and Welfare Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages
Keywords animal company; behavioural signs; diseases; domestic horses; euthanasia; human interaction; nutritional requirements
Abstract (up) Summary Domestic horses are equid members of the class Mammalia, order Perissodactyla, and family Equidae. Horses are obligate herbivores, with nutritional requirements as listed in a table. Adequate space is necessary for exercise, exploration, flight, sharing resources, play, and rolling. Company is essential for all horses, including stallions. Company provides opportunities for mutual grooming and play and allows horses to stand head-to-tail to remove flies. Unhandled horses may respond to humans as they would to predators, whereas handled horses' responses depend on their previous interactions with humans. Horses can suffer from several diseases as listed in another table. The best method of euthanasia of horses is usually sedation followed by either cranial shooting or the injection of an overdose of pentobarbitone into the jugular vein. Behavioural signs of distress can include increased locomotory activity, vigilance behaviours, neighing, snorting, pawing, nibbling walls and buckets, defaecation, rearing, kicking stable walls or doors, and high-stepping 'prancing'.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Wiley Online Books Abbreviated Series Title Companion Animal Care and Welfare
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN 9781119333708 Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes doi:10.1002/9781119333708.ch13 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6506
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Author Christensen, J.W.; Zharkikh, T.; Ladewig, J.; Yasinetskaya, N.
Title Social behaviour in stallion groups (Equus przewalskii and Equus caballus) kept under natural and domestic conditions Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 76 Issue 1 Pages 11-20
Keywords Domestic horse; Przewalski horse; Stallion group; Social behaviour; Equus caballus; Equus przewalskii
Abstract (up) The aim of this study was to investigate social behaviour in differently reared stallions in their respective environments; one group of stallions was reared under typical domestic conditions whereas the other group was reared and lives under natural conditions. The domestic group consisted of 19, 2-year-old stallions (Equus caballus), which were all weaned at 4 months of age and experienced either individual or group housing facilities before being pastured with the other similarly aged stallions. The natural living and mixed age group of Przewalski stallions (E. przewalskii) consisted of 13 stallions, most of which were juveniles (n=11, <=4 years; n=2, >9 years). The domestic group was studied in a 4-ha enclosure at the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences and the Przewalski group under free-ranging conditions in a 75-ha enclosure in the Askania Nova Biosphere Reserve, Ukraine. Behavioural data was collected during 168 h of direct observation. The occurrence of 14 types of social interactions was recorded and group spacing behaviour was studied using nearest neighbour recordings. In spite of very different environments, reflecting domestic and natural rearing conditions, many similarities in behaviour was found. Play and play fight behaviour was very similar in the two stallion groups. Quantitative differences were found in social grooming since Przewalski stallions groomed more frequently (P=0.004), and in investigative behaviours, since domestic stallions showed more nasal (P=0.005) and body sniffing (P<0.001), whereas Przewalski stallions directed more sniffing towards the genital region (P<0.001). These differences may, however, be attributed to environmental factors and in the period of time the stallions were together prior to the study period. Quantitative differences appeared in some agonistic behaviours (kick threat, P<0.001; and kick, P<0.001), but data do not support earlier findings of Przewalski horses being significantly more aggressive than domestic horses. In general, Przewalski stallions engaged in more social interactions, and they showed less group spacing, i.e. maintained a significantly shorter distance between neighbours (P<0.001). The study indicates that also domestic horses, which have been reared under typical domestic conditions and allowed a period on pasture, show social behaviour, which is very similar to that shown by their non-domestic relatives.
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Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 776
Permanent link to this record