Abstract: Some behaviours remain a mystery and their determinants are still uncertain. Here we propose a critical interpretation of two puzzling behaviours, i.e. yawning and adult play, recorded in large samples of domestic horses kept in sub-optimal conditions (e.g. time-restricted feeding practices, social isolation). Yawning is involved in behavioural state changes, especially in quiet contexts of motor relaxation, but seems also to be triggered by stress and emotional contexts. Thus, we investigated specific correlates of yawning and stereotypic behaviours in two large samples of working horses (n1 = 87, n2 = 59). A clear co-occurrences of yawning and stereotypic behaviours appeared: stereotypic horses yawned more than the non-stereotypic horses (Fisher test, p < 0.02), yawning increased at the same time periods as stereotypic behaviours did (Wilcoxon tests, p < 0.05 to 0.001) and yawning frequency was even sometimes positively correlated with stereotypic behaviour frequencies (Spearman correlations, p < 0.005). Play, more typical of young stages in healthy individuals, occurs rarely at adult stages but then more often in captive/domestic animals (which can be challenging to welfare) than in animals living in natural conditions. Thus, we tested the hypothesis that adult play may reflect altered welfare states in horses, where, as in several species, play rarely occurs at adult stages in natural conditions. We observed the behaviour (in particular social play) of 29 adult riding school horses during occasional outings in a paddock and measured several stress indicators (health-related, behavioural and physiological) when these horses were in their home individual boxes. Results revealed that the number of horses and rates of adult play appeared very high compared to field report data and that most stress indicators measured differed between “players” and “non-players”, revealing that most “playful” animals were more prone to suffer from chronic stress contrarily to “non-playful” horses (Fisher, Chi-square, Mann-Whitney and Spearman correlation tests, p < 0.05 to 0.001). Altogether, these results show that yawning and adult play can both reflect altered welfare states in horses, highlighting that these puzzling behaviours should not be considered, as currently thought, as reliable indicators of good welfare states and / or expression of positive emotions.

Abstract: Temperament is an important factor when working with horses. Behavioral tests have been developed to measure certain dimensions in horses. Relations between temperament and ability to riding activity have been highlighted (Lansade 2008a). The aims of this study were 1) to evaluate the effect of age on temperament, 2) to verify that temperament are related to breeds 3) to check if the ease to be ridden is in relation with temperament, on a first set of data. Five dimensions of temperament have been measured in 98 field stallions (Table 1). They were tested as described by Lansade (2008 a,b): fearfulness/curiosity (tests: crossing a novel aera, suddenly opening an umbrella, novel object), gregariousness (test: isolation), locomotor activity (during the other tests), reactivity/curiosity to a non familiar human (tests: passive and active human), tactile (Von Frey filament) and auditory sensitivities. Table 1: Number of stallions according to breed (or group of breeds) and age. Breeds or groups of breeds Young (<13 years) Old (>=13 <20 years) Merens 1 15 10 Leasure horse breeds 2 13 10 Jumping pony breeds 3 / 20 Jumping horse breeds4 9 10 Arabians / 11 Total 37 61 (1) Merens : french mountain horse breed (2) Appaloosa, Barbe, Lusitanian, Polish, Paint (3) French Saddle Pony, Connemara, New Forest, Welsh (4) French Saddle Horse, Anglo-Arab, KWPN, Foreign breeds Effect of age. Due to imbalanced data, only stallions from 3 breed groups were compared (29 young ones selected at random and 30 old ones). Young stallions presented a higher emotivity (more elevated distance/intensity of the flight after umbrella opening (P=0.001)) and curiosity (more sniffings/nibblings the passive human (P=0.04) and the novel object (P<0.0001)) compared to old ones. Relation with breed groups. In young stallions, differences were noted : in the number of trots during social isolation (P=0.001) and in the tactile sensitivity (P=0.005). Merens had smaller values than Jumping horses for these 2 variables. In older stallions, differences were also noted: in the number of sniffings/nibblings the novel object (P=0.04), in the manner to cross the novel aera (P=0.03), in the distance and intensity of the flight after umbrella opening (P=0.04), in the number of trots during isolation (P=0.02) and in the tactile sensitivity (P=0.03). Merens had lower reactivity compared: 1) to Arabians (for novel aera) and 2) compared to Jumping ponies and Jumping horses (for isolation and tactile sensitivity). Minimal level of rider. Stallions of all ages and breeds were divided into 3 groups according to the level of riders able to ride them safely, according to a questionnaire: beginners, intermediate level and pre-national competition level. Stallions adapted to beginners showed lower values in the number of trots during isolation (P=0.02) and in the tactile sensitivity (P=0.03) than stallions rode by pre-competition level riders. Conclusion : The intensity of fear reactions to suddenness decreased with age. Differences between breeds and eases of use have been related to temperament measurements.

Abstract: The aim of the study was to evaluate the Hungarian Sporthorse population based on eventing competition performance. The database contained the results of 792 horses and 449 riders between 1996 and 2006. The eventing results were gathered from Hungary and other European countries. Blom transformed ranks were used to measure competition performance. Sporthorses competed in fourteen categories but only the easiest category (category ’A’) contained enough result to handle it as a single category (model I.). The other 13 categories were handled together based on professional reasons in a different model (model II.). In model III., all records were analysed together and the results were weighted according to the difficulty of the category. The competition results were classified into eight groups, each group had a weight (0-7) and it was multiplied by a constant 3, and the result of this formula was added to the original Blom score. The linear mixed models included fixed effects for age, sex, breeder, owner, location, year and random effects for animal and rider. The model II. contained one more fix effect for difficulty of the competition level. The distribution of number of horses and number of starts by sex were heterogeneous (P<0.05). For category ’A’ mares and geldings appeared in higher proportion, despite this fact ratio of stallions is greater in higher competition levels. Considering the goodness of fit in each model, model fitting to the weighted Blom scores was the best R2=0.82. In model III. every fix effects (age, sex, breeder, owner, location, year) were significant. Random effects for animal and rider were not significant, but form professional point of view they need to be included in the model. The variance components estimated for the weighted Blom scores were the highest also (0.52 rider effect, 0.09 animal effect), the animal x rider interaction effect was zero. The variance proportion of rider effect exceeded the variance proportion of animal effect in each model. Breeding values of eventing performance were predicted using model III. The reliability of the estimated breeding values was acceptable for only a few stallions. To improve the reliability of breeding values, more progenies should be used in eventing competitions (as a kind of progeny test) and more competition records needed (as a kind of own performance test).

Abstract: The aim of was to compare of biochemical and haematological parameters in the aging process in a cold-blooded mares breed Norik Murá&#328; type. 27 of breeding mares Norik Murá&#328; type without pathological symptoms in horse breeding farm in Dobšiná (Slovakia) were used in this study. Mares were divided by age into four groups: A (n = 7, 5-8 years), B (n = 6, 9-15), C (n = 7, 16-20) and D (n = 7, 21-23). Blood samples were collected from v. jugularis externa by needles (Vacutainer ® Precision Glide ™, BD Diagnostics, USA) in serum tubes (Serum-SST TM II Advance, BD Diagnostics, USA) in the morning hours, kept at 8 to 10 °C and analyzed as soon as possible. Biochemical parameters of blood serum like aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), creatinine (CREA), urea (Urea), albumin (ALB) and glucose (Glu) were analyzed using biochemical analyzer Cobas c 111 (Roche, Switzerland). Reference values were determined by Laboratory of Clinical Biochemistry and Haematology (UVMF, Košice). Were used a same nutrition for all mares. The results were statistically processed using Student\'s t-test. The concentrations of AST decreased in mares with aging (A=5.69 ± 1.13 &#956;kat/l; B=5.36 ± 0.9 &#956;kat/l; C=5.13 ± 1.1 &#956;kat/l), but in the oldest mares (D=5.88 ± 1.37 &#956;kat/l). were higher than the youngest age group A. Were found no significant differences between groups (P> 0,05). The concentrations of ALP increased with age (A=2.47 ± 0.3 &#956;kat/l; C=2.66 ± 0.43 &#956;kat/l; D=2.77 ± 1.17 &#956;kat/l), but in the middle age mares were found (B= 2;44 ± 0.46 &#956;kat/l) (P> 0,05). Crea concentrations had a decreasing trend (A=139.1 ± 37.49 &#956;mol/l; B=118.45 ± 23.18 &#956;mol/l; C=119.31 ± 19.85 &#956;mol/l; D=111.59 ± 21.08 &#956;mol/l) (P> 0,05). Urea increased with age (A=7.88 ± 2.04 mmol/l, B= 7.97 ± 0.8 mmol/l, D= 8.29 ± 1.23 mmol/l) except C (7.76 ± 0.85 mmol/l) (P> 0,05). ALB decreased with age (A=31.34 ± 3.24 g/l; B=30.03 ± 2.41 g/l; C=30±2.77 g/l; D=29.67± 2.85 g/l) (P> 0,05). Also glucose concentrations were lower in older mares (A=4.51 ± 0.99 mmol/l; B=4.69 ± 1.05 mmol/l; C= 4.69 ± 1.05 mmol/l; D =4.03 ± 0.64 mmol/l) (P> 0,05). Significantly differences were found in leukocytes between group A =2,76±1,82 g/l versus groups B=6,74±0,56 g/l, C =6,46±1,14 g/l and D =6,13±1,61 g/l (P<0.05), also in neutrophiles between A=2,06±1,26 109/l versus B= 3,47±1,17 109/l, C =3,12±0,9 109/l and D =2,88±0,71 109/l (P<0.05). Were found significantly differences in eosinophiles between group A =0,06±0,09 109/l versus groups B=0,21±0,17 109/l, C=0,19±0,1 109/l and D=0,12±0,11 109/l (P<0.05), also in lymphocytes between A=4,59±1,59109/l versus B =2,95±1,04109/l, C=2,99±1,14109/l and D=2,65±1,87109/l (P<0.05). This research evaluated selected biochemical and haematological parameters of breed mares Norik Murá&#328; type of different ages. We found that age affects these indices in mares Norik Murá&#328; type. Data from this study may enhance our understanding of the biochemical parameters in this species, allowing a veterinarian to fix the interpretation of laboratory data and give these animals the appropriate care. This study was supported by grant from the Ministry of Education VEGA 1/0498/12 of the Slovak Republic.

Abstract: The global positioning system (GPS) has been used to record activity and monitor habitat use in many animal species. In the horse (Equus caballus) the monitoring of activity and feeding patterns has been used to assess the impact of environmental factors on behaviour and welfare. In free-ranging animals GPS can provide such information but the accuracy and reliability of these devices has yet to be confirmed. The aim of this study was: 1) to compare the results of visual observation with GPS recordings of the horse’s head and neck position (head up (HU) and down (HD)) used to quantify time spent grazing; 2) to test the use of GPS collars to monitor activity patterns where distance, speed and location paths were recorded. In both studies two animals were fitted with Lotek GPS 3300S collars (with integrated GPS data logger and removable battery pack) round the top of the neck. In study 1 two horses were fitted with collars and turned loose into a 20x40m sand arena for 45 minutes. Feed balls and hay were provided (in nets and on the ground) to encourage movement and feeding behaviour for comparison using the two methods (observation from digital video recordings and GPS). HD was recorded by the GPS collars for a significantly longer time (interpreted as feeding/grazing time) than that recorded by observation (p=0.004). However when the visual observation was split into HU, HD and also head in mid-way position (HMW), where the nose of the horse was level or just above the chest, then no difference between the collar (HU and HD) and visual observation for (HU and HD+HMW) was found. It is likely that when in HMW the GPS collar may not be sufficiently angled to trigger the sensor to record HU or the collar may move on the neck. Conclusions relating to time spent feeding should be treated with caution. In study 2, the collars were fitted to two ponies with access to 2.02 hectares of lowland grazing. Activity (distance travelled and speed) and location was recorded for 2 days. The total distance travelled by the ponies in 24 hours (2.84km) and their average speed (4.04m/minute) was calculated and showed no significant difference between day and night. The total area was split into four equal segments and there was no significant difference in the time the ponies spent in each area although they were found to move at slower speeds and stand for longer in some areas. Movement paths could be identified by inputting the GPS collar data into ArcGIS and viewed on Google Maps. There was a high level of comparability observed between the two ponies confirming behavioural synchronicity. As in other species, the use of GPS collars to monitor the movement and location of horses/ponies was found to be effective, but data relating to head position did not provide a reliable means of recording the time spent feeding.