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Author McCall, C.A. url  openurl
  Title A Review of Learning Behavior in Horses and its Application in Horse Training Type Journal Article
  Year 1990 Publication Journal of Animal Science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.  
  Volume 68 Issue 1 Pages 75-81  
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  Abstract A literature review of the equine learning research conducted in the past 20 yr revealed that the purpose of most of the studies was to determine whether horses respond to learning situations in the same way that other animals do. The results indicated that horses can discriminate many different types of stimuli, and they learn through stimulus-response- reinforcement chains. Most equine learning studies have utilized learning tasks depending on primary positive reinforcement to get the horses to work the tests. Yet, the majority of horse trainers use negative reinforcement more often than primary positive reinforcement in their training procedures. Therefore, past research often did not have a direct application to training methods commonly utilized in the horse industry. Research also demonstrated that 1) early experiences of horses can affect learning ability later, 2) equine memory is efficient and 3) concentrating learning mals in long training sessions decreases equine learning efficiency. Many factors that might affect equine learning ability and be applicable to training practices in the horse industry have not been thoroughly investigated; for example, interactions between nutrition and learning and between exercise and learning, the use of negative and secondary reinforcements in horse training, and the horse's ability to make few initial errors compared to its ability to eliminate errors as training progresses all require investigation in future equine learning studies. N1 -  
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  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 1992  
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Author Rubin, L.; Oppegard, C.; Hindz, H.F. url  doi
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  Title The effect of varying the temporal distribution of conditioning trials on equine learning behavior Type Journal Article
  Year 1980 Publication Journal of Animal Science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.  
  Volume 50 Issue 6 Pages 1184-1187  
  Keywords Animals; Conditioning (Psychology); *Horses; *Learning  
  Abstract Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of varying the temporal distrbution of conditioning sessions on equine learning behavior. In the first experiment, 15 ponies were trained to clear a small hurdle in response to a buzzer in order to avoid a mild electric shock. Three treatments were used. One group received 10 learning trials daily, seven times a week; one group was trained in the same fashion two times a week and one group was trained once a week. The animals conditioned only once a week achieved a high level of performance in significantly fewer sessions than the ones conditioned seven times a week, although elapsed time from start of training to completion was two to three times greater for the former group. The twice-a-week group learned at an intermediate rate. In the second experiment, the ponies were rearranged into three new groups. They were taught to move backward a specific distance in response to a visual cue in order to avoid an electric shock. Again, one group was trained seven times a week, one group was trained two times and one group was trained once a week. As in the first experiment, the animals trained once a week achieved the learning criteria in significantly fewer sessions than those trained seven times a week, but, as in trial 1, elapsed time from start to finish was greater for them. The two times-a-week group learned at a rate in-between the rates of the other two groups.  
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  ISSN 0021-8812 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:7400060 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3558  
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Author Steelman, S.M.; Michael-Eller, E.M.; Gibbs, P.G.; Potter, G.D. url  doi
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  Title Meal size and feeding frequency influence serum leptin concentration in yearling horses Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Journal of Animal Science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.  
  Volume 84 Issue 9 Pages 2391-2398  
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  Abstract Energy is an essential nutrient for all horses, and it is especially important in performance horses, pregnant and lactating mares, and young growing horses. A negative energy balance in horses such as these may result in unsatisfactory performance, decreased fertility, or slow growth. Therefore, ensuring adequate energy intake is an important aspect of the nutritional management of the equine. This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of feeding large, carbohydrate-rich, concentrate meals on the satiety-inducing hormone, leptin. Three groups of yearling horses were rotated through 3 feeding schedules in a replicated 3x3 Latin square design. Horses were fed 2, 3, or 4 times per day (2x, 3x, and 4xfeeding schedules, respectively), each for a period of 11 d, with the total amount of daily feed held constant. Horses were weighed and BCS was determined on the first day of each period. Blood samples were collected before the morning meal on d 1, 4, and 7 of each period. Additionally, blood was sampled for the last 24 h of the 2xand 4xdietary periods. Neither weight nor BCS changed during the study (P = 0.99 and P = 0.28, respectively). Both mean and peak plasma glucose were greatest in 2xhorses (P < 0.05), as were mean areas under the curve. Serum leptin concentration increased in 2xhorses (P < 0.05), but not in horses fed 3 or 4 times daily. Leptin was elevated in horses with greater BCS (P < 0.05) and increased steadily throughout the study (P < 0.05). Data from the 24-h collection indicated that 2xhorses had fluctuations in leptin production throughout the day (P < 0.05), whereas horses fed 4 times daily did not. Overall, this study indicates that feeding horses 2 large concentrate meals daily can increase mean serum leptin concentrations and may cause fluctuations in leptin production over a 24-h period. This departure from baseline leptin concentration has the potential to affect appetite, along with numerous other physiological processes.  
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  Notes 10.2527/jas.2005-281 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3561  
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Author Sappington, B.F.; Goldman, L. url  openurl
  Title Discrimination learning and concept formation in the Arabian horse Type Journal Article
  Year 1994 Publication Journal of Animal Science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.  
  Volume 72 Issue 12 Pages 3080-3087  
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  Abstract Discrimination learning and concept formation abilities were investigated in four mature Arabian horses. A series of two-choice discrimination problems were presented on stimulus panels that could open to allow access to food bowls. Selection of the correct stimulus resulted in food reinforcement, and an incorrect choice was not rewarded. The positions of the correct and incorrect stimuli were varied randomly during each test session, and the criterion for learning each problem was 85% correct for two consecutive sessions of 30 or 40 trials. Testing progressed through six discrimination problems. The first four were simple pattern discriminations, but the last two incorporated several different triangles as correct stimuli and thus involved the concept of triangularity. Two of the subjects successfully completed only simple pattern discriminations, one showed evidence of learning in the first concept problem, and one completed all six tests, including the two concept formation problems. The results demonstrate complex pattern discrimination ability in horses, and suggest that they may also have the ability to form and use concepts in problem solving.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3569  
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Author Kratzer, D.D.; Netherland, W.M.; Pulse, R.E.; Baker, J.P. url  openurl
  Title Maze Learning in Quarter Horses Type Journal Article
  Year 1977 Publication Journal of Animal Science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.  
  Volume 45 Issue 4 Pages 896-902  
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  Abstract A two-compartment maze providing a single left- or right-side choice was used to test maze-learning ability in 37 quarter horses. Preference for left- or right-side choices varied among the horses. The taller and thinner horses tended to go left. The horses showed learning ability based on decreases in latency and decreases in errors as trials progressed in a right-side escape pattern. The rate of learning an opposite escape pattern, left-side escape, was faster but owing to the large number of errors occurring when the pattern was reversed, the level of errors did not reduce to a level comparable to that achieved in the right-side escape pattern until adverse stimuli were presented in the blind compartment. Heavier horses took longer to escape from the maze when adverse stimuli were presented. Differences in learning ability for horses fed various levels of dietary protein were not consistent. N1 -  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3574  
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Author Heird, J.C.; Lennon, A.M.; Bell, R.W. url  openurl
  Title Effects of early experience on the learning ability of yearling horses Type Journal Article
  Year 1981 Publication Journal of Animal Science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.  
  Volume 53 Issue 5 Pages 1204-1209  
  Keywords Animals; Conditioning (Psychology); Female; *Handling (Psychology); Horses/*physiology; *Learning  
  Abstract Twenty-four yearling Quarter Horse fillies were divided into three groups (I) very limited handling, (II) intermediate handling and (III) extensive handling. At about 14 months of age, each horse was preconditioned for 2 weeks and then run in a simple place-learning T-maze test in which it had to locate its feed. Thirty trials were run daily for 20 days, with the location of the feed changed each day. To retire from the maze, a horse had to meet the criterion: 11 correct responses in 12 tries, with the last eight being consecutive. Horses in Group II required the fewest trials to reach criterion. These horses also learned more and had the highest percentage of correct responses (P less than .05). Mean trainability tended to predict learning ability; however, trainability and trials to criterion were not significantly correlated. Mean emotionality scores indicated a tendency for horses in the intermediately handled group to be less emotional than those in Group I or III. Results indicated that horses with an intermediate amount of handling scored higher on an intermediate test of learning. All handled horses scored higher on learning tests than those not handled.  
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  ISSN 0021-8812 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:7319966 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3577  
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Author Sweeting, M.P.; Houpt, C.E.; Houpt, K.A. url  openurl
  Title Social Facilitation of Feeding and Time Budgets in Stabled Ponies Type Journal Article
  Year 1985 Publication Journal of Animal Science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.  
  Volume 60 Issue 2 Pages 369-374  
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  Abstract Eight pairs of pony mares were observed. Members of a pair were housed in adjacent stalls and fed hay ad libitum. The behavior of both ponies was recorded simultaneously in the morning (1000 to 1200 h) and afternoon (1400 to 1600 h) for a total of 117 h. The time budget was: 70.1 {+/-} 8.6% eating; 17.8 {+/-} 7.4% standing (including stand rest, stand alert and stand nonajert); 5.2 {+/-} 7.0% pushing hay; 2.9 {+/-} 1.2% walking; 1.9 {+/-} 2.9% drinking; 1.3 {+/-} 1.1% self-grooming; .2 {+/-} .3% defecating; .06 {+/-} .1% chewing nonfood items; .06 {+/-} .03% urination; .06 {+/-} .1% licking salt; .07 {+/-} .1% pawing hay; .6 {+/-} .7% lying and .07 {+/-} .08% stretching the neck over the stall wall dividing the ponies. While eating, the ponies lifted their heads 25.4 {+/-} 11.0 times/h. In less than one-half of the occasions when urination or defecation was observed, the ponies walked away from the spot where they had been eating to eliminate. During one-half of the observations, visual contact between the ponies was prevented by a solid partition between the stalls. The ponies spent significantly more time standing nonalert when the partition prevented visual contact (12 {+/-} 7%) than when visual contact could take place (6 {+/-} 3%, P<.05). When fresh hay was supplied in the mornings, the ponies spent similar amounts of time eating whether visual contact was allowed or not, but in the afternoon significantly more time was spent feeding when visual contact was allowed (73 {+/-} 4%) than when it was not (60 {+/-} 7%). Less time was spent eating, in the absence of visual contact, despite the presence of auditory and olfactory contact. Apparently social facilitation is important in maintaining feeding behavior in ponies. N1 -  
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  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4232  
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Author Houpt, K.A.; Zahorik, D.M.; Swartzman-Andert, J.A. openurl 
  Title Taste aversion learning in horses Type Journal Article
  Year 1990 Publication Journal of animal science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.  
  Volume 68 Issue 8 Pages 2340-2344  
  Keywords Animal Feed; Animals; *Avoidance Learning; Feeding Behavior/*psychology; *Food Preferences; Horses/physiology/*psychology; *Taste  
  Abstract The ability of ponies to learn to avoid a relatively novel food associated with illness was tested in three situations: when illness occurred immediately after consuming a feed; when illness occurred 30 min after consuming a feed; and when illness was contingent upon eating one of three feeds offered simultaneously. Apomorphine was used to produce illness. The feeds associated with illness were corn, alfalfa pellets, sweet feed and a complete pelleted feed. The ponies learned to avoid all the fees except the complete feed when apomorphine injection immediately followed consumption of the feed. However, the ponies did not learn to avoid a feed if apomorphine was delayed 30 min after feed consumption. They could learn to avoid alfalfa pellets, but not corn, when these feeds were presented with the familiar “safe foods,” oats and soybean meal. Ponies apparently are able to learn a taste aversion, but there were constraints on this learning ability. Under the conditions of this study, they did not learn to avoid a food that made them sick long after consumption of the food, and they had more difficulty learning to avoid highly palatable feeds.  
  Address (up) Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853  
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  ISSN 0021-8812 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:2401656 Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 41  
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Author Ordakowski-Burk, A.L.; Quinn, R.W.; Shellem, T.A.; Vough, L.R. doi  openurl
  Title Voluntary intake and digestibility of reed canarygrass and timothy hay fed to horses Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Journal of Animal Science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.  
  Volume 84 Issue 11 Pages 3104-3109  
  Keywords Animal Feed/*analysis; Animal Nutrition Physiology; Animals; Diet/*veterinary; Digestion/*physiology; Feeding Behavior/*physiology; Horses/*physiology; Male; Poaceae/*metabolism  
  Abstract Thousands of hectares of timothy (Phleum pretense L.) grown in the Mid-Atlantic region are infected by cereal rust mite (Abacarus hysterix) that causes discoloration and curling of leaves, decreased nutritional quality, and substantial decreases in yield. A decline in production of timothy hay can lower income for hay producers and cause horse owners to search for alternative hays. Low alkaloid reed canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.) hay has potential as an alternative to timothy hay because it grows well in the Mid-Atlantic region, is believed to have a similar nutrient quality to timothy, and is not as susceptible to cereal rust mite. Eleven mature, stalled Thoroughbred geldings (549 +/- 12.1 kg) that were exercised daily were used to compare voluntary DMI and apparent nutrient DM digestibility of timothy and low-alkaloid Chiefton variety reed canarygrass hay. Horses were paired by age and BW and randomly assigned to timothy or reed canarygrass hay during a 14-d period to measure voluntary DMI followed by a 4-d period to measure apparent DM digestibility. Both hays met the minimum requirements for DE, CP, Ca, P, K, Fe, and Mn, but they did not meet the minimum requirements for Cu, Zn, and Na for horses at maintenance and averaging 550 kg of BW. Timothy hay seemed to have a lower CP concentration (14.4%) compared with reed canarygrass hay (17.1%) and a more desirable Ca:P ratio at 1.6:1 compared with 0.8:1 for reed canarygrass hay. Horses fed timothy consumed more hay (P <0.001) during the voluntary DMI period compared with horses fed reed canarygrass. Greater voluntary DMI of timothy occurred on d 1, 3, and 5 (P <0.05), but DMI was similar for other days. Apparent DM digestibility was greater in horses fed timothy hay by 9.6% compared with horses fed reed canarygrass hay (P <0.05). Horses fed timothy had greater DM digestibility of ADF (P = 0.001), NDF (P = 0.001), sugar (P = 0.05), and Ca (P = 0.001) but lower apparent DM digestibility of CP (P = 0.012) and crude fat (P = 0.004). Timothy hay was superior in voluntary DMI and apparent DM digestibility compared with low-alkaloid reed canarygrass hay fed to horses.  
  Address (up) Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park 20742, USA. amyburk@umd.edu  
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  ISSN 1525-3163 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:17032805 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4236  
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Author Swanson, J.C. openurl 
  Title Farm animal well-being and intensive production systems Type Journal Article
  Year 1995 Publication Journal of Animal Science Abbreviated Journal J. Anim Sci.  
  Volume 73 Issue 9 Pages 2744-2751  
  Keywords Animal Husbandry/legislation & jurisprudence/*standards; Animal Rights/legislation & jurisprudence/standards; Animal Welfare/legislation & jurisprudence/*standards; Animals; Animals, Domestic/*growth & development/*physiology; Breeding/legislation & jurisprudence/*standards; Cattle; Chickens; Environment; Reproduction/physiology; Sheep; Swine  
  Abstract Animal welfare, or well-being, is a social issue with ethical, scientific, political, and aesthetic properties. Answering questions about the welfare of animals requires scientific definition, assessment, solutions, and public acceptance. With respect to the actual well-being of the animal, most issues are centered on how the animal “feels” when managed within a specific level of confinement, during special agricultural practices (e.g., tail docking, beak trimming, etc.) and handling. Questions of this nature may require exploration of animal cognition, motivation, perception, and emotional states in addition to more commonly recognized indicators of well-being. Several general approaches have emerged for solving problems concerning animal well-being in intensive production systems: environmental, genetic, and therapeutic. Environmental approaches involve modifying existing systems to accommodate specific welfare concerns or development of alternative systems. Genetic approaches involve changing the behavioral and (or) physiological nature of the animal to reduce or eliminate behaviors that are undesirable within intensive system. Therapeutic approaches of a physical (tail docking, beak trimming) and physiological (drug and nutritional therapy) nature bring both concern and promise with regard to the reduction of confinement stress. Finally, the recent focus on commodity quality assurance programs may indirectly provide benefits for animal well-being. Although research in the area of animal well-being will provide important information for better animal management, handling, care, and the physical design of intensive production systems there is still some uncertainty regarding public acceptance. The aesthetics of modern intensive production systems may have as much to do with public acceptance as with science.  
  Address (up) Department of Animal Sciences and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan 66506, USA  
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  ISSN 0021-8812 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes PMID:8582867 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2752  
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