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Krueger., K.; Farmer, K. |
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Title |
Social learning in Horses: Differs from individual learning only in the learning stimulus and not in the learning mechanisms |
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2018 |
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14th Meeting of the Internatinoal Society for Equitation Science |
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14th Meeting ISES |
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horse; individual learning; learning mechanisms; learning stimuli; social learning |
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Equine welfare can be enhanced by applying species specific training. This may incorporate social learning, as horses are highly social and social stimuli are of primary importance. Social learning is comparable to individual learning in its learning mechanisms, differing primarily in the way it is stimulated. Our initial study showed that horses of different breeds (N = 38) follow humans after observing other horses doing so, but only if the observed horse was familiar to and higher ranking than the observer (Fisher's exact test: N = 12, P = 0.003). A second study showed that horses and ponies (N = 25) learned to pull a rope to open a feeding apparatus after observing demonstrations by conspecifics, again, only if the demonstrating horse was older and higher ranking than the observer (Fisher's combination test, N = 3, v2 = 27.71, p = 0.006). Our third approach showed that horses and ponies (N = 24) learned to press a switch to open a feeding apparatus after observing a familiar person (GzLM: N = 24, z = 2.33, P = 0.02). Most recently, we confronted horses and ponies (N = 50) with persons demonstrating different techniques for opening a feeding apparatus. In this study we investigated whether the horses would copy the demonstrators' techniques or apply their own. Here only some horses copied the technique, and most of the successful learners used their mouths irrespective of the demonstrators' postures (Chi Square Test: N = 40, df = 2, χ2 = 31.4, p < 0.001). In all the approaches social stimuli elicited learning processes in the test horses, while only a few individuals in the control groups mastered the tasks by individual learning. The following behaviour observed in the initial study may have been facilitated by a social stimuli (social facilitation), and the opening of the feed boxes in the subsequent studies appear to be mostly the result of enhancement (social enhancement). Some horses may have used the social stimuli at first and continued their learning process by individual trial and error. However, the horses were also selective in whom and some in how to copy. This may have been conditioned (socially conditioned) or the result of simple forms of reasoning on the reliability of the particular information provided by demonstrators of certain social ranks or social positions, as high ranking and familiar horses and familiar persons were copied and some imitated exactly.
Lay person message: Traditional riding instructions suggest that horses learn by observing other horses. For example, older, more experienced driving horses are used for initial training of young driving horses. We have shown that horses indeed use learning stimuli provided by other horse, as well as by humans. Horses readily accept stimuli observed in high ranking and familiar horses, and familiar persons. Such stimuli elicit learning processes which are comparable to individual learning. We suggest applying social learning whenever possible, as it is much faster and less stressful than individual learning, where learners experience negative outcomes in trial and error learning. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6405 |
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Krützen, M.; Mann, J.; Heithaus, M.R.; Connor, R.C.; Bejder, L.; Sherwin, W.B. |
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Cultural transmission of tool use in bottlenose dolphins |
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2005 |
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |
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Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |
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102 |
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25 |
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8939-8943 |
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In Shark Bay, wild bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) apparently use marine sponges as foraging tools. We demonstrate that genetic and ecological explanations for this behavior are inadequate; thus, “sponging” classifies as the first case of an existing material culture in a marine mammal species. Using mitochondrial DNA analyses, we show that sponging shows an almost exclusive vertical social transmission within a single matriline from mother to female offspring. Moreover, significant genetic relatedness among all adult spongers at the nuclear level indicates very recent coancestry, suggesting that all spongers are descendents of one recent “Sponging Eve.” Unlike in apes, tool use in this population is almost exclusively limited to a single matriline that is part of a large albeit open social network of frequently interacting individuals, adding a new dimension to charting cultural phenomena among animals. |
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10.1073/pnas.0500232102 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5916 |
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Krzak, W.E.; Gonyou, H.W.; Lawrence, L.M. |
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Title |
Wood chewing by stabled horses: diurnal pattern and effects of exercise |
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1991 |
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Journal of Animal Science |
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J. Anim Sci. |
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69 |
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3 |
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1053-1058 |
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Animal Feed; Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Circadian Rhythm; Female; Horses/*physiology; Male; *Mastication; *Physical Conditioning, Animal; Sodium Chloride/administration & dosage; Videotape Recording; Wood |
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Nine yearling horses, stabled in individual stalls, were used in a trial to determine the diurnal pattern of wood chewing and the effects of exercise on this behavior. The trial was a Latin square design conducted over three 2-wk periods during which each horse was exposed to each of the three following treatments: 1) no exercise (NE), 2) exercise after the morning feeding (AM), and 3) exercise in the afternoon (PM). Horses were fed a complete pelleted feed in the morning and both pelleted feed and long-stemmed hay in the afternoon. Exercise consisted of 45 min on a mechanical walker followed by 45 min in a paddock with bare soil. Each stall was equipped with two untreated spruce boards during each period for wood chewing. Wood chewing was evaluated by videotaping each horse for 22 h during each period, determining the weight and volume of the boards before and after each period, and by visual appraisal of the boards. Intake of trace mineralized salt was also measured. Wood chewing occurred primarily between 2200 and 1200. All measures of wood chewing were correlated when totals for the entire 6 wk were analyzed. When analysis was performed on 2-wk values, videotape results were not correlated with volume or weight loss of boards. Horses chewed more when on the NE treatment (511 s/d) than when on AM or PM (57 and 136 s/d, respectively; P less than .05). Salt intake tended to be greater for NE than for the other treatments (P less than .10).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) |
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Dept. of Anim. Sci., University of Illinois, Urbana 61801 |
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English |
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0021-8812 |
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PMID:2061237 |
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refbase @ user @ |
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1949 |
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Kultus, K.; Balzer, H.-U. |
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Untersuchungen zur Mensch-Pferd-Beziehung |
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Conference Article |
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2012 |
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Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting |
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Proc. 2. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg |
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in press |
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Abstract Missing KW - |
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Kultus, K. |
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Xenophon Publishing |
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Wald |
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Krueger, K. |
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978-3-9808134-26 |
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Public Day |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5569 |
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Author |
Kultus, K.B.; Balzer, H-U |
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Title |
Analysis of Human-Horse-Relation |
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Conference Article |
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2012 |
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Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 2. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg |
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in press |
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The relation between humans and animals is one of the most famous factors for animal welfare in modern housekeeping systems. Words like intuition and empathy in exposure to the horse are difficult to describe, to measure or to teach. In German speaking countries there is the sentence: a good rider knows what the horse will do before it can do it; a bad rider only reacts to what the horse has done. By using the monitoring systemsmardwatch® in connection with chronobiological regulation diagnostics it becomes possible to get insight in the interaction between human and horse.Thesmardwatch® enables measuring of so called psycho-physiologicalparameters likeskin resistance, skin potential, electromyogram and skin temperature, measured 10 times per second; it also registersbehaviorinformation as 3D-acceleration and -position and over this environment information like temperature, noise and brightness. Cutting hooves, cleaning and riding a horse are monitored for example. The data were analyzed under distinct aspectsby chronobiological regulation diagnostics developed byBalzerand Hecht (2000). The physical and vegetative activities of the human and the animalwhere pointed out separately and in their interactionat different levels. Very interesting is the influence of different humans on one horse or the influence of one human on distinct horses. The synchronies or asynchronies in the behavior of different human-horse-pairs could be proved at the level of their vegetative functions. While riding phases of exhaustion of the horse could be shown just as the increasingactivity of the rider to compensate this exhaustion. The method could be a basic approach to develop new training methods which agree with individual rhythms of riders and horses to optimize their achievement.These analysis are not only important for riding, they also give useful directions for daily contact with horses. So it will be possible to detect harmony/disharmony between human and horse for their pairing in order to teach them and to buy or sell a horse, respectively. KW horse, human, chronobiology, synchronisation, smardwatch |
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Kultus, K.B. |
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Xenophon Publishing |
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Wald |
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Krueger, K. |
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978-3-9808134-26 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5519 |
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Kummer, H.; Goodall, J. |
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Title |
Conditions of Innovative Behaviour in Primates |
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1985 |
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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences |
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308 |
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1135 |
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203-214 |
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Innovative behaviour achieved through exploration, learning and insight heavily depends on certain motivational, social and ecological conditions of short duration. We propose that more attention should be given to what these conditions are and where they are realized in natural groups of non-human primates. Only to the extent that such favourable conditions were frequently realized in a social structure or an extraspecific environment could selective pressures act on innovative abilities. There is hope that research into field conditions of innovative behaviour will help to identify its selectors in evolution. |
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10.1098/rstb.1985.0020 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5751 |
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Kusunose, R.; Yamanobe, A. |
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The effect of training schedule on learned tasks in yearling horses |
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2002 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
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Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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78 |
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2 |
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225-233 |
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Twelve yearlings were divided into two groups and subjected to two different training schedules: (a) 30min of training daily (the daily trained group); and (b) 30min of training for 4 days, followed by a 3-day rest (the intermittently trained group), in order to compare the effect of two training methods on the ability of the horses to learn to be driven and ridden and to respond to the handlers? cues. The length of this experimental training was 17 days. The first step of training was surcingling and proceeded to lunging, to driving from the ground, and finally to being ridden at a trot on a track. Both groups were tested four times during the experimental period when they were at the same stage of training. They were driven and then ridden at a walk by a rider on a specified course and evaluated. The time to complete the course, accuracy of traveling the course, and heart rate during the test were used as the indicators of success in training. In three out of the four tests, the daily trained group tended to move faster and with more accuracy than the intermittently trained group. It would appear that daily training without a long interruption is more effective for yearlings. |
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Elsevier |
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0168-1591 |
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doi: 10.1016/S0168-1591(02)00089-8 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6382 |
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König v. Borstel, U.; Pirsich, W.; Gauly, M.; Bruns, E. |
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Repeatability and reliability of scores from ridden temperament tests conducted during performance tests |
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Journal Article |
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2012 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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139 |
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3–4 |
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251-263 |
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Horse; Personality; Temperament test; Riding; Repeatability; Performance test |
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Current scores for equine personality traits assessed during performance tests are characterised by high means and inadequate variation, hampering genetic selection for these traits. A number of temperament and related behaviour tests have been developed in order to make assessment of equine personality more objective. However, rarely these tests have been validated for their use as a selection tool. Thus, as a first step the aim of the present study was to integrate a temperament tests into horse performance tests, in order to assess variability and repeatability of horses’ reactivity under the rider and the reliability of the judges’ assessment thereof. The temperament test was comprised of three novel stimuli, including a visual stimulus (BALL), a visual and tactile stimulus (GATE), and a visual and auditory stimulus (CANS). A total of 224 mares and stallions were subjected to the test during their participation in station performance tests for riding horses, and 133 of these horses were subjected to the test a second time either 2–3 weeks or 18 weeks after the first test. Horses were ridden in the test by professional riders, and their reactions to the stimuli were evaluated each by two judges and the rider using scores on a scale from 1 (task not concluded) to 10 (completely calm but attentive horse). Mean scores (±SD) ranged between 6.6 ± 2.4 (GATE) and 7.8 ± 2.1 (BALL), demonstrating lower means and considerably higher standard deviations than the same horses’ scores from present evaluation of the trait labelled temperament (8.1 ± 0.9) or related personality traits (e.g. character: 8.3 ± 0.8). Using variance components from mixed model analysis, inter-observer agreement between the two judges was for the individual stimuli very high (0.95 (BALL), 0.96 (GATE), 0.89 (CANS)), and there was likewise high agreement between the judges’ and the riders’ combined scores (0.93). Repeatabilities of horses’ scores were 0.72 (BALL), 0.75 (GATE), and 0.69 (CANS). Correlations to traits from the present evaluation of personality were low or non-existent, indicating that these traits are not a reflection of anxiety or fear reactivity as assessed by novel object tests. Horses’ improvement in judges’ combined scores from first to second test was not (P > 0.1) influenced by differences in time between tests, but differed between breed-types and individual riders. Also, not surprisingly, the higher horses’ scores in the first test were, the lower their improvement in the second test was (-0.45 ± 0.06 per additional score in the first test). Temperament tests using novel stimuli presented to horses under a rider may be a practical and valid tool for improving the current assessment of equine personality traits during performance tests. Considering a combination of absolute scores and horses’ improvement in scores of repeated tests, rather than measuring only absolute scores yields relevant information about horses’ personality, and at the same time it may prevent owners from deliberately training their horses for low reactions to the test-stimuli. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5642 |
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König v. Borstel, U.; Visser, E.K.; Hall, C. |
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Title |
Indicators of stress in equitation |
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Journal Article |
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2017 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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190 |
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43-56 |
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Stress; Horse; Riding; Heart rate variability; Cortisol; Behaviour |
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Abstract Stress is a generic concept describing the body's reaction to external stimuli, including both physiological and psychological factors. Therefore, by definition, the assessment of psychological stress in the exercising horse encompasses the problem of teasing apart the psychological and physiological factors both of which result in stress responses. The present study reviews the existing literature on various measures of stress taken specifically in the context of equitation science. Particular attention has been paid to short-term effects, and commonly used measurements of short-term stress include heart rate, a number of heart rate variability parameters, blood or saliva cortisol levels, eye temperature, and various behaviour parameters including in particular behaviour patterns presumably indicative of conflict with the rider's/trainer's aids. Inspection of the individual studies' results revealed that disagreement between these different measures of stress is commonplace. For physiological parameters, the largest proportion of agreement (i.e. both parameters simultaneously indicated either higher, insignificant or lower stress compared to a control treatment) was found for heart rate and heart rate variability parameters, while generally limited agreement was found for cortisol. It appears that cortisol levels may not be particularly useful for assessing/assessment of the valence of a situation in the exercising horse as cortisol levels are predominantly linked to activation and exercise levels. Although heart rate variability parameters reflect in theory more closely sympathovagal balance compared to cortisol levels, great care has to be taken regarding the use of appropriate time-frames, appropriate raw data correction methods as well as the use of appropriate equipment. In spite of its wide-spread and apparently successful use, popular equipment may in fact not be accurate enough under field conditions. Eye temperature is another promising parameter for assessment of psychological stress, but the technique is likewise susceptible to application errors. Given the high susceptibility of physiological parameters to errors at various experimental stages, behavioural rather than physiological parameters may in fact provide more accurate measures of valence when conducting experiments in the exercising horse. Behavioural parameters that appear to be particularly practical in assessing stress in ridden horses' behaviour are associated with frequencies of behaviour indicative of conflict. However, while increased frequencies of are a good indicator of stress, the absence of conflict behaviour does not provide proof of the absence of stress due to the possible occurrence of conditions such as Learned Helplessness. In future studies, the above issues should be taken into consideration when designing experiments to assess psychological stress in ridden horses. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6160 |
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König von Borstel, U.; Kienapfel, K.; McLean, A.; Wilkins, C.; Evans, D.; McGreevy, P. |
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Hyperflexing the horse‘s neck: a cost-benefit and meta-analysis |
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Conference Article |
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2015 |
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Proceedings of the 3. International Equine Science Meeting |
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Proc. 3. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg |
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horse, head-and-neck posture, hyperflexion, welfare, gymnastics |
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In ethical discussions, a cost-benefit analysis requires that welfare costs associated with an activity can be reliably estimated and balanced against the potential benefits of the activity to both humans and animals. The current study applies a meta-analysis to the peer-reviewed evidence for costs and benefits of hyperflexion of the neck in horses; a practice that has attracted enormous public and scientific scrutiny over the past 15 years. A literature review identified 55 studies dealing with horses’ head and neck postures. Fourty-two of these studies examined the impact of various postures on equine welfare, for example, by assessing behavior, physiological stress parameters, health or rider-horse interaction. Thirty-five studies examined the impact of various postures on gymnastics (e.g. kinematics, shifts in weight distribution, muscle activity, airway functioning or overall workload). For the meta-analysis a dataset containing information from each of the individual studies was created. Data included information such as type, degree, duration and circumstances of hyperflexion applied in that particular study as well as information on the horses (e.g., sport discipline, level of training, breed) and on the study design (e.g., size of study and experimental or epidemiological research design). The results of the study regarding the impact of hyperflexion on a) welfare and b) gymnastics were coded as positive (1), insignificant or contradictory (0) or negative (-1). The significant majority of studies (88%) concluded that a hyperflexed head and neck posture negatively impacts welfare. Just one study suggested welfare advantages of training in a hyperflexed head and neck posture. An analysis using a generalized linear mixed model to assess the influence of the above factors collated in the dataset revealed that none of these factors significantly influenced the probability of a study to detect negative welfare implications. Thus hyperflexing the neck appears to impair horses’ welfare regardless of, for example, the duration or the way of achieving hyperflexion. A concurrent assessment of the evidence for gymnastic benefits showed that approximately one quarter of studies conclude that there may be benefits, while another quarter of the studies conclude that hyperflexion has detrimental effects on gymnastics. Thus, on the costs-side there is a clear reduction in equine welfare and some undesirable gymnastic effects, as well as likely a compromised profile of the equestrian sports in public. Benefits, on the other hand, include some desirable gymnastic effects, and potentially increased control of the horse for the rider. On balance, it appears that the costs associated with hyperflexion exceed the potential benefits of the activity to both humans and horses. |
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König von Borstel, U. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5872 |
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