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Author (down) Visser, E.K.; Van Reenen, C.G.; Rundgren, M.; Zetterqvist, M.; Morgan, K.; Blokhuis, H.J.
Title Responses of horses in behavioural tests correlate with temperament assessed by riders Type Journal Article
Year 2003 Publication Equine Veterinary Journal Abbreviated Journal Equine Vet J
Volume 35 Issue 2 Pages 176-183
Keywords Adult; Animals; *Behavior, Animal/physiology; Data Interpretation, Statistical; Female; *Handling (Psychology); Heart Rate/*physiology; Horses/physiology/*psychology; Humans; Male; Personality; Temperament/*physiology
Abstract REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Behavioural tests as well as observers' ratings have been used to study horses' temperament. However, the relationship between the ratings and the responses in behavioural tests has not yet been studied in detail. OBJECTIVES: The aim of the present study was to examine this relationship between ratings and responses. METHODS: Eighteen mature Swedish Warmblood horses were subjected to 2 behavioural tests, one relating to novelty (novel object test) and one to handling (handling test). Subsequently, 16 of these horses were ridden by 16 equally experienced students, having no former experience with the horses. Immediately after each ride, the students scored the horse for 10 temperamental traits using a line rating method. RESULTS: It was shown that for each temperamental trait all 16 riders agreed on the ranking of the horses (0.212<W<0.505, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Correlations between behavioural and heart rate variables in the behavioural tests revealed that horses with a high level of locomotion or much restlessness behaviour exhibited high mean heart rate and low heart rate variability. In particular, heart rate variables in the behavioural tests were found to correlate with riders' rating scores. Furthermore, the underlying components of the handling test, retrieved with a principal component analysis (PCA) correlated with riders' rating scores while the underlying components of the novel object test did not. POTENTIAL CLINICAL RELEVANCE: It is concluded that it is possible for a large panel of assessors to agree upon a horse's temperament and that objective measures from behavioural tests correlate significantly with temperamental traits assessed by a panel of assessors.
Address Department of Equine Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Utrecht University, PO Box 80.163, NL-3508 TD Utrecht, The Netherlands
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0425-1644 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12638795 Approved no
Call Number Serial 1906
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Author (down) Viscido, S.V.; Miller, M.; Wethey, D.S.
Title The dilemma of the selfish herd: the search for a realistic movement rule Type Journal Article
Year 2002 Publication Journal of theoretical biology Abbreviated Journal J. Theor. Biol.
Volume 217 Issue 2 Pages 183-194
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Mass Behavior; Models, Biological; *Motor Activity; Predatory Behavior
Abstract The selfish herd hypothesis predicts that aggregations form because individuals move toward one another to minimize their own predation risk. The “dilemma of the selfish herd” is that movement rules that are easy for individuals to follow, fail to produce true aggregations, while rules that produce aggregations require individual behavior so complex that one may doubt most animals can follow them. If natural selection at the individual level is responsible for herding behavior, a solution to the dilemma must exist. Using computer simulations, we examined four different movement rules. Relative predation risk was different for all four movement rules (p<0.05). We defined three criteria for measuring the quality of a movement rule. A good movement rule should (a) be statistically likely to benefit an individual that follows it, (b) be something we can imagine most animals are capable of following, and (c) result in a centrally compact flock. The local crowded horizon rule, which allowed individuals to take the positions of many flock-mates into account, but decreased the influence of flock-mates with distance, best satisfied these criteria. The local crowded horizon rule was very sensitive to the animal's perceptive ability. Therefore, the animal's ability to detect its neighbors is an important factor in the dynamics of group formation.
Address Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA. viscido@u.washington.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0022-5193 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:12202112 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 554
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Author (down) Viscido, S.V.; Miller, M.; Wethey, D.S.
Title The response of a selfish herd to an attack from outside the group perimeter Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Journal of theoretical biology Abbreviated Journal J. Theor. Biol.
Volume 208 Issue 3 Pages 315-328
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; *Computer Simulation; Models, Biological; *Movement; Predatory Behavior
Abstract According to the selfish herd hypothesis, animals can decrease predation risk by moving toward one another if the predator can appear anywhere and will attack the nearest target. Previous studies have shown that aggregations can form using simple movement rules designed to decrease each animal's Domain of Danger. However, if the predator attacks from outside the group's perimeter, these simple movement rules might not lead to aggregation. To test whether simple selfish movement rules would decrease predation risk for those situations when the predator attacks from outside the flock perimeter, we constructed a computer model that allowed flocks of 75 simulated fiddler crabs to react to one another, and to a predator attacking from 7 m away. We attacked simulated crab flocks with predators of different sizes and attack speeds, and computed relative predation risk after 120 time steps. Final trajectories showed flight toward the center of the flock, but curving away from the predator. Path curvature depended on the predator's size and approach speed. The average crab experienced a greater decrease in predation risk when the predator was small or slow moving. Regardless of the predator's size and speed, however, predation risk always decreased as long as crabs took their flock-mates into account. We conclude that, even when flight away from an external predator occurs, the selfish avoidance of danger can lead to aggregation.
Address Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, U.S.A. viscido@u.washington.edu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0022-5193 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11207093 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 555
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Author (down) Virga, V.; Houpt, K.A.
Title Prevalence of placentophagia in horses Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Equine veterinary journal Abbreviated Journal Equine Vet J
Volume 33 Issue 2 Pages 208-210
Keywords Animals; *Behavior, Animal; Colic/epidemiology/*veterinary; Exploratory Behavior; *Feeding Behavior; Female; Horse Diseases/*epidemiology; Horses; Incidence; New York/epidemiology; *Placenta; Postpartum Period; Pregnancy; Prevalence; Questionnaires
Abstract
Address Animal Behavior Clinic, Cornell University Hospital for Animals, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0425-1644 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:11266073 Approved no
Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 31
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Author (down) Virányi, Z.; Topál, J.; Miklósi, Á.; Csányi, V.
Title A nonverbal test of knowledge attribution: a comparative study on dogs and children Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Animal Cognition Abbreviated Journal Anim. Cogn.
Volume 9 Issue 1 Pages 13-26
Keywords Animals; *Child Psychology; Child, Preschool; Cues; Dogs/*psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Nonverbal Communication; *Problem Solving; Species Specificity
Abstract The sensitivity of eleven pet dogs and eleven 2.5-year-old children to others' past perceptual access was tested for object-specificity in a playful, nonverbal task in which a human Helper's knowledge state regarding the whereabouts of a hidden toy and a stick (a tool necessary for getting the out-of-reach toy) was systematically manipulated. In the four experimental conditions the Helper either participated or was absent during hiding of the toy and the stick and therefore she knew the place(s) of (1) both the toy and the stick, (2) only the toy, (3) only the stick or (4) neither of them. The subjects observed the hiding processes, but they could not reach the objects, so they had to involve the Helper to retrieve the toy. The dogs were more inclined to signal the place of the toy in each condition and indicated the location of the stick only sporadically. However the children signalled both the location of the toy and that of the stick in those situations when the Helper had similar knowledge regarding the whereabouts of them (i.e. knew or ignored both of them), and in those conditions in which the Helper was ignorant of the whereabouts of only one object the children indicated the place of this object more often than that of the known one. At the same time however, both dogs and children signalled the place of the toy more frequently if the Helper had been absent during toy-hiding compared to those conditions when she had participated in the hiding. Although this behaviour appears to correspond with the Helper's knowledge state, even the subtle distinction made by the children can be interpreted without a casual understanding of knowledge-formation in others.
Address Department of Ethology, ELTE University Budapest, Pazmany P. setany 1/C H-1117, Hungary. zsofi.viranyi@freemail.hu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 1435-9448 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15895261 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2486
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Author (down) Virányi, Z.; Topál, J.; Gácsi, M.; Miklósi, Á.; Csányi, V.
Title Dogs respond appropriately to cues of humans' attentional focus Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.
Volume 66 Issue 2 Pages 161-172
Keywords Animals; *Attention; Bonding, Human-Pet; Communication; *Cues; Dogs; Humans; Recognition (Psychology)
Abstract Dogs' ability to recognise cues of human visual attention was studied in different experiments. Study 1 was designed to test the dogs' responsiveness to their owner's tape-recorded verbal commands (Down!) while the Instructor (who was the owner of the dog) was facing either the dog or a human partner or none of them, or was visually separated from the dog. Results show that dogs were more ready to follow the command if the Instructor attended them during instruction compared to situations when the Instructor faced the human partner or was out of sight of the dog. Importantly, however, dogs showed intermediate performance when the Instructor was orienting into 'empty space' during the re-played verbal commands. This suggests that dogs are able to differentiate the focus of human attention. In Study 2 the same dogs were offered the possibility to beg for food from two unfamiliar humans whose visual attention (i.e. facing the dog or turning away) was systematically varied. The dogs' preference for choosing the attentive person shows that dogs are capable of using visual cues of attention to evaluate the human actors' responsiveness to solicit food-sharing. The dogs' ability to understand the communicatory nature of the situations is discussed in terms of their social cognitive skills and unique evolutionary history.
Address Department of Ethology, Eotvos Lorand University, Budapest, Hungary. zsofi.viranyi@freemail.hu
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0376-6357 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:15110918 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4957
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Author (down) Villani, M.; Cairoli, F.; Kindahl, H.; Galeati, G.; Faustini, M.; Carluccio, A.; Veronesi, M.C.
Title Effects of mating on plasma concentrations of testosterone, cortisol, oestrone sulphate and 15-ketodihydro-PGF2alpha in stallions Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Reproduction in Domestic Animals = Zuchthygiene Abbreviated Journal Reprod Domest Anim
Volume 41 Issue 6 Pages 544-548
Keywords Animals; Dinoprost/*analogs & derivatives/blood; Ejaculation/physiology; Estrone/*analogs & derivatives/blood; Horses/*blood/physiology; Hydrocortisone/*blood; Male; Sexual Behavior, Animal/*physiology; Testosterone/*blood
Abstract Very little information is available regarding the physiological mechanisms involved in the normal sexual activity in the stallion and, in particular, the endocrine control of reproduction is still not clearly understood. This experiment was designed to determine the short-term effect of sexual stimulation on plasma concentrations of testosterone, cortisol, oestrone sulphate and 15-ketodihydro-PGF(2alpha) in stallions. Semen samples were collected from 10 lighthorse stallions of proven fertility using a Missouri model artificial vagina. At the same time, blood samples were collected from the jugular vein with heparinized tubes, 20 and 10 min before oestrous mare exposure, at exposure and 10, 20, 30 min after dismounting. Testosterone concentrations showed a sharp rise 10 min after mating (p < 0.001), reached a plateau, and then showed a further increase 30 min after mating (p < 0.001). Cortisol concentrations increased 10 min after mating (p < 0.001) and remained at high levels in the subsequent samples taken. A peak of oestrone sulphate was observed 10 min after mating (p < 0.001). 15-Ketodihydro-PGF(2alpha) concentrations decreased rapidly at the moment of the exposure of the stallions to an oestrous mare (p < 0.05), returned to pre-mating concentrations and then decreased again 30 min after mating (p < 0.05).
Address Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche Veterinarie, Sez. Clinica Ostetrica e Ginecologica Veterinaria, Milan, Italy
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0936-6768 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17107515 Approved no
Call Number Serial 1855
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Author (down) Vermeulen, A.D.; Evans, D.L.
Title Measurements of fitness in thoroughbred racehorses using field studies of heart rate and velocity with a global positioning system Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Equine Veterinary Journal. Supplement Abbreviated Journal Equine Vet J Suppl
Volume Issue 36 Pages 113-117
Keywords Animals; Female; Geographic Information Systems; Heart Rate/*physiology; Horses/*physiology; Male; Physical Conditioning, Animal/*physiology; Physical Fitness/*physiology; Running/physiology
Abstract REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Field based studies of changes in fitness are difficult to conduct in galloping Thoroughbreds. Measurements of heart rate (HR) and real time velocity with a global positioning system (GPS) could provide a method for routine field studies of fitness. OBJECTIVE: To investigate measurements of fitness in the field without using multiple, standardised steps of increasing velocity in the exercise test. METHODS: Twelve healthy 3- to 5-year-old Thoroughbreds were used in the study of reliability, and twelve 2-year-old Thoroughbreds in the investigation of the effect of training. Five second averages of velocity and HR were recorded during a typical fast exercise training session, using a GPS and Polar HR monitor. A standardised exercise test protocol was not used. Regression analyses using trot and gallop data were used to calculate velocities at HR of 200 beats/min (V200), and at maximal HR (VHRmax). Data were collected on consecutive 'fast' day training sessions to assess the reliability of measurements. The effect of training was investigated with fitness tests in weeks 2 and 6 of 'fast' training. Absolute and relative differences were calculated to evaluate reliability, and paired t tests were used to detect an effect of training. RESULTS: VHRmax, V200 and HRmax were reliable measurements of fitness, with mean differences of 2% or less. Reliability of VHRmax was not dependent on VHRmax. VHRmax and V200 both increased significantly with training (P<0.01), but there was no effect of training on HRmax. There were no significant changes in the slope or intercept of the regression equations after training. CONCLUSIONS: Velocity and HR measurements during field gallop exercise provided reliable measures of fitness which enabled a measurement of the response to training. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: This approach offers a simple, noninvasive method for monitoring adaptations to training in the field.
Address Faculty of Veterinary Science, The University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
Corporate Author Thesis
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Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17402404 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4013
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Author (down) Verheyen, K.; Price, J.; Lanyon, L.; Wood, J.
Title Exercise distance and speed affect the risk of fracture in racehorses Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Bone Abbreviated Journal Bone
Volume 39 Issue 6 Pages 1322-1330
Keywords Animals; Case-Control Studies; Cohort Studies; England; Exertion; Female; Fractures, Bone/etiology/*veterinary; Horse Diseases/*etiology; Horses/*injuries; Male; Physical Conditioning, Animal/adverse effects/methods; Poisson Distribution; Prospective Studies; Regression Analysis; Risk Factors; Running/injuries/physiology
Abstract In order to gain insight into those training regimens that can minimise the risk of fracture in athletic populations, we conducted a large epidemiological study in racehorses. Thoroughbred racehorses provide a suitable model for studying fracture development and exercise-related risk factors in physically active populations. They represent a homogeneous population, undertaking intensive exercise programmes that are sufficiently heterogeneous to determine those factors that influence injury risk. Daily exercise information was recorded for a cohort of 1178 thoroughbreds that were monitored for up to 2 years. A total of 148 exercise-induced fractures occurred in the study population. Results from a nested case-control study showed a strong interactive effect of exercise distances at different speeds on fracture risk. Horses that exceeded 44 km at canter (< or =14 m/s) and 6 km at gallop (>14 m/s) in a 30-day period were at particularly increased risk of fracture. These distances equate to ca. 7700 bone loading cycles at canter and 880 loading cycles at gallop. Fifty-six fractures occurred in the subset of study horses that were followed since entering training as yearlings, when skeletally immature (n = 335). Cohort analysis of this data set showed that, in previously untrained bones, accumulation of canter exercise increased the risk of fracture (P < or = 0.01), whereas accumulation of high-speed gallop exercise had a protective effect (P < 0.01). However, increasing distances at canter and gallop in short time periods (up to one month) were associated with an increasing fracture risk. All training exercise involves a balance between the risk of fracture inherent in exposure to loading and the beneficial effect that loading has by stimulating bone cells to produce a more robust architecture. Results from our study provide important epidemiological evidence of the effects of physical exercise on bone adaptation and injury risk and can be used to inform the design of safer exercise regimens in physically active populations.
Address Epidemiology Unit, Animal Health Trust, Newmarket, United Kingdom. kverheyen@rvc.ac.uk
Corporate Author Thesis
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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 8756-3282 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:16926125 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4030
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Author (down) Venter, G.J.; Koekemoer, J.J.O.; Paweska, J.T.
Title Investigations on outbreaks of African horse sickness in the surveillance zone in South Africa Type Journal Article
Year 2006 Publication Revue Scientifique et Technique (International Office of Epizootics) Abbreviated Journal Rev Sci Tech
Volume 25 Issue 3 Pages 1097-1109
Keywords African Horse Sickness/*epidemiology; African horse sickness virus/genetics/*isolation & purification; Animals; Ceratopogonidae/*virology; Disease Outbreaks/*veterinary; Horses; Insect Vectors/*virology; Prevalence; Sentinel Surveillance/veterinary; South Africa/epidemiology
Abstract Confirmed outbreaks of African horse sickness (AHS) occurred in the surveillance zone of the Western Cape in 1999 and 2004, both of which led to a two-year suspension on the export of horses. Light trap surveys in the outbreak areas showed that known vector competent Culicoides species, notably C. imicola, were abundant and present in numbers equal to those in the traditional AHS endemic areas. Isolations of AHS virus serotypes 1 and 7, equine encephalosis virus, and bluetongue virus from field-collected C. imicola in the surveillance zone demonstrated that this species was highly competent and could transmit viruses belonging to different serogroups of the Orbivirus genus. Molecular identification of recovered virus isolates indicated that at least two incursions of AHS into the surveillance zone had taken place in 2004. The designation of an AHS-free zone in the Western Cape remains controversial since it can be easily compromised, as evidenced by the two recent outbreaks. In light of the results reported in the present study, the policy of maintaining a large population of unvaccinated horses in the surveillance zone should be reconsidered, as it leaves them vulnerable to infection with AHS virus, which is the most pathogenic of all equine viruses.
Address Agricultural Research Council-Onderstepoort Veterinary Institute, Private Bag X5, Onderstepoort, 0110 South Africa
Corporate Author Thesis
Publisher Place of Publication Editor
Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0253-1933 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:17361773 Approved no
Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 2355
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