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Author Rubin, L.; Oppegard, C.; Hindz, H.F.
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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Language English Summary Language Original Title
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ISSN 0021-8812 ISBN Medium
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Notes PMID:7400060 Approved no
Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3558
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Author Murphy, J.; Waldmann, T.; Arkins, S.
Title Sex differences in equine learning skills and visuo-spatial ability Type Journal Article
Year 2004 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 87 Issue 1-2 Pages 119-130
Keywords Horses; Sex differences; Visuo-spatial ability; Learning
Abstract There is evidence of superior visuo-spatial ability in males compared to females in most species investigated to-date. However, no known studies have addressed this issue in the equine. Equine visuo-spatial ability was investigated using a novel test apparatus with a sample of 62 horses (males=34 and females=28) during a series of six tests, where the horses were required to access a food source. The test apparatus consisted of a series of four adjacent stalls, each of which had a feed bin and a moveable barrier. The test apparatus was designed such that the breastplate barriers controlled and limited access by the horses to feed bins in all but one stall during each test. Male horses performed such that there were significant differences (P<0.05) in the ability of the subjects to complete all six tests in a mean time of 30 s or less per test. There were significant differences in mean completion times for male subjects between test 1 and test 2 (P<0.05), test 1 and test 3 (P<0.001), test 1 and test 4 (P<0.05) and test 1 and test 5 (P<0.05). There were no significant differences in mean completion times between any of the six tests for female subjects. Males had a lower mean total number of errors during all tests. Male horses also successfully completed significantly more tests than females (P<0.05). These results provide the first behavioural demonstration of superior visuo-spatial ability in male horses, similar to that reported in other species.
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3560
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Author Steelman, S.M.; Michael-Eller, E.M.; Gibbs, P.G.; Potter, G.D.
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 (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3561
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Author Hanggi, E.B.
Title Interocular transfer of learning In horses (Equus caballus) Type Journal Article
Year 1999 Publication Journal of Equine Veterinary Science Abbreviated Journal J Equine Vet Sci
Volume 19 Issue 8 Pages 518-524
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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3564
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Author Hanggi, E.B.
Title Can Horses Recognize Pictures? Type Journal Article
Year 2001 Publication Proceedings of the Third International Conference of Cognitive Science Abbreviated Journal
Volume Issue Pages 52-56
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Publisher Place of Publication Beijing, China. Editor
Language Summary Language Original Title
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Notes Approved no
Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3566
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Author Sappington, B.F.; Goldman, L.
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
Keywords
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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Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3569
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Author McCall, C.A.
Title The effect of body condition of horses on discrimination learning abilities Type Journal Article
Year 1989 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 22 Issue 3-4 Pages 327-334
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Abstract Discriminative learning abilities were studied in 12 mature, malnourished horses. All horses initially received a condition score (CS) between 2 and 4 on a scale of 1 (poor) to 9 (extremely fat). Then horses were assigned to one of 3 treatments based on their eventual, rehabilitated CS during discrimination testing: thin, CS 1-3; moderate, CS 4-6; and fat, CS 7-9. The discrimination learning task was performed for 14 days with a maximum of 20 trials per day. Daily criterion was set at eight consecutively correct trails. Total trials to first criteria and total errors during testing were recorded. Analysis of variance showed that treatments did not differ (P>0.05) in total trials to first criterion, however horses on the fat treatment did have higher total error scores (P<0.05) than horses on the thin or moderate treatments. This difference was probably owing to lack of motivation in the fat treatment horses, rather than to true learning ability differences. The sex of the horse did not significantly affect either learning score.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3570
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Author Marinier, S.L.; Alexander, A.J.
Title The use of a maze in testing learning and memory in horses Type Journal Article
Year 1994 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.
Volume 39 Issue 2 Pages 177-182
Keywords Horses; Learning; Memory; Maze; Exercise
Abstract Two mazes were used to test the learning ability and memory of horses, and changes in these abilities. Testing was done on four occasions. On Occasion 1, the horses were run through Maze A until they had reached the criterion of three consecutive correct runs. A week later (Occasion 2), they were retested in Maze A to the same criterion as a measure of memory. On Occasion 3,2 months later, the horses were run through Mazes A and B until they reached the criterion. Occasion 4 took place 1 week later when they were run through Mazes A and B. An estimation of changes in ability to learn came from a comparison of results from Occasions 1 and 3. Similarly, changes in ability to remember came from a comparison of results from Occasions 2 and 4. Nine horses with a variable amount of riding training were the subjects. All horses were able to learn the maze, but the ability varied among horses. There was no obvious correlation between quality of handling of the horses and learning ability. Once the horses had learned the maze, they remembered it perfectly on subsequent occasions. There were changes in the memory and learning ability of the horses, but no clear explanation for this could be found.
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Notes Approved no
Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3573
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Author Kratzer, D.D.; Netherland, W.M.; Pulse, R.E.; Baker, J.P.
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
Keywords
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 (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3574
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Author Heird, J.C.; Lennon, A.M.; Bell, R.W.
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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Language English Summary Language Original Title
Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title
Series Volume Series Issue Edition
ISSN 0021-8812 ISBN Medium
Area Expedition Conference
Notes PMID:7319966 Approved no
Call Number (up) Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3577
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