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Baker, A. E. M., & Crawford, B. H. (1986). Observational learning in horses. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 15(1), 7–13.
Abstract: This experiment was designed to determine if a horse could learn the location of grain by watching another horse find grain in one of two feed buckets. Both experimental and control groups contained 9 quarter horses consisting of five 2-year-old mares, two 2-year-old geldings, and two 3-year-old geldings. Two mature geldings were used as “demonstrators”. An “experimental” was a horse that could watch three times daily another horse, the “demonstrator”, choose between and eat grain from a black or white bucket, only one of which contained grain. A “control” was a horse that could watch a demonstrator in the same arena for 3 min daily when both feed buckets were removed. When the demonstrator was removed on each of 15 successive days, the experimental or control horse was given five trials to determine if it could find the feed bucket with grain. No significant difference between experimentals and controls occurred for both first and total correct choices and for time to reach the feed bucket with grain. We conclude that no observational learning occurred. This experiment was also used to determine if the identity of horses that learned rapidly by trial and error could be predicted by the time it took to reach the feed bucket with grain. Data from the last three trials of experimentals and controls were combined. Significantly less time to find feed was needed by horses with more than the median number of correct choices. Both number of correct choices and time needed to contact a feed bucket summed over the first 5 days accurately predicted the same data summed over the last 10 days. We conclude that horses that learn rapidly by trial and error make correct choices rapidly, and that these horses can by identified after 5 days of testing.
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Noirot, E., & Richards, M. P. M. (1966). Maternal behaviour in virgin female golden hamsters: Changes consequent upon initial contact with pups. Anim. Behav., 14(1), 7–10.
Abstract: Summary Initial contact with pups of a certain age causes changes in virgin female hamsters' behaviour with pups of another age. This was shown by comparing the behaviour with 5-day-old pups in groups of naive (control) animals and of animals given one previous contact either with 1, 5 or 9-day-old pups. Maternal responses were more intense in the animals previously presented with 1 or 9-day-old pups than in the control animals. Attacking was increased after initial contact with 1-day-old pups and decreased after initial contact with 9-day-old pups. Animals presented twice with the same pattern did not show marked changes in either of the two activities.
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Gosling, L. M., & Roberts, S. C. (2001). Testing ideas about the function of scent marks in territories from spatial patterns. Anim. Behav., 62(3), F7–F10.
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Kaminski, J., Riedel, J., Call, J., & Tomasello, M. (2005). Domestic goats, Capra hircus, follow gaze direction and use social cues in an object choice task. Anim. Behav., 69(1), 11–18.
Abstract: Gaze following is a basic social cognitive skill with many potential benefits for animals that live in social groups. At least five primate species are known to follow the gaze of conspecifics, but there have been no studies on gaze following in other mammals. We investigated whether domestic goats can use the gaze direction of a conspecific as a cue to find food. They were able to do this, at a level comparable to that of primates. In a second experiment, we tested goats' ability to use gaze and other communicative cues given by a human in a so-called object choice situation. An experimenter hid food out of sight of the subject under one of two cups. After baiting the cup the experimenter indicated the location of the food to the subject by using different cues. The goats used communicative cues (touching and pointing) but not gaze by itself. Since domestic dogs are very skilled in this task, whereas wolves are not, one hypothesis is that the use of communicative cues in the object choice task is a side-effect of domestication.
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Christensen, J. W., Zharkikh, T., Ladewig, J., & Yasinetskaya, N. (2002). Social behaviour in stallion groups (Equus przewalskii and Equus caballus) kept under natural and domestic conditions. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 76(1), 11–20.
Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate social behaviour in differently reared stallions in their respective environments; one group of stallions was reared under typical domestic conditions whereas the other group was reared and lives under natural conditions. The domestic group consisted of 19, 2-year-old stallions (Equus caballus), which were all weaned at 4 months of age and experienced either individual or group housing facilities before being pastured with the other similarly aged stallions. The natural living and mixed age group of Przewalski stallions (E. przewalskii) consisted of 13 stallions, most of which were juveniles (n=11, <=4 years; n=2, >9 years). The domestic group was studied in a 4-ha enclosure at the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences and the Przewalski group under free-ranging conditions in a 75-ha enclosure in the Askania Nova Biosphere Reserve, Ukraine. Behavioural data was collected during 168 h of direct observation. The occurrence of 14 types of social interactions was recorded and group spacing behaviour was studied using nearest neighbour recordings. In spite of very different environments, reflecting domestic and natural rearing conditions, many similarities in behaviour was found. Play and play fight behaviour was very similar in the two stallion groups. Quantitative differences were found in social grooming since Przewalski stallions groomed more frequently (P=0.004), and in investigative behaviours, since domestic stallions showed more nasal (P=0.005) and body sniffing (P<0.001), whereas Przewalski stallions directed more sniffing towards the genital region (P<0.001). These differences may, however, be attributed to environmental factors and in the period of time the stallions were together prior to the study period. Quantitative differences appeared in some agonistic behaviours (kick threat, P<0.001; and kick, P<0.001), but data do not support earlier findings of Przewalski horses being significantly more aggressive than domestic horses. In general, Przewalski stallions engaged in more social interactions, and they showed less group spacing, i.e. maintained a significantly shorter distance between neighbours (P<0.001). The study indicates that also domestic horses, which have been reared under typical domestic conditions and allowed a period on pasture, show social behaviour, which is very similar to that shown by their non-domestic relatives.
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Anderson, M. K., Friend, T. H., Evans, J. W., & Bushong, D. M. (1999). Behavioral assessment of horses in therapeutic riding programs. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 63(1), 11–24.
Abstract: A behavioral assessment of horses who were being used and not used in therapeutic riding programs was conducted to help determine useful methods of selecting horses for use in therapeutic riding programs. A total of 103 horses (76 horses from five therapeutic riding centers and 27 non-therapeutic riding horses from four sites) were used. Temperament survey for each horse were completed by three riding instructors at each therapeutic riding center or by the individual most knowledgeable about the horse at the other sites. Twenty personality traits from the survey were used to quantify temperament. Concentrations of plasma cortisol, norepinephrine and epinephrine were also measured in each horse. A reactivity test was then conducted which involved introducing three novel stimuli: a walking and vocalizing toy pig placed on a cardboard surface in front of the horse for 20 s; popping a balloon near the horse's flank area; and suddenly opening an umbrella and holding it open in front of the horse for 20 s. Reactions (expressions, vocalizations and movement) to each of the stimuli were scored and used to calculate an average reactivity score for each horse. The therapeutic riding instructors did not often agree on the temperament of their center's horses. The personality trait ratings made by the therapeutic riding instructors at each center were on average significantly correlated (P<0.01, r>0.52) for only 37.8% of the horses for any two instructors and 7.8% for three instructors. No significant correlations were found between temperament, reactivity, and the hormone concentrations (r<0.19), but regression analysis indicated a possibility of predicting temperament from the reactivity score and hormone concentrations (P<0.08). There was also a tendency for relationships between extremes in temperament (desirable vs. undesirable) and the hormone concentrations (P<0.09), and between extremes in reactivity (low vs. high) and the hormone concentrations (P=0.08). The difference in ratings among riding instructors indicates a need for more collaboration between instructors when evaluating horse temperament. This study also indicates that it was very difficult to objectively determine the suitability of horses for therapeutic riding programs regarding their temperament and reactivity, probably because other traits (e.g., smoothness of gait) are also considered very important.
Keywords: Horses; Therapeutic riding; Temperament; Cortisol; Catecholamines
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Crowell-Davis, S. L. (1985). Nursing behaviour and maternal aggression among Welsh ponies (Equus caballus). Appl Anim Behav Sci, 14(1), 11–25.
Abstract: Nursing behaviour and related aggression of mare-foal pairs was studied from birth (n = 21) to 24 weeks of age (n = 15) of the foal. Foals exhibited a decreasing length and frequency of nursing as they grew older. Mares rarely aggressed against their foals during nursing in the foal's first 4 weeks of life, but did so increasingly through Weeks 13-16, after which the rate of aggression during nursing decreased. Mares terminated nursing primarily by moving away, and were most likely to do so during the foal's first 4 weeks of life. They became gradually less likely to do so as the foal grew older. It was concluded that mares sometimes flex their hind limb on the side opposite the foal during nursing in order to conserve energy in a situation in which they would be remaining still anyway. There was no difference between colts and fillies in the frequency or duration of nursing or in the frequency with which their mothers aggressed against them or terminated nursing.
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Smith, S., & Goldman, L. (1999). Color discrimination in horses. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 62(1), 13–25.
Abstract: Four Arabian horses and one Thoroughbred were presented with a series of two-choice color vs. gray discrimination problems. Testing was done in a stall containing a wall with two translucent panels that were illuminated from behind by light projected through color or gray filters to provide the discriminative stimuli. Horses first learned to push one of the panels in order to receive the food reward behind the positive stimulus in an achromatic light-dark discrimination task, and were then tested on their ability to discriminate between gray and four individual colors: red (617 nm), yellow (581 nm), green (538 nm), and blue (470 nm). The criterion for learning was set at 85% correct responses, and final testing for all color vs. gray discriminations involved grays of varying intensities, making brightness an irrelevant cue. Three subjects were tested with all four colors. Two of those subjects successfully reached the criterion for learning on all four color vs. gray discriminations, while the third reached criterion with red and blue, but performed at chance levels for yellow and green. A fourth horse was only tested with green and yellow, and a fifth only with blue, and both of those horses successfully reached criterion on the discriminations they attempted. With the exception of the one subject's poor performance with yellow and green, there was no significant difference between horses on any of the discrimination tasks, and no significant difference in their performance with different colors. The results suggest that horses have color vision that is at least dichromatic, although partial color-blindness may occur in some individuals.
Keywords: Horses; Vision; Color; Discrimination; Behavior
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Mal, M. E., Friend, T. H., Lay, D. C., Vogelsang, S. G., & Jenkins, O. C. (1991). Behavioral responses of mares to short-term confinement and social isolation. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 31(1-2), 13–24.
Abstract: Thirty-six mares, blocked by age and temperament score, were assigned to one of three treatment groups: pasture (P); confinement stalls (C), allowing social contact; isolation stalls (ISS), allowing no contact with conspecifics. After 48 h on treatment, the mares were observed in situ for 1 h. Medium temperament and highly reactive ISS mares spent more time eating grain (P<0.01) and exhibited more grain-eating bouts (P<0.03) than P and C mares. Calm P mares had longer forage-eating bouts than C and ISS mares (P<0.02). During a 15 min open-field test in a 23 m x 23 m pen after 72 h on treatment, ISS mares traveled farther (P<0.005) than C and P mares, spent more total time trotting (P<0.01) than C and P mares, and exhibited a greater number of trotting bouts (P<0.01) than both C and P mares. Isolated mares spent less total time standing during the open-field test than C (P<0.05) and P (P<0.01) mares, but exhibited a greater number of standing bouts than C (P<0.05) and P (P<0.01) mares. Isolated mares also exhibited a greater number of total activity bouts (P<0.01) during the open-field test than both C and P mares; P mares also exhibited fewer activity bouts than C mares (P<0.1). Results indicate that mares kept in confined and isolated environments showed greater motivation for movement and performance of a greater number of activities than those maintained on pasture with conspecifics.
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Croneya, C. C. (2007). Group size and cognitive processes. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 103(3-4), 15–228.
Abstract: Animal group sizes may exert important effects on various cognitive mechanisms. Group
size is believed to exert pressures on fundamental brain structures that correlate with the increased social demands placed on animals living in relatively large, complex and dynamic social organizations. There is strong experimental evidence connecting social complexity, social learning and development of other cognitive abilities in a broad range of wild and domesticated animal species. In particular, group size seems to have significant effects on animals? abilities to derive concrete and abstract relationships. Here, we review the literature pertaining to cognitive processes and behaviours of various animal species relative to group size, with emphasis on social learning. It is suggested that understanding the relationship between group size and cognition in animals may yield practical animal management benefits, such as housing and conservation strategies, and may also have implications for improved animal welfare. Keywords: Group size; Social complexity; Social learning; Cognitive processes
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