Houpt, K. A. (1991). Animal behavior and animal welfare. J Am Vet Med Assoc, 198(8), 1355–1360.
Abstract: The value of behavioral techniques in assessing animal welfare, and in particular assessing the psychological well being of animals, is reviewed. Using cats and horses as examples, 3 behavioral methods are presented: (1) comparison of behavior patterns and time budgets; (2) choice tests; and (3) operant conditioning. The behaviors of intact and declawed cats were compared in order to determine if declawing led to behavioral problems or to a change in personality. Apparently it did not. The behavior of free ranging horses was compared with that of stabled horses. Using two-choice preference tests, the preference of horses for visual contact with other horses and the preference for bedding were determined. Horses show no significant preference for locations from which they can make visual contact with other horses, but they do prefer bedding, especially when lying down. Horses will perform an operant response in order to obtain light in a darkened barn or heat in an outside shed. These same techniques can be used to answer a variety of questions about an animal's motivation for a particular attribute of its environment.
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Houpt, K. A., Zahorik, D. M., & Swartzman-Andert, J. A. (1990). Taste aversion learning in horses. J. Anim Sci., 68(8), 2340–2344.
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.
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Weik, H., Lingk, W., & Altmann, H. J. (1972). [Behavior of individual fatty acids during in-vitro lipolysis and resynthesis in equine depot fat]. Zentralbl Veterinarmed A, 19(8), 677–685.
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Beaver, B. V. (1981). Problems & values associated with dominance. Vet Med Small Anim Clin, 76(8), 1129–1131.
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Henry, S., Richard-Yris, M. - A., & Hausberger, M. (2006). Influence of various early human-foal interferences on subsequent human-foal relationship. Dev Psychobiol, 48(8), 712–718.
Abstract: Whereas the way animals perceive human contact has been particularly examined in pet animals, a small amount of investigations has been done in domestic ungulates. It was nevertheless assumed that, as pet animals, non-aggressive forms of tactile contact were as well rewarding or positive for these species, even though the features of intraspecific relationships in pet animals and domestic ungulates may be to some extent different.We test here the hypothesis that horses may not consider physical handling by humans as a positive event. When comparing different early human-foal interactions, we found that early exposure to a motionless human enhanced slightly foals reactions to humans whereas forced stroking or handling in early life did not improve later human-foal relation. Foals that were assisted during their first suckling (e.g., brought to the dam's teat) even tended to avoid human approach at 2 weeks, and physical contact at 1 month of age.We argue that interspecies differences may exist in how tactile stimulation is perceived. It may be important for the establishment of a bond that a young animal is active in the process and able, through its behavioral responses, to help define what is positive for it. This way of investigation may have important general implications in how we consider the development of social relations, both within and between species.
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Reynhout, I. C., Cornelissen, J. J. L. M., & Nolte, R. J. M. (2007). Self-assembled architectures from biohybrid triblock copolymers. J Am Chem Soc, 129(8), 2327–2332.
Abstract: The synthesis and self-assembly behavior of biohybrid ABC triblock copolymers consisting of a synthetic diblock, polystyrene-b-polyethylene glycol (PSm-b-PEG113), where m is varied, and a hemeprotein, myoglobin (Mb) or horse radish peroxidase (HRP), is described. The synthetic diblock copolymer is first functionalized with the heme cofactor and subsequently reconstituted with the apoprotein or the apoenzyme to yield the protein-containing ABC triblock copolymer. The obtained amphiphilic block copolymers self-assemble in aqueous solution into a large variety of aggregate structures. Depending on the protein and the polystyrene block length, micellar rods, vesicles, toroids, figure eight structures, octopus structures, and spheres with a lamellar surface are formed.
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Miller, R. M. (2000). The revolution in horsemanship. J Am Vet Med Assoc, 216(8), 1232–1233.
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Friedberger, J. C. (1970). Modern horse training methods--what is justifiable? Vet. Rec., 87(8), 229–231.
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Polley, L. (1986). Strongylid parasites of horses: experimental ecology of the free-living stages on the Canadian prairie. Am J Vet Res, 47(8), 1686–1693.
Abstract: Each month for a 1-year period (October through September), equine fecal masses containing eggs of strongylid nematodes were placed outdoors on small grass plots in Saskatchewan, Canada. Thereafter, feces and grass from the plots were sampled after intervals of 1 week or longer, and the strongylid eggs and larvae recovered were counted. These observations were made over a 2-year period. Development of eggs to infective larvae occurred in all experiments, except those established in October, December, and January. Infective larvae from experiments set up in April through September survived that winter. During the summer, there was a gradual build up of infective larvae in the fecal masses, which reached a peak in August and September and then decreased into the winter. These results are discussed in the context of the control of strongylid parasites of horses on the Canadian prairie and in other areas of the world with a similar climate and similar horse management practices.
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Wennerstrand, J., Johnston, C., Roethlisberger-Holm, K., Erichsen, C., Eksell, P., & Drevemo, S. (2004). Kinematic evaluation of the back in the sport horse with back pain. Equine Vet J, 36(8), 707–711.
Abstract: REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Earlier studies have developed a clinical tool to evaluate objectively the function of the equine back. The ability to differentiate horses with back pain from asymptomatic, fully functioning horses using kinematic measures from this tool has not been evaluated. OBJECTIVES: To compare the kinematics of the back at walk and trot in riding horses with back dysfunction to the same parameters in asymptomatic sport horses. METHODS: The kinematics of the back in 12 horses with impaired performance and back pain were studied at walk and trot on a treadmill. Data were captured for 10 sees at 240 Hz. Range of movement (ROM) and intravertebral pattern symmetry of movement for flexion and extension (FE), lateral bending (LB) and axial rotation (AR) were derived from angular motion pattern data and the results compared to an earlier established database on asymptomatic riding horses. RESULTS: At walk, horses with back dysfunction had a ROM smaller for dorsoventral FE in the caudal thoracic region (T13 = 7.50 degrees, T17 = 7.71 degrees; P<0.05), greater for LB at T13 (8.13 degrees; P<0.001) and smaller for AR of the pelvis (10.97 degrees; P<0.05) compared to asymptomatic horses (FE-T13 = 8.28 degrees, FE-T17 = 8.49 degrees, LB-T13 = 6.34 degrees, AR-pelvis = 12.77 degrees). At trot, dysfunctional horses had a smaller (P<0.05) ROM for FE at the thoracic lumbar junction (T17 = 2.46 degrees, L1 = 2.60 degrees) compared to asymptomatic horses (FE-T17 = 3.07 degrees, FE-L1 = 3.12 degrees). CONCLUSIONS: The objective measurement technique can detect differences between back kinematics in riding horses with signs of back dysfunction and asymptomatic horses. The clinical manifestation of back pain results in diminished flexion/extension movement at or near the thoracic lumbar junction. However, before applying the method more extensively in practice it is necessary to evaluate it further, including measurements of patients whose diagnoses can be confirmed and long-term follow-ups of back patients after treatment. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: Since the objective measurement technique can detect small movement differences in back kinematics, it should help to clinically describe and, importantly, objectively detect horses with back pain and dysfunction.
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