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| Author |
Lansade, L.; Bertrand, M.; Boivin, X.; Bouissou, M.-F. |
| Title |
Effects of handling at weaning on manageability and reactivity of foals |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2004 |
Publication  |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
87 |
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1-2 |
Pages |
131-149 |
| Keywords |
Horse; Handling; Weaning; Manageability; Emotional reactivity; Fearfulness; Human-animal relationship |
| Abstract |
The horse's temperament, including its manageability and reactivity and/or fearfulness, is of importance as it can result in problems and can render horses unsuitable for inexperienced riders. Early experience, including handling during infancy, may influence the horse's adult behaviour and reduce its fear of humans and other potentially frigthening situations. In the various species studied, handling has generally been undertaken during the neonatal period. The aim of the present study was to test the effects of handling young horses around the time of weaning, a period which has been demonstrated to be effective in increasing ease of handling in cattle and goats. Sixteen Anglo-Arab foals were handled for 12 days either immediately following weaning (early handled: EH) or 21 days later (late handled: LH); eight additional non-handled foals served as controls (C). Handling consisted of haltering, gently petting all parts of the body, picking up feet and leading the foal over 120 m. During handling sessions, EH were easier to handle than LH: time taken to fit them with a halter, to pick up feet, and “walk-ratio” (time walking under constraint/total time walking) were significantly lower for EH. During subsequent tests conducted over 2 days, 4, and 7 months, as well as 10 months and to some extent 18 months after the end of handling period, EH and LH were easier to handle and less reactive than controls, although differences diminished with time. The period following weaning can therefore be qualified as an “optimal period” for handling. Some of the effects persist for at least 18 months. |
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refbase @ user @ |
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842 |
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Scheibe, K.M.; Schleusner, T.; Berger, A.; Eichhorn, K.; Langbein, J.; Dal Zotto, L.; Streich, W.J. |
| Title |
ETHOSYS (R)--new system for recording and analysis of behaviour of free-ranging domestic animals and wildlife |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
1998 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
55 |
Issue |
3-4 |
Pages |
195-211 |
| Keywords |
Telemetry; Diurnal patterns; Activity; Rhythms; Feeding and nutrition |
| Abstract |
A storage telemetry system has been developed to monitor domestic animals and wildlife, and has been tested under variable conditions on sheep, Przewalski horse and mouflon. It can be used for automatic recording of different patterns of behaviour, such as activity and feeding, and is based on advanced analysis of sensor-emitted signals. The system is made up of collars (ETHOREC) with sensors and electronic devices for behaviour recording, a central station (ETHOLINK) and software for data transmission and processing (ETHODAT). All components of the ETHOREC recording device are integrated in the collar. Long-time recording of behaviour through up to four different channels and in numerous animals at one and the same time are necessary elements to facilitate biorhythmic analysis of animals under free-ranging conditions. The results obtained from this telemetry system were compared with visual observations on six sheep and four Przewalski horses. Parallel recordings were taken from four sheep, using a recorder for jaw movements. Locomotor activity usually was rated somewhat higher by observers, whereas feed uptake was rated lower. Higher feed uptake values were measured by means of the jaw movement recorder, although deviations thus measured varied less than those noticed by visual observations. All measured series exhibited significant correlations with control values. The system, consequently, was found to be more suitable for determination of diurnal patterns, change over time and relative comparison between behaviour levels than it actually was for measurement of absolute duration of a given behaviour. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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2237 |
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McCall, C.A.; Hall, S.; McElhenney, W.H.; Cummins, K.A. |
| Title |
Evaluation and comparison of four methods of ranking horses based on reactivity |
Type |
Journal Article |
| Year |
2006 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
96 |
Issue |
1-2 |
Pages |
115-127 |
| Keywords |
Horse; Reactivity tests; Heart rate; Emotionality; Temperament |
| Abstract |
Four methods of ranking horses on reactivity were evaluated and compared: isolation from conspecifics, presentation of a static novel stimulus, traversing a novel stimulus in a runway (isolation, novel stimulus and runway tests, respectively) and assigning subjective emotionality scores. In all tests, horses' heart rates were recorded and behaviour was videotaped. To be considered a valid test of reactivity, at least one heart rate and one behavioural measurement in the test had to change significantly between treatments (tranquilizer administation versus sham tranquilizer administration), and behavioural measures had to be displayed in at least 75% of the trials. Forty horses performed each of the three tests daily on three different days in a switchback design. Horses were assigned randomly to a daily test sequence, which was maintained throughout the study. In the runway test, no significant difference in heart rate values in tranquilized and non-tranquilized horses was found, and no behavioural attribute was displayed in more than 52% of the trials; therefore it was rejected as a valid test of reactivity. Both isolation and novel stimulus tests produced valid measurements. Mean heart rate was the most precise physiological measure for these tests, and walking and defecation frequency were the most precise behavioural measures for novel stimulus and isolation tests, respectively. Mean heart rates on the novel stimulus and isolation tests were correlated (rs = 0.79, P < 0.01) indicating that these tests produced similar rankings based on physiological responses. However, behavioural measures ranked horses differently (rs = 0.27, P < 0.10) on the tests. Rank correlations between mean heart rates and behavioural measures were higher in the novel stimulus (rs = 0.66, P < 0.01) than the isolation test (rs = 0.55, P < 0.01), indicating that the novel stimulus test ranked horses based on either physiological or behavioural responses more similarly than did the isolation test. Therefore, the novel stimulus test was considered the more accurate evaluation of reactivity. Subjective emotionality scores were correlated moderately with mean heart rates (rs > 0.33, P < 0.01) from the novel stimulus and isolation tests and with walking scores (rs = 0.47, P < 0.01) from the novel stimulus test. Assignment of subjective emotionality scores was not as accurate as the novel stimulus or isolation tests in ranking horses for reactivity. Using physiological data alone, combining physiological and behavioural measurements or using more than one behavioural measurement in reactivity tests may reflect the reactivity of the horse better than a single behavioural measurement. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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3578 |
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Lansade, L.; Bouissou, M.-F. |
| Title |
Reactivity to humans: A temperament trait of horses which is stable across time and situations |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
114 |
Issue |
3-4 |
Pages |
492-508 |
| Keywords |
Horse; Equus caballus; Reactivity to humans; Temperament trait; Personality; Behavioural consistency |
| Abstract |
The aim of this study was to test the existence of a “reactivity-to-humans” trait which is stable over time and across situations. For this purpose, four test situations were repeated on the same animals at 8 months, 1.5 years (N = 110 horses) and 2.5 years of age (N = 54 horses). These situations involved a “familiar passive human test” during which a familiar person stayed motionless in the test pen, a “familiar active human test” and an “unfamiliar active human test” during which a familiar or unfamiliar person attempted to touch the horse, and a “halter-fitting and heart-rate measurement test”, during which the horse was haltered and equipped with a surcingle and then had its heart-rate measured. Many behavioural variables were recorded during the tests, and correlations between ages and variables measured during other situations were investigated. When correlations were found, we concluded that the variables corresponded to temperament traits which are stable over time and across situations. The horses tested were divided into four groups according to breed (Anglo-Arab and Welsh) and year of birth (2001 and 2002). Data for each group were analysed separately with Spearman rank correlations. Regarding stability over time, there was a strong correlation between ages in the frequency of licking/nibbling the passive human, the time taken by a familiar or unfamiliar person to touch the horse, and the time taken to fit a halter (e.g. the time taken to touch the horse's muzzle was significantly correlated between ages in 7 out of the 8 possible cases: 0.40 <= R <= 0.67). Regarding stability across situations, results indicate that the more frequently a horse sniffed, licked or nibbled a passive human, the easier it was for either a familiar or unfamiliar active human to touch and halter it. Moreover, a horse which could be touched easily by a familiar human could also be touched and haltered easily by an unfamiliar human. These behaviours, which are linked directly to humans, therefore indicate good stability over time and across situations. In conclusion, this stability suggests the existence of a “reactivity-to-humans” temperament trait, whether the human is passive or active, familiar or unfamiliar. When the animals do not have frequent contact with humans, this reactivity is stable over time and can be measured as early as 8 months of age using the behavioural variables cited above. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4710 |
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Schweitzer, C.; Arnould, C. |
| Title |
Emotional reactivity of Japanese quail chicks with high or low social motivation reared under unstable social conditions |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2010 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
125 |
Issue |
3-4 |
Pages |
143-150 |
| Keywords |
Emotional reactivity; Quail; Emotions; Fear; Social behaviour |
| Abstract |
Repeated encounters with unfamiliar conspecifics in large groups of domestic birds create a potentially stressful social environment which can affect the birds' emotional reactivity and consequently their welfare. As social relationships between young quail are particularly influenced by their social motivation (i.e., the motivation to seek close proximity with conspecifics), it is likely that the reaction of quail to repeated encounters with strangers depends on their social motivation. The aim of this study was to assess the emotional reactivity of quail chicks with high (HSR) or low (LSR) social motivation housed under stable and unstable social conditions. Quail chicks were housed either in stable pairs, i.e. remaining with the same cagemate until testing (NHSR = 19 and NLSR = 18 pairs), or in unstable pairs, i.e. changing cagemate daily from 6 to 13 days of age (NHSR = 20 and NLSR = 19 pairs). Emotional reactivity was measured using a novel object test on day 14, and an emergence test and a tonic immobility test on day 15. The social condition affected the number of induction attempts of quail chicks in the tonic immobility test but only in the LSR ones. This number of inductions was lower under the stable than under the unstable social condition in this line. Moreover, the HSR chicks showed greater disturbance than the LSR ones in the three behavioural tests. In conclusion, social instability did not affect the emotional reactivity of HSR quail chicks, which was high, regardless of social condition. In contrast, repeated cagemate changes seemed to decrease the emotional reactivity of LSR quail chicks. These results suggest that low social motivation makes easier the adaptation to the potential social instability encountered in large flocks. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5132 |
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Burn, C.C.; Dennison, T.L.; Whay, H.R. |
| Title |
Relationships between behaviour and health in working horses, donkeys, and mules in developing countries |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2010 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
126 |
Issue |
3-4 |
Pages |
109–118 |
| Keywords |
Animal welfare; Developing countries; Equine; Human-animal relationships; Inactivity; Sickness behaviour |
| Abstract |
Recent studies raise serious welfare concerns regarding the estimated 93.6 million horses, donkeys and mules in developing countries. Most equids are used for work in poor communities, and are commonly afflicted with wounds, poor body condition, respiratory diseases, parasites, dental problems, and lameness. Non-physical welfare problems, such as fear of humans, are also of concern. Interventions to improve working equine welfare aim to prioritise the conditions that cause the most severe impositions on the animals' subjectively experienced welfare, but data identifying which conditions these may be, are lacking. Here we describe a stage in the validation of behavioural welfare indicators that form part of a working equine welfare assessment protocol. Over 4 years, behavioural and physical data were collected from 5481 donkeys, 4504 horses, and 858 mules across nine developing countries. Behaviours included the animals' general alertness, and their responses to four human-interaction tests, using the unfamiliar observer as the human stimulus. Avoidance behaviours correlated significantly with each other across the human-interaction tests, with 21% of animals avoiding the observer, but they showed no associations with likely anthropogenic injuries. Over 13% of equids appeared [`]apathetic': lethargic rather than alert. Measures of unresponsiveness correlated with each other across the five tests, and were associated with poor body condition, abnormal mucous membrane colour, faecal soiling, eye abnormalities, more severe wounds, and older age, depending on the equine species. This suggests that working equids in poor physical health show an unresponsive behavioural profile, consistent with sickness behaviour, exhaustion, chronic pain, or depression-like states. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5158 |
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Jørgensen, G.H.M.; Liestøl, S.H.-O.; Bøe, K.E. |
| Title |
Effects of enrichment items on activity and social interactions in domestic horses (Equus caballus) |
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Journal Article |
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2011 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
129 |
Issue |
2-4 |
Pages |
100-110 |
| Keywords |
Horse; Activity; Behaviour; Item; Enrichment; Social interactions |
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The aim of this study was to investigate the use of items intended to provide enrichment during turnout, both for individual and group kept horses in an attempt to reduce the amount of passive behaviours. The study was divided into two parts, where study 1 involved eight horses rotated through eight individual paddocks, each containing one of seven enrichment items and one paddock being kept without item, functioning as a control. The horses' item-directed behaviours; passive behaviours or other non-item related activities were scored using instantaneous sampling, every minute for 1 h at the beginning and the end of the turnout period. Study 2 involved six horse groups (3-6 horses) and the same scoring methods and ethogram as in study 1. The four items that the horses interacted the most with during study 1 (straw STRA, ball filled with concentrates CBALL, branches BRAN and scratching pole POLE) are investigated in study 2. In addition, the amount of social interactions was recorded. Both horses kept individually (P < 0.05) and in groups (P < 0.0001) performed significantly more item-directed behaviours towards edible items like STRA and CBALL than other objects. There was, however, no overall relation between the numbers of item-directed behaviours and the number of passive behaviours observed, indicating that the enrichment items did not alone reduce the amount of passive behaviours during turnout periods. Such a reduction was, however, only apparent when horses spent more time eating green leaves growing on the paddock surface (R = -0.97 study 1, R = -0.67 study 2, P < 0.0001). Access to STRA in group kept horses also seemed to reduce the amount of agonistic behaviours (P < 0.0001). In conclusion, if grass is not available in paddocks, the provision of roughage reduces the amount of passive behaviours in singly kept horses and it also reduces the risk of agonistic interactions between horses kept in group. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5320 |
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Laister, S.; Stockinger, B.; Regner, A.-M.; Zenger, K.; Knierim, U.; Winckler, C. |
| Title |
Social licking in dairy cattle--Effects on heart rate in performers and receivers |
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Journal Article |
| Year |
2011 |
Publication |
Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume |
130 |
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3-4 |
Pages |
81-90 |
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Dairy cows; Allogrooming; Affiliative social behaviour; Cardiac activity; Affective states |
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Using heart rate (HR) measurements we investigated whether potential calming effects of social licking were evident for both active (performers) and passive (receivers) licking partners. A HR decline was assumed to indicate relaxation and thus the experience of positive emotions. Effects of the licking category (spontaneous, solicited), the animals' basic activity (standing, lying) and the licked body region (head, neck, rest) were also considered. Two studies (A, B) were carried out in the same loose housed Austrian Simmental dairy herd. HR was recorded in up to 20 focal animals on 16 and 18 days, respectively. Using either direct observations (A) or video recordings (B), social licking interactions were continuously observed. The cow's basic activity was recorded using scan sampling at 5 min intervals. Linear mixed effects models were applied separately for Study A and B in order to compare the mean HR of the licking bouts with the mean of the respective 5 min pre- and post-licking periods. In receivers we found a significant calming effect in terms of a HR decline during allogrooming in both studies (A: -1.3 beats per minute, B: -1.1 bpm). This effect was more pronounced when animals were standing (A/B: -2.4 bpm/-3.8 bpm). However, it was not affected by the licked body region. In dairy cows performing social licking, we did not find an overall calming effect. On the contrary, in Study B, HR significantly increased during licking in lying performers (+2.5 bpm). This reaction was even stronger, when licking was directed to the receivers' head (+3.5 bpm) or neck (+3.0 bpm) as compared to the rest of the body (+1.4 bpm). The licking category had no effect on HR changes during the licking events. Our findings suggest that relaxation effects induced by social licking differ between performers and receivers and are affected by the cows' basic activity. In receivers, there were clear indications of a calming effect implying the experience of positive affective states. In performers, such calming effects during social licking were not identified. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5331 |
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Górecka-Bruzda, A.; Jastrzebska, E.; Sosnowska, Z.; Jaworski, Z.; Jezierski, T.; Chruszczewski, M.H. |
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Reactivity to humans and fearfulness tests: Field validation in Polish Cold Blood Horses |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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In Press, Corrected Proof |
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Cold blood horse; Temperament; Reactivity; Behavioural tests; Questionnaire; Validity |
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The aim of the present paper was to examine in field conditions the feasibility of the experimentally developed behavioural tests for assessment of two temperamental traits of cold blood horses: fearfulness and reactivity to humans. The predictive, convergent and discriminant validity of the tests was evaluated. Fifty-three Polish Cold Blood Horses (CBHs) were tested with the battery of behavioural tests involving passive and active contact with humans, handling, startling, novel object and surface tests. The behaviour of horses in real, on-farm conditions was evaluated with the caretaker's questionnaire (CQ). The tests demonstrated that a non-startling object and unforced human manipulations were willingly accepted by horses. In contrast, the horses were more reluctant to interact spontaneously with humans and showed longer persistence of a withdrawal reaction when presented with a startling stimulus or when restrained. CQ confirmed the common opinion of calmness, patience and good manageability of the CBHs. The results of behavioural tests were correlated with the scores derived from factor analysis of the CQ. Moreover, the majority of tests measures were correlated within reactivity to humans (median rs = 0.56) and fear tests (median rs = 0.41). Thus, predictive and convergent validity of the employed tests has been confirmed. However, reactivity to humans and fear measures were also correlated (median rs = 0.36), therefore discriminant validity of the tests used has been not confirmed. Therefore, we suggest that the parameters of tests designed to measure two separate traits: reactivity to humans and fearfulness, measured in fact avoidance of potential harm and withdrawal behaviour. Although selection for the work-appropriate behaviour is almost nonexistent nowadays, we conclude that Polish Cold Blood Horses are still predisposed for disciplines of equitation and driving, which demand an easy to handle horse. Nonetheless, we recommend behavioural testing of horses when approving for breeding. For this purpose, we can confirm usefulness of the experimentally developed tests in field assessment of general behavioural reactivity of horses. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5395 |
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Austin, N.P.; Rogers, L.J. |
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Lateralization of agonistic and vigilance responses in Przewalski horses (Equus przewalskii) |
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Journal Article |
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2014 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
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151 |
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43-50 |
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Behavioural lateralization: Eye preference; Limb preference; Aggression; Vigilance; Reactivity; Przewalski horses |
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tEye and limb preferences were scored in the closest undomesticated relative of Equuscaballus using the same methods as used previously to study laterality in feral horses.Observations were made of 33 Przewalski horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) (male N = 20,female N = 13) living under natural social conditions on a large reserve in France. Signifi-cant left-eye/side biases were found in agonistic interactions within harem bands (M ± SEbias to left 58% ± 0.01 for threats, P < 0.001; 68% ± 0.05 for attacks; P < 0.001) and in stallionfights (threats, 52% ± 0.01 left, P < 0.001; attacks, 63% ± 0.02 left, P < 0.001): as many as 80%of the horses were significantly lateralized in attack responses within harem bands. Lat-erality of vigilance was measured as lifting up the head from grazing and turning it to theleft or right side: a directional bias to the left was found (M ± SE 53% ± 0.02 left, P < 0.001).Side bias in reactivity was calculated as the percent of head lifts above the level of thewithers on the left or right side and this was also left side biased (M ± SE 73% ± 0.03 left,P < 0.001). These results indicate right-hemisphere specialization for control of aggressionand responses to novelty. The left bias in attack scores within harem bands was strongerin males than females (P = 0.024) and in immature than adult horses (P = 0.032). Immaturehorses were also more strongly lateralized than adults in vigilance scores (P = 0.022), whichmay suggest that experience reduces these side biases. Our results show that Przewalskihorses exhibit left eye preferences, as do feral horses, and do so even more strongly thanferal horses. Considering feral and Przewalski horses together, we deduce that ancestralhorses had similar lateral biases. Also similar to feral horses, the Przewalski horses showedno significant forelimb preference at the group level or in the majority of horses at theindividual level, confirming the hypothesis that previously reported limb preferences indomestic breeds are entrained or generated by breed-specific selection. |
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Edition |
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| ISSN |
0168-1591 |
ISBN |
|
Medium |
|
| Area |
|
Expedition |
|
Conference |
|
| Notes |
|
Approved |
no |
| Call Number |
Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5768 |
| Permanent link to this record |
