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Author Fenner, K.; Freire, R.; McLean, A.; McGreevy, P. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Behavioral, demographic and management influences on equine responses to negative reinforcement Type Journal Article
  Year 2018 Publication Journal of Veterinary Behavior Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume Issue Pages  
  Keywords Learning; horse management; training; temperament; negative reinforcement  
  Abstract Understanding the factors that influence horse learning is critical to ensure horse welfare and rider safety. In this study, data were obtained from horses (n=96) training to step backwards through a corridor in response to bit pressure. Following training, learning ability was determined by the latency to step backwards through the corridor when handled on the left and right reins. Additionally, horse owners were questioned about each horse's management, training, behavior and signalment (such as horse breed, age and sex). Factors from these four broad domains were examined using a multiple logistic regression (MLR) model, following an Information Theoretic approach, for associations between horses' behavioral attributes and their ability to learn the task. The MLR also included estimates of the rider's ability and experience as well as owner's perceptions of their horse's trainability and temperament. Results revealed several variables including explanatory variables that correlated significantly with rate of learning. Horses were faster at backing, a behavioral trait, when handled on the right (t = 3.65, df = 94, P < 0.001) than the left side. Thoroughbred horses were slower at completing the tests than other breeds of horses when handled on the left side (LM, F1,48=4.5, P=0.04) and right side (LM, F1,45=6.0, P=0.02). Those in regular work, a training factor, did not learn faster than their unworked counterparts on the right rein but completed the task faster on the left rein (F1,44=5.47, P=0.02). This may reflect differences in laterality and habituation effects. In contrast, more anxious horses were faster at completing the test when handled from the right (Spearman, r=-0.22, P=0.04). It is possible that these horses have an increased arousal level when interacting with handlers, resulting in more engagement with the lesson, accounting for the improved performance results. The findings of this study will help clarify how horse behavior, training and management may influence learning and how their application may optimize learning outcomes. Future equine behavior assessment and research questionnaires should include items that assess these qualities.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1558-7878 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6400  
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Author Sighieri, C.; Tedeschi, D.; De Andreis, C.; Petri, L.; Baragli, P. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Behaviour Patterns of Horses Can be Used to Establish a Dominant-Subordinate Relationship Between Man and Horse Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication Abbreviated Journal Animal Welfare  
  Volume 12 Issue 4 Pages 705-708  
  Keywords animal welfare; behaviour patterns; dominance; unhandled horse  
  Abstract This paper describes how man can enter the social hierarchy of the horse by mimicking the behaviour and stance it uses to establish dominance. A herd is organised according to a dominance hierarchy established by means of ritualised conflict. Dominance relationships are formed through these confrontations: one horse gains the dominant role and others identify themselves as subordinates. This study was conducted using five females of the Haflinger breed, totally unaccustomed to human contact, from a free-range breeding farm. The study methods were based on the three elements fundamental to the equilibrium of the herd: flight, herd instinct and hierarchy. The trainer-horse relationship was established in three phases: retreat, approach and association. At the end of the training sessions, all of the horses were able to respond correctly to the trainer. These observations suggest that it is possible to manage unhandled horses without coercion by mimicking their behaviour patterns.  
  Address  
  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Cambridge University Press Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition 2023/01/11  
  ISSN 0962-7286 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6713  
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Author Sighieri, C.; Tedeschi, D.; De Andreis, C.; Petri, L.; Baragli, P. url  openurl
  Title (up) Behaviour patterns of horses can be used to establish a dominantsubordinate relationship between man and horse Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication Animal Welfare Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 12 Issue Pages 705-708  
  Keywords ANIMAL WELFARE; BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS; DOMINANCE; UNHANDLED HORSE  
  Abstract This paper describes how man can enter the social hierarchy of the horse by mimicking the behaviour and stance it uses to establish dominance. A herd is organised according to a dominance hierarchy established by means of ritualised conflict. Dominance relationships are formed through these confrontations: one horse gains the dominant role and others identify themselves as subordinates. This study was conducted using five females of the Haflinger breed, totally unaccustomed to human contact, from a free-range breeding farm. The study methods were based on the three elements fundamental to the equilibrium of the herd: flight, herd instinct and hierarchy. The trainer-horse relationship was established in three phases: retreat, approach and association. At the end of the training sessions, all of the horses were able to respond correctly to the trainer. These observations suggest that it is possible to manage unhandled horses without coercion by mimicking their behaviour patterns.  
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  Corporate Author Thesis  
  Publisher Place of Publication Editor  
  Language Summary Language Original Title  
  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4089  
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Author Weng, R.C.; Edwards, S.A.; English, P.R. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Behaviour, social interactions and lesion scores of group-housed sows in relation to floor space allowance Type Journal Article
  Year 1998 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 59 Issue 4 Pages 307-316  
  Keywords Pig-social behaviour; Space requirements; Anomalous behaviour  
  Abstract The space allowance appropriate for sows in group housing remains scientifically undefined, since the social space requirement of a group of animals and the factors which affect this are unknown. Eight established groups of six pregnant, multiparous sows were used in a replicated Latin Square design of experiment, with 7 day periods, to compare four pen sizes providing 2.0, 2.4, 3.6 or 4.8 m2/sow. For the last 48 h of each 7 day period, a continuous video recording was made to determine general behaviour and all social interactions. Time spent rooting increased progressively with increasing space allowance, whereas time spent sitting and standing inactive were both progressively reduced. The total frequency of social interactions and aggressive behaviour both increased with decreasing space allowance. The Attack:Retreat ratio was significantly higher, and the Avoidance Index significantly lower, in the smallest pen. All body regions had the highest count of lesions after sows had been in the smallest pen, with damage levels being reduced as pen area increased. Analysis of body lesion scores, combining incidence and severity, gave the same treatment effects. In conclusion, the results indicated that a minimum space of between 2.4 and 3.6 m2/sow was necessary in the conditions of this experiment to promote good welfare. This result cannot be generalised to situations of different group size, group stability or feeding method.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5474  
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Author Bachmann, I.; Bernasconi, P.; Herrmann, R.; Weishaupt, M.A.; Stauffacher, M. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Behavioural and physiological responses to an acute stressor in crib-biting and control horses Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 82 Issue 4 Pages 297-311  
  Keywords Horse welfare; Stereotypies; Crib-biting; Pituitary-adrenocortical axis; Sympatho-adrenomedullar axis; Stress response; Stress sensibility  
  Abstract The responses of eleven pairs of crib-biting and non-crib-biting horses (controls) to an arousal-inducing stimulus were studied. Video-observation of the horses revealed that crib-biting horses spent between 10.4 and 64.7% of their stabling time performing the stereotypy. During the first 2 days of an experimental period, the horses were conditioned to receive food from a special bucket. On the third day the food bucket was presented, but the horses were not allowed to feed. Arousal behaviour and crib-biting intensity as well as plasma cortisol concentration, heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV) were recorded at rest, and during and after presentation of the food stimulus. The stimulus induced a significant increase of HR and arousal behaviour in crib-biters and in controls, whereas the crib-biting frequency decreased. Power spectral analysis of the HRV revealed significant differences between crib-biters and controls at rest: crib-biters had a lower vagal tone (high frequency component, HF) and a higher sympathetic tone (low frequency component, LF) than controls. The lower basal parasympathetic activity might be an indication why crib-biting horses, in contrast to the controls, showed neither a significant decrease of the HF component during presentation of the food stimulus nor an increase of the HF component after presentation. Thus, there might be differences in the tuning of the autonomous nervous system and of the stress reactivity in crib-biting and in control horses. The results suggest that the crib-biting horses are more stress sensitive and physiologically and psychologically less flexible than the control horses.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3614  
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Author Goddard, P.J.; Summers, R.W.; Macdonald, A.J.; Murray, C.; Fawcett, A.R. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Behavioural responses of red deer to fences of five different designs Type Journal Article
  Year 2001 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 73 Issue 4 Pages 289-298  
  Keywords Red deer; Fence efficiency; Grazing behaviour  
  Abstract Capercaillie, a large species of grouse, are sometimes killed when they fly into high-tensile deer fences. A fence design which is lower or has a less rigid top section than conventional designs would reduce bird deaths, but such fences would still have to be deer-proof. The short-term behavioural responses of farmed red deer (Cervus elaphus) to fences of five designs, including four that were designed to be less damaging to capercaillie, were measured. Five deer were located on one side of a fence with a larger group (20 animals), from which they had been recently separated, on the other. The efficacy of fences in preventing deer from the small group from rejoining the larger group was also recorded. In addition to a conventional deer fence (C) the four new designs were, an inverted “L” shape (L), a fence with offset electric wire (E), a double fence (D) and a fence with four webbing tapes above (W). Four replicate groups of deer were each tested for 3 days with each fence design. Deer paced the test fence line relatively frequently (a proportion of 0.09 scan observations overall) but significantly less when deer were separated by fences E or C compared to L, W or D (overall difference between fence types, P<0.001). Deer separated by fence E spent significantly more time pacing perimeter fences than deer separated by fences of other types (overall difference between fence types, P<0.01) but deer separated by fence C maintained a low level of fence pacing overall. Analysis of behaviour patterns across the first day and the 3 days of exposure suggested that the novelty of the test fences, rather than the designs per se, influenced the behaviour of the deer. Over the course of the study, no deer crossed either C or L. Three deer crossed E and two deer crossed both W and D. On this basis, field testing, particularly of fence L, would be a useful next step.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 2101  
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Author Sol, D.; Duncan, R.P.; Blackburn, T.M.; Cassey, P.; Lefebvre, L. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Big brains, enhanced cognition, and response of birds to novel environments Type Journal Article
  Year 2005 Publication Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Abbreviated Journal Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.  
  Volume 102 Issue 15 Pages 5460-5465  
  Keywords  
  Abstract The widely held hypothesis that enlarged brains have evolved as an adaptation to cope with novel or altered environmental conditions lacks firm empirical support. Here, we test this hypothesis for a major animal group (birds) by examining whether large-brained species show higher survival than small-brained species when introduced to nonnative locations. Using a global database documenting the outcome of >600 introduction events, we confirm that avian species with larger brains, relative to their body mass, tend to be more successful at establishing themselves in novel environments. Moreover, we provide evidence that larger brains help birds respond to novel conditions by enhancing their innovation propensity rather than indirectly through noncognitive mechanisms. These findings provide strong evidence for the hypothesis that enlarged brains function, and hence may have evolved, to deal with changes in the environment.  
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  Notes 10.1073/pnas.0408145102 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4739  
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Author Noë, R.; Hammerstein, P. url  doi
openurl 
  Title (up) Biological markets Type Journal Article
  Year 1995 Publication Trends in Ecology & Evolution Abbreviated Journal Trends. Ecol. Evol  
  Volume 10 Issue 8 Pages 336-339  
  Keywords  
  Abstract In biological markets, two classes of traders exchange commodities to their mutual benefit. Characteristics of markets are: competition within trader classes by contest or outbidding; preference for partners offering the highest value; and conflicts over the exchange value of commodities. Biological markets are currently studied under at least three different headings: sexual selection, intraspecific cooperation and interspecific mutualism. The time is ripe for the development of game theoretic models that describe the common core of biological markets and integrate existing knowledge from the separate fields.  
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  ISSN 0169-5347 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4993  
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Author Noë, R.; Hammerstein, P. doi  openurl
  Title (up) Biological markets: supply and demand determine the effect of partner choice in cooperation, mutualism and mating Type Journal Article
  Year 1994 Publication Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Abbreviated Journal Behav. Ecol. Sociobiol.  
  Volume 35 Issue 1 Pages 1-11  
  Keywords Biomedical and Life Sciences  
  Abstract The formation of collaborating pairs by individuals belonging to two different classes occurs in the contexts of reproduction and intea-specific cooperation as well as of inter-specific mutualism. There is potential for partner choice and for competition for access to preferred partners in all three contexts. These selective forces have long been recognised as important in sexual selection, but their impact is not yet appreciated in cooperative and mutualistic systems. The formation of partnerships between members of different classes has much in common with the conclusion of trade agreements in human markets with two classes of traders, like producers and consumers, or employers and employees. Similar game-theoretical models can be used to predict the behaviour of rational traders in human markets and the evolutionarily stable strategies used in biological markets. We present a formal model in which the influence of the market mechanism on selection is made explicit. We restrict ourselves to biological markets in which: (1) Individuals do not compete over access to partners in an agonistic manner, but rather by outcompeting each other in those aspects that are preferred by the choosing party. (2) The commodity the partner has to offer cannot be obtained by the use of force, but requires the consent of the partner. These two restrictions ensure a dominant role for partner choice in the formation of partnerships. In a biological market model the decision to cooperate is based on the comparison between the offers of several potential partners, rather than on the behaviour of a single potential partner, as is implicitly assumed in currently accepted models of cooperation. In our example the members of one class A offer a commodity of fixed value in exchange for a commodity of variable value supplied by the other class, B. We show that when the B-class outnumbers the A-class sufficiently and the cost for the A-class to sample the offers of the B-class are low, the choosiness of the A-class will lead to selection for the supply of high value commodities by the B-class (Fig. 3a). Under the same market conditions, but with a high sampling cost this may still be the evolutionariy stable outcome, but another pair of strategies proves to be stable too: relaxed choosiness of class A coupled with low value commodities supplied by class B (Fig. 3b). We give a number of examples of mating, cooperative and mutualistic markets that resemble the low sampling cost situation depicted in Fig. 3a.  
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  Publisher Springer Berlin / Heidelberg Place of Publication Editor  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0340-5443 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5404  
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Author Carroll, C.L.; Huntington, P.J. openurl 
  Title (up) Body condition scoring and weight estimation of horses Type Journal Article
  Year 1988 Publication Equine veterinary journal Abbreviated Journal Equine Vet J  
  Volume 20 Issue 1 Pages 41-45  
  Keywords Animals; Biometry; *Body Weight; Female; Horses/*anatomy & histology; Male; Physical Examination/*veterinary  
  Abstract Three hundred and seventy two horses of varying breeds, height and fatness were weighed and measured for height at the withers. They were assessed for condition score by adaptation of a previously published method. The heart girth and length of 281 of the horses were also measured. Weight of horses was highly correlated (P less than 0.001) with height (r2 = 0.62), condition score (r2 = 0.22) and girth2 x length (r2 = 0.90). Nomograms were constructed to predict weight from height and condition score, and girth and length measurements. Weight can also be accurately estimated from the formula: (formula, see text) The average value of 'Y' in this experiment was 11900 and this estimated weight with more accuracy than some previously published values of 'Y'. Racing Thoroughbred horses were found to be significantly lighter than non-racing Thoroughbreds of the same height and condition score. The method of assessment of condition score was shown to be repeatable between different operators with varying degrees of experience.  
  Address Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Attwood Veterinary Research Laboratory, Westmeadows, Victoria, Australia  
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  Language English Summary Language Original Title  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 0425-1644 ISBN Medium  
  Area Expedition Conference  
  Notes PMID:3366105 Approved no  
  Call Number Serial 1808  
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