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Author Chaudhuri, M.; Ginsberg, J.R. doi  openurl
  Title Urinary androgen concentrations and social status in two species of free ranging zebra (Equus burchelli and E. grevyi). Type Journal Article
  Year 1990 Publication Journal of Reproduction and Fertility Abbreviated Journal J Reprod Fert  
  Volume 88 Issue Pages 127-133  
  Keywords zebra; testosterone; androgens; territoriality; social behaviour; dominance  
  Abstract In both species of zebra, breeding males had higher urinary androgen concentrations (ng androgens/mg Cr) than did non-breeding bachelor males (30.0 +/- 5.0 (N = 9) versus 11.4 +/- 2.8, (N = 7) in the plains zebra; 19.0 +/- 2.2 (N = 17) versus 10.7 +/- 1.2 (N = 14) in the Grevy's zebra). In the more stable family structure of the plains zebra (single male non-territorial groups) variations in androgen concentrations could not be ascribed to any measured variable. In the Grevy's zebra, androgen values were significantly lower in samples taken from territorial (breeding) males which had temporarily abandoned their territories (N = 4) and the urinary androgen concentration for a male on his territory was negatively correlated with the time since females last visited the territory.  
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  Notes from Professor Hans Klingels Equine Reference List Approved yes  
  Call Number Serial 987  
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Author Broad, K.D.; Curley, J.P.; Keverne, E.B. doi  openurl
  Title Mother-infant bonding and the evolution of mammalian social relationships Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Abbreviated Journal Phil. Trans. Biol. Sci.  
  Volume 361 Issue 1476 Pages 2199-2214  
  Keywords Endorphin; Maternal behaviour; Olfactory memory; Opioids; Oxytocin; Pair bonding; Prefrontal cortex; Social learning  
  Abstract A wide variety of maternal, social and sexual bonding strategies have been described across mammalian species, including humans. Many of the neural and hormonal mechanisms that underpin the formation and maintenance of these bonds demonstrate a considerable degree of evolutionary conservation across a representative range of these species. However, there is also a considerable degree of diversity in both the way these mechanisms are activated and in the behavioural responses that result. In the majority of small-brained mammals (including rodents), the formation of a maternal or partner preference bond requires individual recognition by olfactory cues, activation of neural mechanisms concerned with social reward by these cues and gender-specific hormonal priming for behavioural output. With the evolutionary increase of neocortex seen in monkeys and apes, there has been a corresponding increase in the complexity of social relationships and bonding strategies together with a significant redundancy in hormonal priming for motivated behaviour. Olfactory recognition and olfactory inputs to areas of the brain concerned with social reward are downregulated and recognition is based on integration of multimodal sensory cues requiring an expanded neocortex, particularly the association cortex. This emancipation from olfactory and hormonal determinants of bonding has been succeeded by the increased importance of social learning that is necessitated by living in a complex social world and, especially in humans, a world that is dominated by cultural inheritance. © 2006 The Royal Society.  
  Address Sub-Department of Animal Behaviour, University of Cambridge, Madingley, Cambridge CB3 8AA, United Kingdom  
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  Notes Cited By (since 1996): 6; Export Date: 23 October 2008; Source: Scopus Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4558  
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Author Garamszegi, L.Z.; Møller, A.P.; Erritzøe, J. doi  openurl
  Title Coevolving avian eye size and brain size in relation to prey capture and nocturnality Type Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences Abbreviated Journal Proc Roy Soc Lond B Biol Sci  
  Volume 269 Issue 1494 Pages 961-967  
  Keywords adaptation; behaviour; brain size; coevolution; eye size; vision  
  Abstract Behavioural adaptation to ecological conditions can lead to brain size evolution. Structures involved in behavioural visual information processing are expected to coevolve with enlargement of the brain. Because birds are mainly vision–oriented animals, we tested the predictions that adaptation to different foraging constraints can result in eye size evolution, and that species with large eyes have evolved large brains to cope with the increased amount of visual input. Using a comparative approach, we investigated the relationship between eye size and brain size, and the effect of prey capture technique and nocturnality on these traits. After controlling for allometric effects, there was a significant, positive correlation between relative brain size and relative eye size. Variation in relative eye and brain size were significantly and positively related to prey capture technique and nocturnality when a potentially confounding variable, aquatic feeding, was controlled statistically in multiple regression of independent linear contrasts. Applying a less robust, brunching approach, these patterns also emerged, with the exception that relative brain size did not vary with prey capture technique. Our findings suggest that relative eye size and brain size have coevolved in birds in response to nocturnal activity and, at least partly, to capture of mobile prey.  
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  Notes 10.1098/rspb.2002.1967 Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5452  
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Author Weng, R.C.; Edwards, S.A.; English, P.R. doi  openurl
  Title 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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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5474  
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Author Visser, E.K.; Van Reenen, C.G.; Engel, B.; Schilder, M.B.H.; Barneveld, A.; Blokhuis, H.J. doi  openurl
  Title The association between performance in show-jumping and personality traits earlier in life Type Journal Article
  Year 2003 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 82 Issue 4 Pages 279-295  
  Keywords Personality; Performance; Horses; Prediction; Individual differences; Behavioural tests  
  Abstract For a horse to succeed in a show-jumping career, the individual has to possess both excellent physical abilities as well as a suitable personality to perform under challenging conditions. Forty-one Dutch Warmblood horses were used to develop personality tests and correlations between test variables and early training performances in jumping were studied. In behavioural tests, during the first 2 years of the horses' lives, personality aspects like emotionality, reactivity to human and learning abilities were quantified. At the age of 3, horses were broken and received early training in show-jumping. The inter-relationship between several performance variables measured during this early training phase were studied using principal component analysis (PCA). Variables measured in the different personality tests (novel-object test, handling test, avoidance-learning test and a reward-learning test) showed no correlations, suggesting that these tests all triggered different aspects of a horse's personality. This study indicates that it is possible to predict a substantial part of the show-jumping performance of an individual horse later in life by personality traits earlier in life.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number refbase @ user @ Serial 326  
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Author Mills, D.S.; Alston, R.D.; Rogers, V.; Longford, N.T. doi  openurl
  Title Factors associated with the prevalence of stereotypic behaviour amongst Thoroughbred horses passing through auctioneer sales Type Journal Article
  Year 2002 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 78 Issue 2-4 Pages 115-124  
  Keywords Behaviour; Horses; Management; Prevalence; Stereotypy; Stress  
  Abstract The objective of this study was to evaluate whether sex, age and/or coat colour were associated with the occurrence of stereotypic behaviour in the horse and to assess whether the occurrence of one type of stereotypy in an individual was associated with the occurrence of another specific type of stereotypy. The incidence of stereotypic boxwalking, weaving (both locomotor stereotypies) and oral stereotypy in 4061 Thoroughbred horses passing through five bloodstock auctions were recorded from sale declarations and information on returns. An overall prevalence of 5.1% was recorded, and varied with sex (P<0.001) and age (P<0.001) but not coat colour (P=0.495). Prevalence was higher in females, geldings, and 2-year-olds. Examination of the assumption that stereotypies are acquired independently suggested a higher than expected prevalence of animals with more than one stereotypy. The interaction was not the same for all forms of stereotypy recorded. The effect was greatest between boxwalking and weaving, (odds ratio 13.6) whilst combinations involving oral and locomotor stereotypies had lower odds ratios (between 2.9 and 4.9).  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 3636  
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Author Bayly, K.L.; Evans, C.S.; Taylor, A. doi  openurl
  Title Measuring social structure: A comparison of eight dominance indices Type Journal Article
  Year 2006 Publication Behavioural Processes Abbreviated Journal Behav. Process.  
  Volume 73 Issue 1 Pages 1-12  
  Keywords Social status; Methods; Behaviour in groups  
  Abstract Measurement of social status is an important component of many behavioural studies. A variety of techniques have been developed and adopted, but while there have been some analyses of index properties using simulated data, the rationale for selecting a method remains poorly documented. As a first step in exploring the implications of index choice, we compared the characteristics of eight popular indices by applying each to the same data set from interactions between male fowl Gallus gallus, the system in which social hierarchies were first described. Data from eight social groups, observed over four successive breeding seasons, were analysed to determine whether different indices produced consistent dominance scores. These scores were then used in tests of the relation between social status and crowing to explore whether index choice affected the results obtained. We also examined the pattern of dominance index use over the last decade to infer whether this has likely been influenced by tradition, or by taxa of study animal. Overall agreement among methods was good when groups of birds had perfectly linear hierarchies, but results diverged when social structure was more complex, with either intransitive triads or reversals. While all regression analyses revealed a positive relationship between dominance and vocal behaviour, there were substantial differences in the amount of variance accounted for, even though the original data were identical in every case. Index selection can hence perturb estimates of the importance of dominance, relative to other factors. We also found that several methods have been adopted only by particular research teams, while the use of others has been taxonomically constrained, patterns implying that indices have not always been chosen solely upon their merits. Taken together, our results read as a cautionary tale. We suggest that selection of a dominance index requires careful consideration both of algorithm properties and of the factors affecting social status in the system of interest.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 4289  
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Author Merkies, K.; McKechnie, M.J.; Zakrajsek, E. doi  openurl
  Title Behavioural and physiological responses of therapy horses to mentally traumatized humans Type Journal Article
  Year 2018 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume Issue Pages  
  Keywords Equine-assisted therapy; Ptsd; Horse; Behaviour; Cortisol; Heart rate  
  Abstract The benefits to humans of equine-assisted therapy (EAT) have been well-researched, however few studies have analyzed the effects on the horse. Understanding how differing mental states of humans affect the behaviour and response of the horse can assist in providing optimal outcomes for both horse and human. Four humans clinically diagnosed and under care of a psychotherapist for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) were matched physically to four neurotypical control humans and individually subjected to each of 17 therapy horses loose in a round pen. A professional acting coach instructed the control humans in replicating the physical movements of their paired PTSD individual. Both horses and humans were equipped with a heart rate (HR) monitor recording HR every 5secs. Saliva samples were collected from each horse 30 min before and 30 min after each trial to analyze cortisol concentrations. Each trial consisted of 5 min of baseline observation of the horse alone in the round pen after which the human entered the round pen for 2 min, followed by an additional 5 min of the horse alone. Behavioural observations indicative of stress in the horse (gait, head height, ear orientation, body orientation, distance from the human, latency of approach to the human, vocalizations, and chewing) were retrospectively collected from video recordings of each trial and analyzed using a repeated measures GLIMMIX with Tukey's multiple comparisons for differences between treatments and time periods. Horses moved slower (p < 0.0001), carried their head lower (p < 0.0001), vocalized less (p < 0.0001), and chewed less (p < 0.0001) when any human was present with them in the round pen. Horse HR increased in the presence of the PTSD humans, even after the PTSD human left the pen (p < 0.0001). Since two of the PTSD/control human pairs were experienced with horses and two were not, a post-hoc analysis showed that horses approached quicker (p < 0.016) and stood closer (p < 0.0082) to humans who were experienced with horses. Horse HR was lower when with inexperienced humans (p < 0.0001) whereas inexperienced human HR was higher (p < 0.0001). Horse salivary cortisol did not differ between exposure to PTSD and control humans (p > 0.32). Overall, behavioural and physiological responses of horses to humans are more pronounced based on human experience with horses than whether the human is diagnosed with a mental disorder. This may be a reflection of a directness of movement associated with humans who are experienced with horses that makes the horse more attentive. It appears that horses respond more to physical cues from the human rather than emotional cues. This knowledge is important in tailoring therapy programs and justifying horse responses when interacting with a patient in a therapy setting.  
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  ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 6385  
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Author König von Borstel, U.; Pasing, S.; Gauly, M. doi  openurl
  Title Towards a more objective assessment of equine personality using behavioural and physiological observations from performance test training Type Journal Article
  Year 2011 Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume 135 Issue 4 Pages 277-285  
  Keywords Horse; Personality; Behaviour; Heart rate variability; Riding; Performance test  
  Abstract Current definitions of horse personality traits are rather vague, lacking clear, universally accepted guidelines for evaluation in performance tests. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to screen behavioural and physiological measurements taken during riding for potential links with scores the same horses received in the official stallion performance test for rideability and personality traits. Behaviour, heart rate (HR) and HR variability from thirty-six stallions participating in a performance test were recorded repeatedly during their performance test training. Using the coefficient of determination, regression analysis revealed that about 1/3 of variation (ranging between r = 0.26 (“constitution” (i.e. fitness, health)) and r = 0.46 (rideability)) in the personality trait scores could be explained by selecting the three most influential behaviour patterns per trait. These behaviour patterns included stumbling (with all traits except character), head-tossing (temperament, rideability), tail-swishing (willingness to work), involuntary change in gait (character) and the rider's use of her/his hands (constitution, rideability), voice (temperament) or whip (constitution). Subsequent mixed model analysis revealed a significant (P < 0.05) influence of the behaviour pattern “horse-induced change in gait” on character (-0.98 ± 0.31 scores per additional occurrence of change in gaits), of head-tossing (-0.25 ± 0.08 scores) and rider's use of voice (-0.51 ± 0.25; P = 0.0594) on temperament, and of stumbling on each of the following: willingness to work (-2.5 ± 1.2), constitution (-2.5 ± 1.2 scores; P = 0.0516) and rideability scores (-3.3 ± 1.4). In addition, constitution scores tended (P = 0.0889) to increase with higher low frequency/high frequency heart rate variation ratios (LF/HF), indicating a shift towards sympathetic dominance and thus a higher stress load in horses with higher scores for constitution. Rideability scores from the training phase were also significantly influenced by head-tossing (-0.5 ± 0.1), and in addition rideability scores from the final test were influenced by the training rider, ranging between average estimated rideability scores of 6.8 ± 0.4 for one training rider and 8.36 ± 0.3 scores for another training rider. Horses ridden with their nose-line predominantly behind the vertical received higher scores for rideability (8.3 ± 0.3) than horses ridden with their nose-line at the vertical (7.7 ± 0.2). These findings indicate that either judges perceive horses to have a better rideability when they readily offer a more extreme poll flexion, or that riders make use of horses’ better rideability by imposing a more extreme poll flexion. Several of the above described associations, but also of the non-existing links (e.g. no association between shying or heart rate and temperament) between behaviour patterns and scores for personality traits are rather surprising, warranting further investigation regarding the underlying causes of these relationships. Some of these behaviour patterns should be considered when redesigning the current guidelines for evaluation of personality traits during breeding horse performance tests, ultimately leading to improved genetic selection for equine personality traits. However, ethical implication of defining aversive behaviour such as head-tossing as an indicator of, for example, poor temperament, should not be neglected when devising new guidelines: such aversive behaviour may in fact be an indication of inadequate training techniques rather than poor horse personality.  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5489  
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Author Hartmann, E.; Søndergaard, E.; Keeling, L.J. doi  openurl
  Title Keeping horses in groups: A review Type Journal Article
  Year Publication Applied Animal Behaviour Science Abbreviated Journal Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci.  
  Volume Issue Pages  
  Keywords Equine; Behaviour; Welfare; Housing; Social  
  Abstract Although husbandry conditions for horses have improved over the last decades, many horses are still kept singly with limited or no physical contact to other horses. This is surprising, given the fact that keeping horses in groups is recognised best to fulfil their physical and behavioural needs, especially their need for social contact with conspecifics, as well as to have a beneficial effect on horse–human interactions during training. Group housing of farm animals is widely applied in practice. As a consequence, scientists have investigated numerous aspects of group housing to help further improve animal welfare and human–animal interactions under these conditions. However, compared to this literature available in farm animals, and the plentiful studies conducted of feral horse populations, there is much less done when it comes to the management of horses kept in groups in the domestic environment. In particular, limited scientific information is available into the effect of group size and group composition on behaviour and methods of introducing new horses into established groups, even though problems related to social integration are repeatedly taken as arguments against keeping horses in groups. This review, therefore, aims to provide an overview of the current scientific knowledge regarding keeping horses in groups. Furthermore, it aims to give insight into whether or not some of the concerns related to keeping horses in groups are justified and to review scientifically based solutions that could be useful in practice to improve horse welfare and human safety.  
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  ISSN 0168-1591 ISBN Medium  
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  Notes Approved no  
  Call Number Equine Behaviour @ team @ Serial 5490  
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