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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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Wolff, A., & Hausberger, M. (1996). Learning and memorisation of two different tasks in horses: the effects of age, sex and sire. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 46(3-4), 137–143.
Abstract: Learning and memory abilities of 1-3 year old horses were assessed using instrumental and spatial tasks. No important differences were observed in the success of learning of the instrumental task (chest opening) according to sex or age. Younger females, however, seemed to learn more quickly. The offspring of a particular stallion were slower to learn than other horses. All horses memorised this task and opened the chest in a very short time in the second session. The animals that learned the task easily were not necessarily faster in the memorisation test. In the spatial task, learning ability did not seem to be related to age but more females than males were successful. The offspring of one stallion were more successful than other horses. Only 76% of the horses succeeded in the memorisation test, independently of age or sex. No correlation was found between the tasks in the latencies of either the learning or the memorisation tests for the same horses. The instrumental and spatial tasks may involve different processes.
Keywords: Horse; Learning; Memory; Instrumental task; Spatial task
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Le Scolan, N., Hausberger, M., & Wolff, A. (1997). Stability over situations in temperamental traits of horses as revealed by experimental and scoring approaches. Behav. Process., 41(3), 257–266.
Abstract: Individual behavioural reactions of adult horses in a variety of experimental tests were compared with ratings by riding teachers. The tests were made in a non working situation, with the animals being released in an arena, a box (arena test, new object test, learning tests) or handled (new object/handling situation). The traits rated by teachers were fearfulness, nervousness, gregariousness and learning abilities at work (ridden or handled). Despite a great homogeneity in the reactions exhibited by the horses in the different situations, large individual differences were present. Correlations appeared between the reactivity in the arena test and the score of gregariousness, between the reactivity in the novel object test and the rating of nervousness when ridden, between the results in the handling test and the rating of general fearfulness and between the ability to memorise an instrumental task and the score of general learning ability. Such results strengthen the idea that there are underlying behavioural dispositions that are stable across situations and that the experimental tests may be good predictors of the temperament in untrained animals.
Keywords: Behavioural tests; Horse; Ratings; Temperament
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Wolff, A., Hausberger, M., & Le Scolan, N. (1997). Experimental tests to assess emotionality in horses. Behav. Process., 40(3), 209–221.
Abstract: Different tests were used to assess different aspects of the emotionality of 1-3 year-old horses: arena test; a [`]novel object' test; and a handling test. In reaction to the test situations no important differences were observed according to age or sex in the behaviour patterns, but clear individual differences were observed within these classes. The arena test seemed to reveal the degree of gregariousness of the animals whereas the results in the two other tests were correlated and seemed to reflect an inherent degree of fearfulness in the horse. Indices were developed that enabled to rank the animals, by taking into account all behaviour patterns shown. Such individual characteristics might have some genetic basis: half-siblings tended to behave the same way in most cases.
Keywords: Emotivity; Gregariousness; Horse; Neophobia; Open-field
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Hausberger, M., Le Scolan, N., Muller, C., Gautier, E., & Wolff, A. (1996). Individual behavioural characteristics in horses: predictability, endogenous and environmental factors. Journée d`Etude, 22, 113–123.
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Sankey, C., Richard-Yris, M. - A., Henry, S., Fureix, C., Nassur, F., & Hausberger, M. (2010). Reinforcement as a mediator of the perception of humans by horses (Equus caballus). Anim. Cogn., 13(5), 753-764.
Abstract: A central question in the interspecific human/animal relationship is how domestic animals perceive humans as a significant element of their environment. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the use of positive or negative reinforcement in horse training may have consequences on the animals’ perception of humans, as a positive, negative or neutral element. Two groups of ponies were trained to walk backwards in response to a vocal order using either positive or negative reinforcement. Heart rate monitors and behavioural observations were used to assess the animals’ perception of humans on the short (just after training) and long (5 months later) terms. The results showed that the type of reinforcement had a major effect on the subsequent animals’ perception of familiar and unfamiliar humans. Negative reinforcement was rapidly associated with an increased emotional state, as revealed by heart rate measurements and behavioural observations (head movements and ears laid back position). Its use led the ponies to seek less contact with humans. On the contrary, ponies trained with positive reinforcement showed an increased interest in humans and sought contact after training. This is especially remarkable as it was reached in a maximum of 5 sessions of 1 to 3 min (i.e. 5 to 15 min) and had lasting effects (visible after 5 months). Even learning was positively influenced by positive reinforcement. Overall, horses seem capable of associating humans to particular experiences and display extended long-term memory abilities.
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Basile, M., Boivin, S., Boutin, A., Blois-Heulin, C., Hausberger, M., & Lemasson, A. (2009). Socially dependent auditory laterality in domestic horses (Equus caballus). Anim. Cogn., 12, 611–619.
Abstract: Laterality is now known to be an ubiquitous phenomenon among the vertebrates. Particularly, laterality of auditory processing has been demonstrated in a variety of species, especially songbirds and primates. Such a hemispheric specialization has been shown to depend on factors such as sound structure, species specificity and types of stimuli. Much less is known on the possible influence of social familiarity although a few studies suggest such an influence. Here we tested the influence of the degree of familiarity on the laterality of the auditory response in the domestic horse. This species is known for its social system and shows visible reactions to sounds, with one or two ears moving towards a sound source. By comparing such responses to the playback of different conspecific whinnies (group member, neighbor and stranger), we could demonstrate a clear left hemisphere (LH) preference for familiar neighbor calls while no preference was found for group member and stranger calls. Yet, we found an opposite pattern of ear side preference for neighbor versus stranger calls. These results are, to our knowledge, the first to demonstrate auditory laterality in an ungulate species. They open further lines of thought on the influence of the social “value” of calls and the listener's arousal on auditory processing and laterality.
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Fureix, C., Jego, P., Sankey, C., & Hausberger, M. (2009). How horses (Equus caballus) see the world: humans as significant “objects”. Anim. Cogn., 12(4), 643–654.
Abstract: Abstract  This study aimed to determine whether horses have a kind of memory of humans (based on previous interactions), leading to a general significance of humans revealed by their reactions to humans in subsequent interactions. Subjects were 59 adult horses used to interact daily with humans. Three types of behavioural tests involving an unknown experimenter evaluated three possibly different memorized types of human–animal interactions (not work-related, using work-related objects, unfamiliar working task). We also performed standardized observations of routine interactions between each horse and its familiar handler (caretaker). To get a broad overview of the horses’ reactions to humans, we recorded both investigative and aggressive behaviours during the tests, representing respectively a “positive” and a “negative” memory of the relationship. Whereas correlations between tests revealed a general perception of humans as either positive or negative, unusual tests, i.e. that are not usually performed, elicited more positive reactions. Moreover, some horses reacted positively to a motionless person in their box, but negatively when this same person approached them, for example for halter fitting. Overall, aggressive reactions were more reliable indicators of the relationship than positive reactions, both between tests and between familiar and unfamiliar humans. Our results also show generalization of the perception of humans. These results support our hypothesis that perception of humans by horses may be based on experience, i.e. repeated interactions. Altogether, our results support the hypothesis that horses can form a memory of humans that impacts their reactions in subsequent interactions.
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Lemasson, A., Boutin, A., Boivin, S., Blois-Heulin, C., & Hausberger, M. (2009). Horse (Equus caballus) whinnies: a source of social information. Anim. Cogn., 12(5), 693–704.
Abstract: Abstract Many animal species that rely mainly on calls to communicate produce individual acoustic structures, but we wondered whether individuals of species better known as visual communicants, with small vocal repertoires, would also exhibit individual distinctiveness in calls. Moreover, theoretical advances concerning the evolution of social intelligence are usually based on primate species data, but relatively little is known about the social cognitive capacities of non-primate mammals. However, some non-primate species demonstrate auditory recognition of social categories and possess mental representation of their social network. Horses (Equus caballus) form stable social networks and although they display a large range of visual signals, they also use long-distance whinny calls to maintain contact. Here, we investigated the potential existence of individual acoustic signatures in whinny calls and the ability of horses to discriminate by ear individuals varying in their degree of familiarity. Our analysis of the acoustic structure of whinnies of 30 adult domestic horses (ten stallions, ten geldings, ten mares) revealed that some of the frequency and temporal parameters carried reliable information about the caller’s sex, body size and identity. However, no correlations with age were found. Playback experiments evaluated the behavioural significance of this variability. Twelve horses heard either control white noise or whinnies emitted by group members, familiar neighbours or unfamiliar horses. While control sounds did not induce any particular response, horses discriminated the social category of the callers and reacted with a sound-specific behaviour (vigilance and attraction varied with familiarity). Our results support the existence of social knowledge in horses and suggest a process of vocal coding/decoding of information.
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Pawluski, J., Jego, P., Henry, S., Bruchet, A., Palme, R., Coste, C., et al. (2017). Low plasma cortisol and fecal cortisol metabolite measures as indicators of compromised welfare in domestic horses (Equus caballus). Plos One, 12(9), e0182257.
Abstract: The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis response to chronic stress is far from straight forward, particularly with regards to animal welfare. There are reports of no effect as well as both decreases and increases in cortisol after chronic stressors. Therefore, the first aim of the present study was to determine how measures of compromised welfare, such as chronic pain and haematological anomalies, related to cortisol levels in domestic horses (Equus caballus). Domestic horses are an informative model to investigate the impact of chronic stress (due to environment, pain, work, housing conditions...) on the HPA axis. The second aim was to determine whether levels of fecal cortisol metabolites (FCM) may be used as an indicator of welfare measures. The present study used fifty-nine horses (44 geldings and 15 mares), from three riding centres in Brittany, France. The primary findings show that horses whose welfare was clearly compromised (as indicated by an unusual ears backward position, presence of vertebral problems or haematological anomalies, e.g. anaemia) also had lower levels of both FCM and plasma cortisol. This work extends our previous findings showing that withdrawn postures, indicators of depressive-like behavior in horses, are associated with lower plasma cortisol levels. We also found that evening plasma cortisol levels positively correlated with FCM levels in horses. Future research aims to determine the extent to which factors of influence on welfare, such as living conditions (e.g. single stalls versus group housing in pasture or paddocks), early life factors, and human interaction, act as mediators of cortisol levels in horses.
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