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Leleu, C.; Cotrel, C. |
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Title |
Body composition in young standardbreds in training: relationships to body condition score, physiological and locomotor variables during exercise |
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2006 |
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Equine Veterinary Journal. Supplement |
Abbreviated Journal |
Equine Vet J Suppl |
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36 |
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98-101 |
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Adipose Tissue/metabolism; Animals; Body Composition/*physiology; Body Constitution/*physiology; Body Weight/physiology; Exercise Test/veterinary; Female; Gait/physiology; Heart Rate/*physiology; Horses/*physiology; Lactates/blood; Male; Muscle, Skeletal/metabolism; Physical Conditioning, Animal/*physiology |
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REASONS FOR PERFORMING STUDY: Body composition is an essential factor in athletic performance of human sprinters and long distance runners. However, in horses, many questions remain concerning relationships between body composition and performance in the different equine activities. OBJECTIVES: To determine relationships between body composition, body score, physiological and locomotor variables in a population of young Standardbreds in training. METHODS: Twenty-four 2-year-old Standardbreds were studied, body condition on a scale 0-5 and bodyweight recorded, and height at withers measured. Percentage of fat (%F), fat mass (FM) and fat free mass (FFM) were estimated echographically. During a standardised exercise test on the track, velocity, heart rate, respiratory frequency and blood lactate concentrations were measured. V4 and V200 (velocity for a blood lactate concentration of 4 mmol/l and velocity of 200 beats/min) calculated. Basic gait variables were measured at 3 different speeds with an accelerometric device. RESULTS: Body composition variables: %F and FM were significantly related to body condition score and physiological variables. Body score was highly correlated to %F (r = 0.64) and FM (r = 0.71). V4 was negatively correlated to %F (r = -0.59) and FM (r = -0.60), P<0.05. V200 was also negatively related to %F and FM, (r = -0.39 and r = -0.37, respectively, P<0.1). No relationships were found between body composition and gait characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Body composition was closely related to indirect measurements of aerobic capacity, which is a major factor of athletic performance in middle distance running horses. POTENTIAL RELEVANCE: As in human athletes, trainers should take special note to evaluate optimal bodyweight and body composition of race horses to optimise performance. |
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Pegase Mayenne, Departement de Medecine du Sport, Centre Hospitalier, 53 015 Laval, France |
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PMID:17402400 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4015 |
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Robert, C.; Audigie, F.; Valette, J.P.; Pourcelot, P.; Denoix, J.M. |
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Title |
Effects of treadmill speed on the mechanics of the back in the trotting saddlehorse |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2001 |
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Equine Veterinary Journal. Supplement |
Abbreviated Journal |
Equine Vet J Suppl |
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33 |
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154-159 |
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Animals; Biomechanics; Electromyography/veterinary; Exercise Test/veterinary; Horses/*physiology; Locomotion/*physiology; Muscle, Skeletal/*physiology; Range of Motion, Articular/*physiology; Spine/*physiology; Video Recording |
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Speed related changes in trunk mechanics have not yet been investigated, although high-speed training is currently used in the horse. To evaluate the effects of speed on back kinematics and trunk muscles activity, 4 saddle horses were recorded while trotting on a horizontal treadmill at speeds ranging from 3.5 to 6 m/s. The 3-dimensional (3-D) trajectories of skin markers on the left side of the horse and the dorsal midline of the trunk were established. Electrical activity was simultaneously obtained from the longissimus dorsi (LD) and rectus abdominis (RA) muscles using surface electrodes. Ten consecutive strides were analysed for each horse at each of the 5 velocity steps. Electromyographic and kinematic data were time-standardised to the duration of the stride cycle and compared using an analysis of variance. The back extended during the first part of each diagonal stance phase when the RA was active and the back flexed during the second part of each diagonal stance phase when the LD was active. The onset and end of muscle activity came earlier in the stride cycle and muscle activity intensity increased when speed increased. The amplitude of vertical movement of the trunk and the maximal angles of flexion decreased with increasing speed, whereas the extension angles remained unchanged. This resulted in a decreased range of back flexion-extension. This study confirms that the primary role of trunk muscles is to control the stiffness of the back rather than to induce movements. Understanding the effects of speed on the back of healthy horses is a prerequisite for the prevention and treatment of back pathology. |
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UMR INRA, Biomecanique et Pathologie Locomotrice du Cheval, UP d'Anatomie, Ecole Nationale Veterinaire d'Alfort, 7 Avenue du General de Gaulle, F-94704 Maisons-Alfort, France |
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PMID:11721558 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4050 |
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Author |
Robinson, I.H. |
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Title |
The human-horse relationship: how much do we know? |
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1999 |
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Equine Veterinary Journal. Supplement |
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Equine Vet J Suppl |
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28 |
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42-45 |
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*Animal Husbandry/economics; Animals; *Bonding, Human-Pet; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Hobbies; *Horses; Humans; Power (Psychology); Sports |
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Human relationships or interactions with horses have varied throughout history depending on human needs, but it is horses' ability to carry a human individual that has had perhaps the greatest impact on their relationship with man. Despite our long association with the horse, there have been few studies on human-horse relationships. There is little historical evidence on individual relationships with horses but indications of strong human-horse relationships have been noted in mounted societies, such as North American Plains Indians. Riding a horse has traditionally been associated with power, and was reserved for the ruling elite in many areas. Demographic data suggest that human relationships with horses may have changed in recent times. Although the lack of land and the relatively high cost of horse care may reduce the possibility of ownership for many people, the availability of riding establishments and increases in leisure time mean that riding is no longer restricted to the upper classes. There is a wide range in type and intensity of potential interactions with horses, indicating that human-horse relationships are likely to vary considerably. Some people appear to sacrifice a great deal in order to own a horse. However, the motivation behind these activities and the process by which an individual assesses personal costs of ownership versus their perceived benefits remains to be studied. Future research should focus on characterising the human-horse relationship, and the degree of individual and cultural variation. A greater understanding of horse owner perceptions of 'costs' versus 'benefits' may also increase our understanding of the relationship and the economic importance of horses in society. |
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WALTHAM Centre for Pet Nutrition, Freeby Lane, Waltham-on-the-Wolds, Leics LE14 4RT, UK |
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PMID:11314234 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4361 |
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Bradley, B.L. |
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Animal flavor types and their specific uses in compound feeds by species and age |
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1980 |
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Fortschritte in der Tierphysiologie und Tierernahrung |
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Fortschr Tierphysiol Tierernahr |
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11 |
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110-122 |
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Aging; *Animal Feed; Animals; Cattle; Energy Intake; *Flavoring Agents; Horses; Poultry; Smell; Species Specificity; Sweetening Agents; Swine; Taste |
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0301-570X |
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PMID:7390352 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4314 |
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Proops, L.; McComb, K.; Reby, D. |
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Title |
Cross-modal individual vocal recognition in the domestic horse |
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2008 |
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IESM 2008 |
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social cognition, animal-human interaction, horses, attention |
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Horses fulfill many of the criteria for a species in which it would be adaptive to be capable of individual recognition: they are highly social, form strong and long lasting bonds, their affiliations are rarely kin based, they have a fission-fusion social structure and they possess inter and intra-group dominance hierarchies.
We used a novel cross-modal, expectancy violation paradigm to provide the first systematic evidence that a non-human animal – the domestic horse- is capable of cross modal recognition. We believe this paradigm could provide an ideal way to study individual recognition across a wide range of species.
For full published details see: Proops L, McComb K, Reby D (2009) Cross-modal individual recognition in domestic horses (Equus caballus). Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 106: 947-951. |
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Centre for Mammal Vocal Communication Research, Psychology department, |
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Proops, L |
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IESM 2008 |
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Talk 15 min IESM 2008 |
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yes |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4469 |
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Fazio, E.; Medica, P.; Cravana, C.; Giacoppo, E.; Ferlazzo, A. |
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Title |
Effect of Short-Distance Road Transport on Thyroid Function, Rectal Temperature, Body Weight and Heart Rate of Stallions |
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2008 |
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IESM 2008 |
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horses, iodothyronines, rectal temperature, body weight, heart rate, transport |
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Aim of study was to investigate the effects of transport stress on thyroid response, body weight, rectal temperature and heart rate changes in one hundred twenty-six healthy stallions in basal conditions, before and after short road transport. One hundred twenty-six Thoroughbreds and crossbreds stallions with previous travelling experience, aged 4 to 15 yr, were transported by road in a commercial trailer for a period of 3 h (distance <300 km). Blood samples and physiological parameters were collected at 0800 (basal I) and at 1100 (basal II), in each horse“s box, one week before the loading and transport in basal conditions, and one week later, at 0800 immediately before loading (pre-transport), and after 3 h period of transport and unloading, on their arrival at the breeding stations (post-transport), in each new horse”s box, within 30 min. Increases in circulating T3, T4 and fT4 levels (P < 0.01), but not for fT3 levels, were observed after transport, as compared to before loading values, irrespective of different breed. Lower T4 and fT4 levels were observed in basal II (P < 0.01) than basal I and before loading values (pre-transport). After transport Thoroughbreds showed higher fT3 (P < 0.05) and fT4 (P < 0.01) levels than crossbred stallions. No significant differences for T3 and T4 changes were observed. A significant increase in rectal temperature (P < 0.01) and heart rate (P < 0.05) was observed after transport, as compared to before loading values (pre-transport). No differences between basal I, basal II and before loading values (pre-transport) for physiological parameters were observed.
The highest T3, T4 and fT4 levels recorded after short transport seem to suggest a preferential release from the thyroid gland. The results indicate that short road transport stress contributes significantly to thyroid hormone changes, according to different breed, and to the increase in rectal temperature and heart rate. No differences related to different age were observed. |
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Department of Morphology, Biochemistry, Physiology and Animal Production – Unit of Veterinary Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Messina, Polo Universitario Annunziata, 98168 Messina, Italy |
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Cravana, C. |
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IESM 2008 |
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Poster IESM 2008 |
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yes |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4494 |
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Takimoto, A.; Fujita, K. |
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Are horses (Equus caballus) sensitive to human attentional states? |
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2008 |
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IESM 2008 |
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Horses; Attentional state; Begging behavior |
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The ability to reliably detect what others are attending to seems important for social species to interact with their partners. Domestic horses (Equus caballus) have lived with humans for over five thousand years, hence they might have developed sensitivity to human attention. In the present study, we investigated whether horses would discriminate the situation in which a human experimenter could see them from the situation in which she could not. Specifically, we tested whether horses understand the role of eyes in human attentional states, produce more visual gestures when the experimenter can see their begging behaviors and produce more auditory or tactile gestures when she can not. We used with a slight modification the paradigm that previously yielded support for chimpanzee understanding of human attention (Hostetter et al. 2007). Twelve horses were offered food by the experimenter who showed various attentional states in front of them. We scored frequency of begging behaviors by the horses. In experiment 1, we set three kinds of condition: hand over the eyes, hand over the mouth and away. In the last condition there was only a food in front of horses, which was a control condition. The results showed that horses produced more auditory or tactile begging behaviors when the experimenter“s eyes were not visible than when her eyes were visible, but there was no difference in visual begging behaviors. In experiment 2, we set two kinds of condition: eyes closed and eyes open. The horses also produced more auditory or tactile begging behaviors when the experimenter”s eyes were closed than when they were open. However, there was no difference in visual begging behaviors. These results show that horses discriminate the situation in which humans can see from that in which humans can not. Of special interest, horses increased only auditory or tactile behaviors, not all types of communicative behaviors, when the experimenter could not see their begging behaviors. This result suggests that horses are sensitive to human attentional states. Moreover, horses may do recognize the eyes as an important indicator of whether or not humans will respond to their behavior and they may be able to behave flexibly depending upon human attentional states |
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Kyoto University |
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Takimoto, A. |
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IESM 2008 |
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Poster IESM 2008 |
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yes |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4481 |
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Granquist,S.M.; Sigurjónsdóttir, H; Thórhallsdóttir, A.G. |
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Title |
Social structure and interactions within groups of horses containing a stallion |
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Conference Article |
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2008 |
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IESM 2008 |
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Social interactions,, Stallions, Hierarchy, Icelandic horses |
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Earlier research indicates that stallions might either prevent social interactions between mares in their
herds directly or indirectly by their presence (Feist and McCullough, 1976; Sigurjonsdottir et al.,
2003) The impact of stallions on the social interactions between harem members was studied in 6
groups of Icelandic horses in 2004, 2006 and 2007 for altogether 525 hours. Four of the groups were
permanently living together under semi-feral conditions, while two were temporary breeding groups. In
addition, temporary and permanent groups were compared and the effect of the stability of the group
on the social behaviour of horses was investigated .
The results show that stallions seldom intervene directly in social interactions between harem
members. However, the hierarchies were less rigid and fewer friendship bonds were found in the
groups compared to what has been found in groups without stallions in Iceland. These results give
some support to our prediction that the stallion does indirectly suppress social interactions of herd
members.
The stability of the group was found to affect the aggression rate, since a higher aggression rate was
found in the temporary groups compared to the permanent groups. The number of preferred
allogrooming partners of the horses was also affected to some extent, as a significantly lower number
of allogrooming partners was found in the most unstable group compared to all the other groups. The
results have significance for further research in the field of social structure of mammals, and may also
be applied in the management of horses and other domestic animals. |
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Sigurjónsdóttir, H |
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IESM 2008 |
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Talk 15 min IESM 2008 Fullpaper |
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yes |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4487 |
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Malara, L.; De Pasquale, A.; Ingala, A.; Innella, G. |
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The influence of management on horse behavioural reactivity in therapeutic riding programs. |
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2008 |
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IESM 2008 |
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Management; Horses; Therapeutic Riding; Behaviour; Reactivity |
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We investigated 8 horses in five therapeutic riding centres situated in San Cataldo (Caltanissetta – I), Nicosia (Catania – II), Pellaro (Reggio Calabria – III), San Gregorio (Catania – IV), Niguarda Hospitals (Milan – V). The managements of the animals were of different typologies: Type 1, Type 2 and Type 3. In type 1 the horses were used for therapeutic riding only. Furthermore intra and interspecific social interactions were not allowed. In type 2 the horses played kinetic activities and made social interactions. In type 3 the horses were free in paddock, as intra and interspecific social interactions were allowed. The centre I, with a management of type 1, housed 1 horse (A1); the centre II, with a management of type 2, housed 1 horse (B2); the centre III, with a management of type 1, housed 1 horse (C1); the centre IV, with a management of type 2, housed 2 horses (D2 and E2); the centre V, with a management of type 3, housed 3 horses (F3, G3 and H3). Breeds of horses were: Anglo-Arab (n°1), Avelignese (n°3), Italian Selle (n°3), draught-horse crossbreed (n°1). They were 2 geldings and 6 females. Their ages ranged from 12 to 23 years. We observed a total of 64 patients affected by different pathologies: autism, motory handicap, blindness and deafness, children“s cerebral paralysis, relational problems, mental deficiency, Down”s syndrome.
The horses“ behaviour was observed at rest and during therapeutic activities with these patients. The Heart Rate (HR) was used as physiological parameter for an ethological evaluation, measured by a telemetric heart rate monitor (Polar Horse Trainer). Horses were analysed with a reactivity test for emotional homeostasis evaluation, too. Heart rate values were studied with non parametrical statistical analysis methods.
Distinct management typologies provided statistically different basal mean values of heart rate (intergroup and intragroup): Type 1 vs Type 2 (P~0.05) and Type 1 vs Type 3 (P<0.05). The comparison of heart rate during therapeutic activities of diverse management showed the following results: A1 vs B2 (P<0.05), B2 vs C1 (P<0.05), Type 1 vs Type 2 (P<0.01). Different managements, both in the same or different typologies, gave significantly diverse results (A1 vs E2: P~0.05; C1 vs E2: P~0.05; B2 vs E2: P~0.05).
This study shows that the statistic differences obtained by therapies with autistic patients derive from management conditions of Type 1. In reactivity test there aren”t any significant differences among the three management typologies. However, we recorded strong variation between medium and maximum values of heart rate, especially in Type 1 and Type 2 of management.
These high variations of heart rate indicated fear reaction of the horse to new stimuli.
This reaction could lead to dangerous accidents for patients during therapeutic activities.
Horses used in therapeutic riding programs must be evaluated before this employment. Horse's behaviour can be assessed by an ethological observation and a reactivity test. Furthermore, the horses must be guaranteed welfare conditions and must live in an environment enriched with sensorial stimuli and respectful of their physiological and ethological needs. |
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Dept. of Experimental Sciences and Applied Biotechnologies, Unit of Applied Physiology and Comparative Ethology , Faculty of Veterinary Medicine – University of Messina, Italy. |
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Innella, G. |
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IESM 2008 |
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Poster IESM 2008 |
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yes |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
4491 |
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Author |
Proops, L.; McComb, K.; Reby, D. |
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Title |
Horse-human interactions: Attention attribution and the use of human cues by domestic horses (Equus caballus). |
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Conference Article |
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2008 |
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IESM 2008 |
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social cognition; animal-human interaction; horses; attention |
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Abstract |
Recent research has shown that domestic dogs are particularly good at reading human attentional cues, often outperforming chimpanzees and hand reared wolves [1, 2]. It has been suggested that the close evolutionary relationship between humans and dogs has led to the development of this ability, however very few other species have been studied [3]. We tested the ability of 24 domestic horses to discriminate between an attentive and inattentive person when choosing whom to approach for food. While the attentive person faced forwards, the inattentive person either stood with their body turned 180° away from the subject (body orientation condition), stood with their body facing forwards but their head facing away (head orientation condition) or stood facing forwards but with their eyes closed (eyes closed condition). A fourth, mixed condition was included where the attentive person stood with their body facing away from the subjects but their head turned towards the subject while the inattentive person stood with their body facing the subject but their head turned away. Horses chose the attentive person significantly more often using the body cue (n = 24, k = 19, p = 0.003), the head cue (n = 24, k = 18, p = 0.011), and the eye cue (n = 24, k = 19, p = 0.003) but not the mixed cue (n = 24, k = 13, p = 0.42). In an additional pilot study, horses were tested in an object choice task. A human experimenter cued one of two buckets by either tapping the bucket (tap condition), orienting their body towards the bucket and pointing (body and point condition), pointing while facing forwards (point condition) or orienting their body towards the bucket (body condition). If the subjects chose the correct bucket they were rewarded. Subjects were able to use the tap cue (n = 31, k = 21, p = 0.035), body + point cue (n= 31, k = 21, p = 0.035) and the point cue (n = 30, k = 21, p = 0.021) but not the body cue (n = 31, k = 11, p = 0.076). These results taken together suggest that domestic horses are also very sensitive to human attentional cues, including gaze.
Keywords:
social cognition, animal-human interaction, horses, attention attribution, domestication
1. Hare, B., Brown, M., Williamson, C., and Tomasello, M. (2002). The domestication of social cognition in dogs. Science 298, 1634-1636.
2. Gacsi, M., Miklosi, A., Varga, O., Topal, J., and Csanyi, V. (2004). Are readers of our face readers of our minds` Dogs (Canis familiaris) show situation-dependent recognition of human’s attention. Animal Cognition 7, 144-153.
3. Hare, B., and Tomasello, M. (2005). Human-like social skills in dogs? Trends Cogn. Sci. 9, 439-444. |
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Proops, L. |
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IESM 2008 |
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Poster IESM 2008 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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4502 |
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