Abstract: From the viewpoint of experimental psychology, there are two problems with our current knowledge of equine perception. The first is that the behavioral and neurophysiological research in this area has enormous gaps, reflecting that this animal is not a convenient laboratory subject. The second is that the horse, having been a close companion to humans for many millennia, entrenched anecdotal wisdom is often hard to separate from scientific fact. Therefore, any summary at present of equine perception has to be provisional. The horse appears to have developed a visual system particularly sensitive to dim light and movement, it may or may not have a weak form of color vision in part of the retina, it has little binocular overlap, and its best acuity is limited to a restricted horizontal band which is aimed primarily by head/neck movements. However, the total field of view is very large. Overall, as would be expected for a prey animal, horse vision appears to have evolved more for detection of predator approach from any angle than for accurate visual identification of stationary objects, especially those seen at a distance. It is likely that, as for most mammals except the primates, horses rely more heavily on their other senses for forming a view of their world. Equine high-frequency hearing extends far above that of humans, but horses may be less able to localize the point of origin of brief sounds. The horse's capacity for chemoreception and its reliance on chemical information for identification may more closely resemble that of the dog than of the human. Its tactile sensitivity is high, and the ability of its brain and body to regulate pain perception appears to be similar to that found in other mammals. There is room for a great deal of future research in both the area of equine perception and sensory-based cognition, but for the present time persons interacting with this animal should be made aware of the importance of the sounds they make, the movements of their bodies, the way they touch the animal, and the odors they emit or carry on their clothing.

Abstract: Differences in behavioural characteristics between individuals of the same species are often described as being due to the temperament of the individuals. These differences can have enormous implications for welfare with some individuals apparently being able to adapt to environmental challenge more easily than others. Such differences have resulted in animals often being described as either `active' copers, which try to escape from or remove an aversive stimulus, or `passive' copers, which show no outward signs of a situation being aversive, thus, appearing to be unaffected. Tests previously developed to assess the temperament of animals have been criticised for several reasons. Behaviour is often recorded and categorised using methods that are not objective and tests are generally carried out once with no consideration of whether or not behavioural responses are consistent over time. This study takes these factors into account. The behaviour of 33 horses was recorded in three types of test--an arena test, response to a person and response to an object. In order to test whether or not responses were consistent over time, the tests were repeated three times with an average of 9 days between trials. Test results were validated using responses from questionnaires completed by the farm team leader. The data were analysed using an initial principal component analysis (PCA) and factor analysis. The horses were found to behave consistently over the three trials in their responses in the arena test. The responses to the person test and the object test were similar to each other; however, these responses were not consistent over trials. The behaviour in the arena test was unable to be used to make a prediction of behaviour in the person and object tests and vice versa. The responses shown by the horses did not enable them to be categorised as either active or passive copers. Behavioural responses in the tests were not predictive of the response to a startle test (water spray), nor could they be used to predict status or response to being reintroduced to the group after testing. There was no relationship between the responses in the tests and the ratings given by the farm team leader. It was concluded that horses vary widely in their responses to artificial behavioural tests, with only the responses to an open-field arena test being consistent over time, and therefore, the only type of test which can indicate some core factor of temperament.

Abstract: The flehmen response is commonly seen in most ungulates as well as in several other species (e.g. felids). The behavior is most often thought to be part of the sexual behavioral repertoire of males. One reigning hypothesis suggests that this behavior allows the male to determine the estrous state of a female through the chemosensory functions of the vomeronasal organ. However, females and young of both sexes also exhibit this behavior. Horse foals most frequently show the flehmen response during their first month of life with colts showing the behavior more often than fillies. This study tested the flehmen response on male and female foals throughout their pre-pubertal period. Foals were separately presented estrous and non-estrous urine weekly during the first month of life and then monthly until they were approximately 7 months of age. No significant differences were found between male and female foals for the following variables: latency to flehmen, duration of flehmen, frequency of flehmen and sniffs.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate social behaviour in differently reared stallions in their respective environments; one group of stallions was reared under typical domestic conditions whereas the other group was reared and lives under natural conditions. The domestic group consisted of 19, 2-year-old stallions (Equus caballus), which were all weaned at 4 months of age and experienced either individual or group housing facilities before being pastured with the other similarly aged stallions. The natural living and mixed age group of Przewalski stallions (E. przewalskii) consisted of 13 stallions, most of which were juveniles (n=11, <=4 years; n=2, >9 years). The domestic group was studied in a 4-ha enclosure at the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences and the Przewalski group under free-ranging conditions in a 75-ha enclosure in the Askania Nova Biosphere Reserve, Ukraine. Behavioural data was collected during 168 h of direct observation. The occurrence of 14 types of social interactions was recorded and group spacing behaviour was studied using nearest neighbour recordings. In spite of very different environments, reflecting domestic and natural rearing conditions, many similarities in behaviour was found. Play and play fight behaviour was very similar in the two stallion groups. Quantitative differences were found in social grooming since Przewalski stallions groomed more frequently (P=0.004), and in investigative behaviours, since domestic stallions showed more nasal (P=0.005) and body sniffing (P<0.001), whereas Przewalski stallions directed more sniffing towards the genital region (P<0.001). These differences may, however, be attributed to environmental factors and in the period of time the stallions were together prior to the study period. Quantitative differences appeared in some agonistic behaviours (kick threat, P<0.001; and kick, P<0.001), but data do not support earlier findings of Przewalski horses being significantly more aggressive than domestic horses. In general, Przewalski stallions engaged in more social interactions, and they showed less group spacing, i.e. maintained a significantly shorter distance between neighbours (P<0.001). The study indicates that also domestic horses, which have been reared under typical domestic conditions and allowed a period on pasture, show social behaviour, which is very similar to that shown by their non-domestic relatives.