Abstract: Evidence suggests that behavioural affective reactions to sweet and bitter substances are homologous in humans, nonhuman primates, and rodents. The sweet taste of sucrose elicits facial responses that include rhythmic tongue protrusions whereas the bitter taste of quinine elicits facial responses that include gapes, featuring an opening of the mouth and protrusion of the tongue. The present study using the horse (Equus caballus) was undertaken for three reasons: (1) there is debate about the presence of a sweet receptor gene in the horse, (2) there is a need to expand the examination of facial reactions to taste in lineages other than the closely related lineages of rodents and primates, and (3) the horse provides an opportunity to test the hypothesis that some social signals derive from movements related to taste reaction. The horses were given oral infusions of either sucrose or quinine and their behaviour was examined using frame-by-frame video analysis. Control groups were exposed received water or syringe insertion only. Amongst the many responses made to the infusions, the distinctive response to sucrose was a bob coupled with a slight tongue protrusion and forward movement of the ears; the distinctive response to quinine was a head extension and mouth gape accompanied by a large tongue protrusion and backward movement of the ears. Sucrose Bobs and Quinine Gapes are discussed with respect to: (1) the relevance of facial reactions to both sucrose and quinine to taste receptors in horses, (2) the similarity of features of taste expression in horses to those documented in rodents and primates, and (3) the dissimilarity between facial reactions to taste and other social signals displayed by horses.

Abstract: The conflicting results regarding the study of motor laterality in horses may indicate that there does not exist a proper method to assess the degree and the direction of motor bias in these animals. Unfortunately, even less is known about the development of laterality in horses, and to what extent early manipulations can still exert their effects in adulthood. We propose a new method that can be easily applied at a very early age thus avoiding testing adult horses eventually biased by human handling and/or training. Forty-six horses (29 nine-month-old foals and 17 two-year old horses) were handled since birth bilaterally and housed in groups in wide areas. At the time of the analysis, in order to minimize environmental and sensorial disturbances, each horse was tested in a round pen individually or as dyad mother-foal. The ability/inability to properly execute a circle at trot was then recorded, assuming the direction of derailment, i.e. the cutting of the circle, as an indicator of motor bias. From the results of the study it is arguable that motor laterality in horses is acquired over time: in fact foals tested while their mothers were being subjected to longeing showed a higher percentage of ambidextrous animals, while two-year-old horses appeared biased toward the right (p<0.05). Results are discussed in the light of the scientific knowledge about equine biomechanics, taking into account horses' locomotion that leads to the advancement of the body mass through the activation of a kinetic chain that originates from the hindquarters.

Abstract: Abstract Conservation agencies within the European Union promote the restoration of traditional land uses as a cost-effective way to preserve biodiversity outside reserves. Although the European Union pursues the integration of the environment into strategic decision-making, it also dictates sectoral policies that may damage farmland biodiversity. We illustrate this point by outlining the socioeconomic factors that allow the persistence of traditional free-ranging horse husbandry in Galicia, northwestern Spain. Free-ranging Galician mountain ponies provide ecological and socioeconomic services including the prevention of forest fires, the maintenance of heathlands and wolves, and the attenuation of wolf-human conflicts. This traditional livestock system may have persisted because it entails negligible costs for farmers. Wolf predation upon Galician mountain ponies does not threaten farmer's economies and seems to be tolerated better than attacks to more valuable stock. Recently, European Union's regulations on animal welfare, carcass management, or meat production put new economic and administrative burdens on farmers, make free-ranging horse rearing economically unsustainable, and incentivize its abandonment. The aim of the European Union to integrate environmental policies may be successful to preserve farmland biodiversity only through careful anticipation of the side effects of apparently unrelated regulations on the fragile equilibrium that sustain traditional land uses.

Abstract: Objective: This systematic review examines the empirical literature in an emerging body of evidence for the effectiveness of biopsychosocial interventions involving equines across populations with chronic illness or health challenges. Method: Selected quantitative studies published in peer-reviewed journals were reviewed for inclusion; the gray literature and white papers were also explored. Population, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (PICO) criteria and Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) were applied to all studies. Fourteen full reports meeting a priori inclusion criteria were extracted from 103 studies accessed through 16 electronic databases and a hand search. Data were synthesized in relation to three research questions informing evidence-based practice. Results: No randomized clinical trials were located. Two studies provided a moderate level of evidence for effectiveness. Nine studies demonstrated statistically significant positive effects. Three studies did not find significant psychosocial effects for the target group, although one found significant positive effects for the comparison group. Conclusion: In the aggregate, the evidence is promising in support of the effectiveness of complementary and adjunct interventions employing equines in the treatment of health challenges. Future studies are needed that utilize rigorous and creative designs, especially longitudinal studies and comparisons with established effective treatments.