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| Author | Krueger, K.; Schwarz, S.; Marr, I.; Farmer, K. | ||||
| Title | Laterality in Horse Training: Psychological and Physical Balance and Coordination and Strength Rather Than Straightness | Type | Magazine Article | ||
| Year | 2022 | Publication | Animals | Abbreviated Journal | Animals |
| Volume | 12 | Issue | 8 | Pages | 1042 |
| Keywords | balance; body asymmetry; equitation; horse; motor laterality; sensory laterality; stress; welfare | ||||
Abstract  |
For centuries, a goal of training in many equestrian disciplines has been to straighten the horse, which is considered a key element in achieving its responsiveness and suppleness. However, laterality is a naturally occurring phenomenon in horses and encompasses body asymmetry, motor laterality and sensory laterality. Furthermore, forcibly counterbalancing motor laterality has been considered a cause of psychological imbalance in humans. Perhaps asymmetry and laterality should rather be accepted, with a focus on training psychological and physical balance, coordination and equal strength on both sides instead of enforcing “straightness”. To explore this, we conducted a review of the literature on the function and causes of motor and sensory laterality in horses, especially in horses when trained on the ground or under a rider. The literature reveals that body asymmetry is innate but does not prevent the horse from performing at a high level under a rider. Motor laterality is equally distributed in feral horses, while in domestic horses, age, breed, training and carrying a rider may cause left leg preferences. Most horses initially observe novel persons and potentially threatening objects or situations with their left sensory organs. Pronounced preferences for the use of left sensory organs or limbs indicate that the horse is experiencing increased emotionality or stress, and long-term insufficiencies in welfare, housing or training may result in left shifts in motor and sensory laterality and pessimistic mentalities. Therefore, increasing laterality can be regarded as an indicator for insufficiencies in housing, handling and training. We propose that laterality be recognized as a welfare indicator and that straightening the horse should be achieved by conducting training focused on balance, coordination and equal strength on both sides. | ||||
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| Language | Summary Language | Original Title | |||
| Series Editor | Series Title | Abbreviated Series Title | Animals | ||
| Series Volume | 12 | Series Issue | 8 | Edition | |
| ISSN | 2076-2615 | ISBN | Medium | ||
| Area | Expedition | Conference | |||
| Notes | Approved | no | |||
| Call Number | Equine Behaviour @ team @ | Serial | 6670 | ||
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| Author | Flauger, B.; Krueger, K.; Gerhards, H.; Möstl, E. | ||||
| Title | Simplified method to measure glucocorticoid metabolites in faeces of horses | Type | Journal Article | ||
| Year | 2010 | Publication | Veterinary Research Communications | Abbreviated Journal | Vet Res Comm |
| Volume | 34 | Issue | 2 | Pages | 185-195 |
| Keywords | ACTH challenge; enzyme immunoassay; stress behaviour; cortisol | ||||
| Abstract |
Glucocorticoids or their metabolites can be measured in several body fluids or excreta, including plasma, saliva, urine and faeces. In recent years the measurement of glucocorticoid metabolites (GCMs) in faeces has gained increasing attention, because of its suitability for wild populations. In horses, however, the group-specific enzyme immunoassay described so far has a limited racticability due to its complex extraction procedure. Therefore, we tested the applicability of other enzyme immunoassays for glucocorticoid metabolites. The present study clearly proved that an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for 11-oxoetiocholanolone using 11-oxoetiocholanolone-17-CMO: BSA (3α,11-oxo-A EIA) as antigen showed high amounts of immunoreactive substances. Therefore it was possible to use just a small amount of the supernatant of a methanolic suspension of faeces. The results correlated well with the already described method for measuring GCMs in horse faeces, i.e. analysing the samples with an EIA after a two step clean up procedure of the samples (Merl et al. 2000). In addition, the 3α,11-oxo-A EIA has the advantage of providing a bigger difference between baseline values and peak values after ACTH stimulation. The new assay increased the accuracy of the test, lowered the expenses per sample, and storing samples at room temperature after collection was less critical than with other assays investigated in our study. This is a big advantage both in the field of wildlife management of equids and in the field of equestrian sports and it shows the importance of choosing an assay which is in good accordance with the metabolites excreted in a given species. |
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| Notes | Approved | no | |||
| Call Number | Equine Behaviour @ team @ | Serial | 5073 | ||
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| Author | Krueger, K. | ||||
| Title | Social Ecology of Horses | Type | Book Chapter | ||
| Year | 2008 | Publication | Ecology of Social Evolution | Abbreviated Journal | |
| Volume | Issue | Pages | 195-206 | ||
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| Abstract |
Horses (Equidae ) are believed to clearly demonstrate the links between ecology and social organization. Their social cognitive abilities enable them to succeed in many different environments, including those provided for them by humans, or the ones domestic horses encounter when escaping from their human care takers. Living in groups takes different shapes in equids. Their aggregation and group cohesion can be explained by Hamilton“s selfish herd theory. However, when an individual joins and to which group it joins appears to be an active individual decision depending on predation pressure, intra group harassment and resource availability. The latest research concerning the social knowledge horses display in eavesdropping experiments affirms the need for an extension of simple herd concepts in horses for a cognitive component. Horses obviously realize the social composition of their group and determine their own position in it. The horses exceedingly flexible social behavior demands for explanations about the cognitive mechanisms, which allow them to make individual decisions. ”Ecology conditions like those that favour the evolution of open behavioural programs sometimes also favour the evolution of the beginnings of consciousness, by favouring conscious choice. Or in other words, consciousness originates with the choice that are left open by open behavioural programs." Popper (1977) | ||||
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| Publisher | Springer Verlag | Place of Publication | Heidelberg | Editor | j. Korb and J. Heinze |
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| Notes | Approved | no | |||
| Call Number | Equine Behaviour @ team @ | Serial | 4387 | ||
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| Author | Krueger, K. | ||||
| Title | Behaviour of horses in the “round pen technique” | Type | Journal Article | ||
| Year | 2007 | Publication | Applied Animal Behaviour Science | Abbreviated Journal | Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
| Volume | 104 | Issue | 1-2 | Pages | 162-170 |
| Keywords | Learning; Dominance relationship; Horse; Human-animal relationships | ||||
| Abstract |
I investigated the behavioural background of the way horses learn to follow humans in the “round pen technique” suggested by “horse whisperers” as a gentle method for initial horse training. Though the practicability of this technique has been adequately demonstrated in the past, the horses' behaviour during such training has not yet been documented in detail. In a riding arena, horses, that did not follow the trainer immediately, were chased away so that they galloped around the trainer. Galloping horses showed specific behaviour such as turning the ear to the trainer, chewing, licking, and stretching head and throat downwards. In subsequent trials horses needed to be chased for less time and finally followed immediately, even when conditions were changed or the trainer was replaced by another person. This suggests that horses learn to follow in this particular situation and also show some generalisation. However, following did not occur on a pasture even after several successful trials in the riding arena. | ||||
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| Notes | Approved | no | |||
| Call Number | refbase @ user @ | Serial | 280 | ||
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| Author | Schanz, L.; Krueger, K.; Hintze, S. | ||||
| Title | Sex and Age Don't Matter, but Breed Type Does--Factors Influencing Eye Wrinkle Expression in Horses | Type | Journal Article | ||
| Year | 2019 | Publication | Frontiers in Veterinary Science | Abbreviated Journal | Front. Vet. Sci. |
| Volume | 6 | Issue | Pages | 154 | |
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Identifying valid indicators to assess animals' emotional states is a critical objective of animal welfare science. In horses, eye wrinkles above the eyeball have been shown to be affected by pain and other emotional states. From other species we know that individual characteristics, e.g. age in humans, affect facial wrinkles, but it has not yet been investigated whether eye wrinkle expression in horses is systematically affected by such characteristics. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess how age, sex, breed type, body condition and coat colour affect the expression and/or the assessment of eye wrinkles in horses. To this end, we adapted the eye wrinkle assessment scale from Hintze et al. (2016) and assessed eye wrinkle expression in pictures taken from the left and the right eye of 181 horses in a presumably neutral situation, using five outcome measures: a qualitative first impression reflecting how worried the horse is perceived by humans, the extent to which the brow is raised, the number of wrinkles, their markedness and the angle between a line through both corners of the eye and the topmost wrinkle. All measures could be assessed highly reliable with respect to intra- and inter-observer agreement. Breed type affected the width of the angle (F2, 114 = 8.20, p < 0.001), with thoroughbreds having the narrowest angle (M = 23.80, SD = 1.60), followed by warmbloods (M = 28.00, SD = 0.60), and coldbloods (M = 31.00, SD = 0.90). None of the other characteristics affected any of the outcome measures, and eye wrinkle expression did not differ between the left and the right eye area (all p-values > 0.05). In conclusion, horses' eye wrinkle expression and its assessment in neutral situations was not systematically affected by the investigated characteristics, except for 'breed type', which accounted for some variation in 'angle'; how much eye wrinkle expression is affected by emotion or perhaps mood needs further investigation and validation. | ||||
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| ISSN | 2297-1769 | ISBN | Medium | ||
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| Notes | Approved | no | |||
| Call Number | Equine Behaviour @ team @ | Serial | 6578 | ||
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| Author | Krueger, K. | ||||
| Title | Social cognition and social learning in horses | Type | Conference Article | ||
| Year | 2008 | Publication | IESM 2008 | Abbreviated Journal | |
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In comparison to other social animals it appears to be far more difficult to show social learning in horses, although the social background of the animals prompts the prediction that social learning should be verifiable. This demands for a thorough analysis of conditions, context and effects of social learning which might not be as obvious in horses than in other social animals. Moreover, the horse“s social cognition in general, i.e. the processing, encoding, storage, retrieval, and application of social information, needs to be examined. In previous studies we addressed the horse”s perception of it“s social environment. Our results indicate that domestic horses are not only capable of distinguishing between familiar and unfamiliar horses but also of recognizing the social status of familiar horses relative to their own. Furthermore, they extract information from observing interactions between a familiar horse and a human experimenter, and adjust their behaviour according to the observed horse”s reaction and relative dominance status when they are themselves later confronted with the experimenter in a similar situation. Additionally, we showed in pilot experiments that horses paid more attention to the gaze of dominant horses from their own social group than to that of unknown or subordinate horses. In another study we suggested that horses of both sexes are capable of determining the social affiliation, the sex and, for their own group members, the identity of individuals, by sniffing their faeces. Hence, social affiliation and dominance relationships seemed to have a major influence on the horses` motivation to pay attention to their conspecifics. In the future we will take another step towards linking the horse“s social cognitive capacities with its social ecology, social structure, and individuality. In the context of comparative cognition research on the socially complex primates, or on a range of carnivores such as corvids, canids or dolphins, horses are particularly interesting, because they are highly social, but do not rely on social hunting or cooperative raising of offspring. Also foraging is simple for horses, predator avoidance is demanding and this may be the main reason for the horse”s complex social lives and their choice of learning tactics. Hence, we will investigate the horse"s investigative behaviour towards neutral, fear-eliciting and food related novel objects. We propose that, as in other species, sociality and distinct personalities are key features for the understanding of cognitive capacities and the choice of learning strategies. | ||||
| Address | University of Regensburg – Biology I | ||||
| Corporate Author | Krueger, K. | Thesis | |||
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| Area | Expedition | Conference | IESM 2008 | ||
| Notes | Talk 15 min IESM 2008 | Approved | yes | ||
| Call Number | Equine Behaviour @ team @ | Serial | 4462 | ||
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| Author | Wolter, R.; Krueger, K. | ||||
| Title | The analysis of social bonds in feral horses | Type | Conference Article | ||
| Year | 2015 | Publication | Proceedings of the 3. International Equine Science Meeting | Abbreviated Journal | Proc. 3. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg |
| Volume | Issue | Pages | |||
| Keywords | social bonds, grooming, nearest neighborhood, rank | ||||
| Abstract |
In many social mammals, individuals preferentially affiliate with a small subset of available partners instead of distributing their social behaviors equally among all group members. The resulting social bonds have been investigated in several mammalian taxa, especially in primate societies, but also in other taxa such as birds, dolphins, rodents and ungulates. In feral horses, a great number of studies on social bonds can be found, but with a huge variety between methods for the analysis. There seems to be a lack of a clear and common definition of social bonds in horses and of comparable analyses. For example, there are irregularities between the studies regarding the research designs, the selection of recording methods and the interpretation of the measurements. Mutual grooming is used most often for the analysis of social relationships in many species. As mutual grooming is rare in horses, especially measurements of spatial proximity are commonly used for the analysis of social bonds in addition to other behavioral patterns. However, the combination of mutual grooming and nearest neighborhood analyses for the analysis of social bond is debatable, as in contrast to mutual grooming, which must occur deliberately by both grooming partners, the spatial distribution can be influenced by one partner alone, which may even force the other horse to keep a certain distance or to stay in close proximity. In this study, we investigated the comparability of mutual grooming and nearest neighborhood data for social bond analyses in feral horses. Therefore, we observed five groups of semi-wild living Przewalski’s horses and six groups of feral horses. We analysed the horses’ social ranks by applying an Average Dominance Index, we recorded the distances between the animals and observed the number of mutual grooming events as well as friendly approaches. Our results show that there was only a weak correlation between the frequency of staying in nearest neighborhood and mutual grooming in all observed horse groups. In contrast to this, the correlation between the number of friendly approaches and mutual grooming events was higher in most groups. Hierarchies did not affect social bonds, as mutual grooming was similarly induced by higher and lower ranking animals and the social rank did not affect the choice of the grooming partner. Similarly, likelihoods of staying in the neighborhood of particular animals were not affected by the animals’ social rank. The grooming frequencies differed between the different horse groups and between the individual horses living in the particular groups. They seem to be effected by individual predisposition. Altogether we suggest that the ratio of mutual grooming seems to be a better indicator for social bonds in feral horses than the frequency of staying in the nearest neighborhood. Mutual grooming occurs deliberately and is bidirectional, whereas nearest neighborhoods could be enforced and unidirectional. For the calculation of social bonds in horses, we consider it to be more reliable to combine the frequency of mutual grooming with the frequency of friendly approaches. |
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| Corporate Author | Wolter, R. | Thesis | |||
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| ISSN | ISBN | 978-3-95625-000-2 | Medium | ||
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| Notes | Approved | no | |||
| Call Number | Equine Behaviour @ team @ | Serial | 5882 | ||
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| Author | Schwarz, S.; Marr, I.; Farmer, K.; Graf, K.; Stefanski, V.; Krueger, K. | ||||
| Title | Does Carrying a Rider Change Motor and Sensory Laterality in Horses? | Type | Journal Article | ||
| Year | 2022 | Publication | Animals | Abbreviated Journal | Animals |
| Volume | 12 | Issue | 8 | Pages | 992 |
| Keywords | laterality; horse; rider; sensory laterality; motor laterality; novel object; side preference | ||||
| Abstract |
Laterality in horses has been studied in recent decades. Although most horses are kept for riding purposes, there has been almost no research on how laterality may be affected by carrying a rider. In this study, 23 horses were tested for lateral preferences, both with and without a rider, in three different experiments. The rider gave minimal aids and rode on a long rein to allow the horse free choice. Firstly, motor laterality was assessed by observing forelimb preference when stepping over a pole. Secondly, sensory laterality was assessed by observing perceptual side preferences when the horse was confronted with (a) an unfamiliar person or (b) a novel object. After applying a generalised linear model, this preliminary study found that a rider increased the strength of motor laterality (p = 0.01) but did not affect sensory laterality (p = 0.8). This suggests that carrying a rider who is as passive as possible does not have an adverse effect on a horse�s stress levels and mental state. | ||||
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| Call Number | Equine Behaviour @ team @ | Serial | 6667 | ||
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| Author | Flauger, B.; Krueger, K. | ||||
| Title | Social feeding decisions in horses (Equus caballus) | Type | Conference Article | ||
| Year | 2012 | Publication | Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting | Abbreviated Journal | Proc. 2. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg |
| Volume | in press | Issue | Pages | ||
| Keywords | Feeding decision; Horse; Rank; Social behaviour | ||||
| Abstract |
Like many other herbivores equids feed on rather evenly distributed resources. Especially in ruminants several studies have proved the influence of social organisations, rank, sex and the depletion of feeding sites on the feeding behaviour of individuals. However, it is not yet understood whether social aspects affect horses´ feeding decisions. Horses roam on vast habitats with constantly changing vegetation. In non-competitive situations domestic horses tend to return to the same feeding site until it is overgrazed. Whereas, for competition over limited food the social status of the individuals appears to be important. Curiosity about the influence of social rank and different social feeding conditions on the horses´ feeding decisions between two buckets, equally filled with high-quality surplus food, led us to create the test situation described here. The observer horses were alternately tested with a dominant and a subordinate demonstrator placed in one of three different positions. We conclude that domestic horses use cognitive strategic decision making in order to decide where to feed in a social feeding situation. When possible they tend to return to the same, continuously supplied feeding site and switch to an “avoidance tendency” when another horse is already feeding from it or in the presence of a dominant horse. Thus the position and the social rank of conspecifics affect the feeding strategy of horses. | ||||
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| Corporate Author | Flauger, B. | Thesis | |||
| Publisher | Xenophon Publishing | Place of Publication | Wald | Editor | |
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| ISSN | 978-3-9808134-26 | ISBN | Medium | ||
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| Notes | Approved | no | |||
| Call Number | Equine Behaviour @ team @ | Serial | 5581 | ||
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| Author | Krueger, K.; Flauger, B. | ||||
| Title | Social feeding decisions in horses (Equus caballus) | Type | Journal Article | ||
| Year | 2008 | Publication | Behavioural Processes | Abbreviated Journal | Behav. Process. |
| Volume | 78 | Issue | 1 | Pages | 76-83 |
| Keywords | Feeding decision; Horse; Rank; Social behaviour | ||||
| Abstract |
Like many other herbivores, in a natural environment equids feed on rather evenly distributed resources. However, the vegetation in their vast habitats constantly changes. If food is plentiful only little competition occurs over food, and in non-competitive situations domestic horses tend to return to the same feeding site until it is overgrazed. In contrast, they compete over limited food for which the social status of the individuals appears to be important. Especially in ruminants several studies have proved an influence of social organisations, rank, sex and the depletion of feeding sites on the feeding behaviour of individuals. However, it is not yet understood whether and how social aspects affect horses“ feeding decisions. Curiosity about the influence of social rank on the horses” feeding decisions between two, equally with high-quality surplus food-filled buckets placed in different social feeding conditions, led us to create the test below. The observer horses were alternately tested with a dominant and a subordinate demonstrator placed in one of the three different positions. We conclude that domestic horses use social cognition and strategic decision making in order to decide where to feed in a social feeding situation. When possible they tend to return to the same, continuously supplied feeding site and switch to an “avoidance tendency” in the presence of dominant horses or when another horse is already feeding there. Thus, the social rank and the position of conspecifics affect the feeding strategy of horses. | ||||
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| Notes | Approved | no | |||
| Call Number | Equine Behaviour @ team @ | Serial | 4394 | ||
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