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Hanggi, E.B.; Ingersoll, J.F. |
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Title |
Lateral vision in horses: A behavioral investigation |
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2012 |
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Behavioural Processes |
Abbreviated Journal |
Behav. Process. |
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91 |
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1 |
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70-76 |
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Lateral vision; Horse; Equine; Stimulus discrimination; Field of view; Peripheral |
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This study investigated lateral vision in horses (Equus caballus) for the first time from a behavioral point of view. Three horses were tested using a novel experimental design to determine the range of their lateral and caudolateral vision with respect to stimulus detection and discrimination. Real-life stimuli were presented along a curvilinear wall in one of four different positions (A, B, C, D) and one of two height locations (Top, Bottom) on both sides of the horse. To test for stimulus detection, the correct stimulus was paired against a control; for stimulus discrimination, the correct stimulus was paired against another object. To indicate that the correct stimulus was detected or discriminated, the horses pushed one of two paddles. All horses scored significantly above chance on stimulus detection trials regardless of stimulus position or location. They also accurately discriminated between stimuli when objects appeared in positions A, B, and C for the top or bottom locations; however, they failed to discriminate these stimuli at position D. This study supports physiological descriptions of the equine eye and provides new behavioral data showing that horses can detect the appearance of objects within an almost fully encompassing circle and are able to identify objects within most but not all of their panoramic field of view. |
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0376-6357 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5621 |
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Bailey, A.; Williams, N.; Palmer, M.; Geering, R. |
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Title |
The farmer as service provider: the demand for agricultural commodities and equine services |
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2000 |
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Agricultural Systems |
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66 |
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3 |
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191-204 |
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Income and price elasticity of demand; Farm diversification; Horses |
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In recent years there has been much interest in alternative sources of income for farmers. This is because economic theory suggests that demand for agricultural commodities is inelastic so that, as incomes in society as a whole increase, those of farmers do not necessarily keep pace — hence the current problems with falling real farm incomes. In contrast the demand for services is relatively elastic. Thus it is logical to divert agricultural resources into service provision. One such service is provided by equine enterprises. We have estimated the own price and income elasticities of demand for selected agricultural commodities and for ‘equine services’. Our results confirm that demand for equine services is more elastic than for agricultural commodities. Thus diversification into horse enterprises is likely to have long term benefits for farmers vis á vis traditional agricultural production. |
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0308-521x |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5713 |
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Lesimple, C.; Reverchon-Billot, L.; Galloux, P.; Stomp, M.; Boichot, L.; Coste, C.; Henry, S.; Hausberger, M. |
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Title |
Free movement: A key for welfare improvement in sport horses? |
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2020 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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225 |
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104972 |
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Horse; Housing; Free movement; Horse welfare; Stereotypic behaviour; Oxytocin |
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Horses, and in particular sport horses, remain housed predominantly in single stalls. One of the main reported reasons is the fear that they will become agitated and injure themselves and thereby impair their performance if released in paddocks. The hour spent daily at work is also assumed to be sufficient to satisfy the horses' needs for locomotion. Growing scientific evidence shows that single stall housing has negative consequences on horses' welfare and that time for free movement is necessary. Our aim was to assess the feasibility of allowing sport horses used to staying permanently in their stall (except for 1 h riding/day) daily free time in a paddock and to evaluate its potential impact on their welfare using two behavioural reliable indicators (stereotypic behaviours and ear position), as well as selected blood parameters (blood cell count, oxytocin and serotonin concentrations). Two experiments were conducted on the same site. The first experiment evaluated sport horses' habituation to the novel situation of daily sessions in a paddock, and recorded welfare indicators in their stall before and during the experiment, comparing horses that were taken outdoors (experimental) and those that stayed in their stall (control). The second experiment evaluated the impact of this daily free time in a paddock on horses' welfare and its durability, focusing on positive indicators. Behavioural observations in paddocks showed that even horses that had never experienced free movement outside their stall habituated rapidly to this situation. The presence of hay in the paddock, may have speeded up habituation. Their restricted living conditions were associated with abnormalities in blood cell count that were not overcome during the time of daily paddock sessions but behavioural indicators showed that their welfare improved. In the second study, the experimental horses' welfare improved during the paddock release period, in particular their stereotypic behaviours decreased and oxytocin levels increased. No effects on serotonin concentrations could be evidenced. These effects were directly associated with being in paddock, as the indicators returned rapidly to their previous levels indicating compromised welfare when the paddock release sessions stopped. In conclusion, it can be recommended to release sport horses for free movement in paddocks as welfare is improved and subjective assessment by caretakers indicated minimal risks. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6619 |
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König v. Borstel, U.; Visser, E.K.; Hall, C. |
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Title |
Indicators of stress in equitation |
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2017 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
Abbreviated Journal |
Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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190 |
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43-56 |
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Stress; Horse; Riding; Heart rate variability; Cortisol; Behaviour |
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Abstract Stress is a generic concept describing the body's reaction to external stimuli, including both physiological and psychological factors. Therefore, by definition, the assessment of psychological stress in the exercising horse encompasses the problem of teasing apart the psychological and physiological factors both of which result in stress responses. The present study reviews the existing literature on various measures of stress taken specifically in the context of equitation science. Particular attention has been paid to short-term effects, and commonly used measurements of short-term stress include heart rate, a number of heart rate variability parameters, blood or saliva cortisol levels, eye temperature, and various behaviour parameters including in particular behaviour patterns presumably indicative of conflict with the rider's/trainer's aids. Inspection of the individual studies' results revealed that disagreement between these different measures of stress is commonplace. For physiological parameters, the largest proportion of agreement (i.e. both parameters simultaneously indicated either higher, insignificant or lower stress compared to a control treatment) was found for heart rate and heart rate variability parameters, while generally limited agreement was found for cortisol. It appears that cortisol levels may not be particularly useful for assessing/assessment of the valence of a situation in the exercising horse as cortisol levels are predominantly linked to activation and exercise levels. Although heart rate variability parameters reflect in theory more closely sympathovagal balance compared to cortisol levels, great care has to be taken regarding the use of appropriate time-frames, appropriate raw data correction methods as well as the use of appropriate equipment. In spite of its wide-spread and apparently successful use, popular equipment may in fact not be accurate enough under field conditions. Eye temperature is another promising parameter for assessment of psychological stress, but the technique is likewise susceptible to application errors. Given the high susceptibility of physiological parameters to errors at various experimental stages, behavioural rather than physiological parameters may in fact provide more accurate measures of valence when conducting experiments in the exercising horse. Behavioural parameters that appear to be particularly practical in assessing stress in ridden horses' behaviour are associated with frequencies of behaviour indicative of conflict. However, while increased frequencies of are a good indicator of stress, the absence of conflict behaviour does not provide proof of the absence of stress due to the possible occurrence of conditions such as Learned Helplessness. In future studies, the above issues should be taken into consideration when designing experiments to assess psychological stress in ridden horses. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6160 |
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Albright, J.; Sun, X.; Houpt, K. |
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Does cribbing behavior in horses vary with dietary taste or direct gastric stimuli? |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
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Appl Anim Behav Sci |
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Horse; Stereotypy; Cribbing; Diet |
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Abstract Concentrated feed diets have been shown to drastically increase the rate of the cribbing, an oral stereotypy in horses, but the specific component causing the rise has not been identified. Furthermore, the mechanism through which feed affects cribbing has not been explored. In the first experiment of this study, we quantified the latency to crib and number of cribs in 15 min after the horses tasted various grain, sugar, and artificial sweetener solutions. Undiluted grain stimulated the most cribs (P < 0.01) compared with all other solutions, and shortest latency to crib, although this was significantly higher only when compared with diluted grain (P = 0.03). In Experiment 2, latency to crib and number of cribs in 15 min after the grain and sugar solutions were administered via nasograstric tube were also evaluated. There were no statistical differences among cribbing responses to grain, fructose, and water administered directly to the stomach although grain stimulated cribbing behavior more quickly than 10% fructose (P = 0.03) and 100% tap water (P = 0.04). These results confirm that highly palatable diets, possibly mediated through the opioid and dopaminergic systems, are one of the most potent inducers of cribbing behavior. The highly palatable taste remains the probable “cribogenic” factor of concentrated diet, although gastric and post-gastric effects cannot be excluded. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6123 |
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Keeling, L.J.; Bøe, K.E.; Christensen, J.W.; Hyyppä, S.; Jansson, H.; Jørgensen, G.H.M.; Ladewig, J.; Mejdell, C.M.; Särkijärvi, S.; Søndergaard, E.; Hartmann, E. |
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Injury incidence, reactivity and ease of handling of horses kept in groups: a matched case control study in four Nordic countries |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
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Appl Anim Behav Sci |
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horse; behaviour; reactivity; injury; welfare; management |
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Abstract There is increasing interest in keeping horses in groups, but progress is hampered by a lack of knowledge about which horses can and should be kept together. Therefore, our objective was to investigate the effect of group composition on the occurrence of injuries among horses, the ease of removing horses from groups and horses’ reactivity to a fearful stimulus. Using a matched case control design, 61 groups of horses were studied in Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden. They were allocated into groups of similar or different age and sex or where membership changed regularly or remained stable. Injuries were recorded before mixing the horses into treatment groups, the day after mixing and four weeks later. Reactivity of horses to a moving novel object and the behaviour of a horse being removed from its group and the reactions of other group members towards this horse and the handler were evaluated. It was hypothesized that a more socially variable group composition has beneficial effects on behaviour, ease of handling and reducing reactivity whereas frequent changes in group composition has negative consequences, resulting in more injuries. We found that differences in treatment effects were mainly related to breed, rather than group composition. Icelandic horses reacted less to the movement of the novel object (P = 0.007) and approached it more afterwards (P = 0.04). They also had fewer new injuries than warmbloods following mixing (P < 0.001) and fewer than all other groups 4 weeks later (P < 0.01). Most new injuries after mixing were minor and recorded on the horse’s head, chest, hind legs and rump. In conclusion, variations in sex and age composition of the group had little effect on injury level, reactivity and ease of handling compared to the general effect of breed. Concerns about the risk of severe injuries associated with keeping horses in groups are probably overestimated. Thus, we propose that horses can be successfully kept in groups of different sex and age composition. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6020 |
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Austin, N.P.; Rogers, L.J. |
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Lateralization of agonistic and vigilance responses in Przewalski horses (Equus przewalskii) |
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2014 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
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151 |
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43-50 |
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Behavioural lateralization: Eye preference; Limb preference; Aggression; Vigilance; Reactivity; Przewalski horses |
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tEye and limb preferences were scored in the closest undomesticated relative of Equuscaballus using the same methods as used previously to study laterality in feral horses.Observations were made of 33 Przewalski horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) (male N = 20,female N = 13) living under natural social conditions on a large reserve in France. Signifi-cant left-eye/side biases were found in agonistic interactions within harem bands (M ± SEbias to left 58% ± 0.01 for threats, P < 0.001; 68% ± 0.05 for attacks; P < 0.001) and in stallionfights (threats, 52% ± 0.01 left, P < 0.001; attacks, 63% ± 0.02 left, P < 0.001): as many as 80%of the horses were significantly lateralized in attack responses within harem bands. Lat-erality of vigilance was measured as lifting up the head from grazing and turning it to theleft or right side: a directional bias to the left was found (M ± SE 53% ± 0.02 left, P < 0.001).Side bias in reactivity was calculated as the percent of head lifts above the level of thewithers on the left or right side and this was also left side biased (M ± SE 73% ± 0.03 left,P < 0.001). These results indicate right-hemisphere specialization for control of aggressionand responses to novelty. The left bias in attack scores within harem bands was strongerin males than females (P = 0.024) and in immature than adult horses (P = 0.032). Immaturehorses were also more strongly lateralized than adults in vigilance scores (P = 0.022), whichmay suggest that experience reduces these side biases. Our results show that Przewalskihorses exhibit left eye preferences, as do feral horses, and do so even more strongly thanferal horses. Considering feral and Przewalski horses together, we deduce that ancestralhorses had similar lateral biases. Also similar to feral horses, the Przewalski horses showedno significant forelimb preference at the group level or in the majority of horses at theindividual level, confirming the hypothesis that previously reported limb preferences indomestic breeds are entrained or generated by breed-specific selection. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5768 |
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Granquist, S.M.; Thorhallsdottir, A.G.; Sigurjonsdottir, H. |
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The effect of stallions on social interactions in domestic and semi feral harems |
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Journal Article |
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2012 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
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141 |
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1–2 |
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49-56 |
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Horses; Hierarchy; Icelandic horse; Social behaviour; Social bonds |
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Earlier research indicates that stallions may supress interactions of their harem members, leading to less stable hierarchies and friendship bonds in harems compared to non-stallion groups. In this paper, the effect of the presense of a stallion on the social behaviour of mares was studied by comparing six harems containing stallions to four mixed sex groups not containing stallions. Both temporary and permanent harems were studied, giving the possibility to investigate the effect of group stability on social interactions. A significant linear hierarchy was found in all non-stallion groups that were used for comparison, while the hierarchies were only found to be linear in three of the six harems containing stallions (Landaus h', p < 0.05). Aggression rate was lower (t-test, p < 0.05) and fewer friendship bonds (G-test, p < 0.0001) were found within the harems, compared to the groups without stallions. Stallions seldom intervene directly in interactions between harem members. Thus, our results give support to the hypothesis that stallions may suppress interactions of harem members, but in a more indirect way than with direct interference. In addition, our results give support for earlier findings that aggression rate may be affected by group stability. We found a higher aggression rate in the temporary harems compared to the permanent harems (Kruskal–Wallis, p < 0.05) and in the temporary non-stallion group compared to the permanent non-stallion group. The results have significance for further research on social structure of mammals, and may be applied in management of domestic animals. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5619 |
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Young, T.; Creighton, E.; Smith, T.; Hosie, C. |
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A novel scale of behavioural indicators of stress for use with domestic horses |
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2012 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
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140 |
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1–2 |
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33-43 |
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Horse; Behaviour scores; Cortisol; Saliva; Welfare assessment; Non-invasive |
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Behaviour scores (BS) offer non-invasive, objective and easy to use ways of assessing welfare in animals. Their development has, however, largely focused on behavioural reactions to stressful events (often induced), and little use of physiological measures has been made to underpin and validate the behavioural measures. This study aimed to develop a physiologically validated scale of behavioural indicators of stress for the purpose of welfare assessment in stabled domestic horses. To achieve this, behavioural and physiological data were collected from 32 horses that underwent routine husbandry procedures. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the behavioural and physiological data revealed three meaningful components that were used as the basis of the scale. Analysis of video clips of the horses’ responses to the husbandry procedures was undertaken by a panel of equestrian industry professionals using a free choice profiling (FCP) methodology. These results were added to the scale along with key definitions from relevant literature. Salivary cortisol levels were significantly correlated with the BS confirming the scale was meaningful and reflected physiological stress. The scale offers an easy to use ‘tool’ for rapid, reliable non-invasive welfare assessment in horses, and reduces the need for potentially invasive physiological measures. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5637 |
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König v. Borstel, U.; Pirsich, W.; Gauly, M.; Bruns, E. |
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Repeatability and reliability of scores from ridden temperament tests conducted during performance tests |
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2012 |
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Applied Animal Behaviour Science |
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Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. |
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139 |
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3–4 |
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251-263 |
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Horse; Personality; Temperament test; Riding; Repeatability; Performance test |
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Abstract |
Current scores for equine personality traits assessed during performance tests are characterised by high means and inadequate variation, hampering genetic selection for these traits. A number of temperament and related behaviour tests have been developed in order to make assessment of equine personality more objective. However, rarely these tests have been validated for their use as a selection tool. Thus, as a first step the aim of the present study was to integrate a temperament tests into horse performance tests, in order to assess variability and repeatability of horses’ reactivity under the rider and the reliability of the judges’ assessment thereof. The temperament test was comprised of three novel stimuli, including a visual stimulus (BALL), a visual and tactile stimulus (GATE), and a visual and auditory stimulus (CANS). A total of 224 mares and stallions were subjected to the test during their participation in station performance tests for riding horses, and 133 of these horses were subjected to the test a second time either 2–3 weeks or 18 weeks after the first test. Horses were ridden in the test by professional riders, and their reactions to the stimuli were evaluated each by two judges and the rider using scores on a scale from 1 (task not concluded) to 10 (completely calm but attentive horse). Mean scores (±SD) ranged between 6.6 ± 2.4 (GATE) and 7.8 ± 2.1 (BALL), demonstrating lower means and considerably higher standard deviations than the same horses’ scores from present evaluation of the trait labelled temperament (8.1 ± 0.9) or related personality traits (e.g. character: 8.3 ± 0.8). Using variance components from mixed model analysis, inter-observer agreement between the two judges was for the individual stimuli very high (0.95 (BALL), 0.96 (GATE), 0.89 (CANS)), and there was likewise high agreement between the judges’ and the riders’ combined scores (0.93). Repeatabilities of horses’ scores were 0.72 (BALL), 0.75 (GATE), and 0.69 (CANS). Correlations to traits from the present evaluation of personality were low or non-existent, indicating that these traits are not a reflection of anxiety or fear reactivity as assessed by novel object tests. Horses’ improvement in judges’ combined scores from first to second test was not (P > 0.1) influenced by differences in time between tests, but differed between breed-types and individual riders. Also, not surprisingly, the higher horses’ scores in the first test were, the lower their improvement in the second test was (-0.45 ± 0.06 per additional score in the first test). Temperament tests using novel stimuli presented to horses under a rider may be a practical and valid tool for improving the current assessment of equine personality traits during performance tests. Considering a combination of absolute scores and horses’ improvement in scores of repeated tests, rather than measuring only absolute scores yields relevant information about horses’ personality, and at the same time it may prevent owners from deliberately training their horses for low reactions to the test-stimuli. |
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0168-1591 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5642 |
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