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Houpt, K. A. (1979). Intelligence of the horse. Equine Pract., 1, 20–26.
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Houpt, K. A. (1991). Investigating equine ingestive, maternal, and sexual behavior in the field and in the laboratory. J. Anim Sci., 69(10), 4161–4166.
Abstract: Some of the techniques that may be used to study social, reproductive, and ingestive behavior in horses are described in this paper. One of the aspects of equine social behavior is the dominance hierarchy or patterns of agonistic behavior. Paired or group feeding from a single food source may be used to determine dominance hierarchies quickly. Focal animal studies of undisturbed groups of horses may also be used; this method takes longer, but may reveal affiliative as well as agonistic relationships among the horses. Reproductive behavior includes flehmen, the functional significance of which can be determined using combinations of field observations of harem groups and laboratory studies of stallions exposed to female urine or feces in the absence of the donor mare. Ingestive behavior may include food, salt, or water intake. Direct and indirect measurements of intake can be made and used to answer questions regarding the ability of horses to control their energy intake when the diet is diluted, the effect of feral equids on the ecology of an area, and the abilities of horses to compensate for dehydration and hypovolemia.
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Houpt, K. A., Parsons, M. S., & Hintz, H. F. (1982). Learning ability of orphan foals, of normal foals and of their mothers. J. Anim Sci., 55(5), 1027–1032.
Abstract: The maze learning ability of six pony foals that had been weaned at birth was compared to that of six foals reared normally. The foals' learning ability was also compared to their mothers' learning ability at the same task; the correct turn in a single choice point maze. The maze learning test was conducted when the foals were 6 to 8 mo old and after the mothered foals had been weaned. There was no significant difference between the ability of orphaned (weaned at birth) and mothered foals in their ability to learn to turn left (6 +/- .7 and 5.1 +/- .1 trials, respectively) or to learn the reversal, to turn right (6.7 +/- .6 and 6.2 +/- .6 trials, respectively). The orphan foals spent significantly more time in the maze in their first exposure to it than the mothered foals (184 +/- 42 vs 55 +/- 15 s. Mann Whitney U = 7, P less than .05). The mothers of the foals (n = 11) learned to turn left as rapidly as the foals (5.9 +/- .7 trials), but they were slower to learn to turn right (9.8 +/- 1.4 vs 6.4 +/- .4 trials, Mann Whitney U = 33, P less than .05), indicating that the younger horses learned more rapidly. There was no correlation between the trials to criteria of the mare and those of her foal, but there was a significant negative correlation between rank in trials to criteria and age (r = -65, P less than .05) when data from the mare and foal trials were combined. The dominance hierarchy of the mares was determined using a paired feeding test in which two horses competed for one bucket of feed. Although there was no correlation between rank in the hierarchy and maze learning ability, there was a correlation between body weight and rank in the hierarchy (r = .7, P less than .05). This may indicate either that heavier horses are likely to be dominant or that horses high in dominance gain more weight. Maternal deprivation did not appear to seriously retard learning of a simple maze by foals, although the orphans moved more slowly initially. The lack of maternal influence on learning is also reflected in the lack of correlation between the mare's learning ability and that of her foal. Young horses appear to learn more rapidly than older horses.
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Houpt, K. A. (1995). Learning in horses. In The thinking horse. (pp. 12–17). Guelph, Canada: Equine Research Centre.
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Crowell-Davis, S. L., & Houpt, K. A. (1986). Maternal behavior. Vet Clin North Am Equine Pract, 2(3), 557–571.
Abstract: Parturition in mares is rapid and is followed by a brief period of sensitivity to imprinting on a foal. There is large individual variation in normal maternal style, but normal mothers actively defend their foal, remain near the foal when it is sleeping, tolerate or assist nursing, and do not injure their own foal. Disturbance of a mare and foal during the early imprinting period can predispose a mare to rejection of her foal; therefore, it should be avoided. There are a variety of forms of foal rejection and numerous etiologies. Therefore, each case should be evaluated individually.
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Houpt, K. A. (2008). Maternal behavior in horses. In IESM 2008.
Abstract: Mares quickly form a bond with their foals, probably within the first hour. They lick the foal usually beginning at the tail end, then the head and later the body of the foal. Licking behavior disappears within the first hours in most mares. Once the bond is formed the mare will let no other foal nurse and stays within a meter of the foal most of the time during the first week. The foal follows her when awake, but when he sleeps she stands over him. As the foal matures the distance the mare maintains from the foals get longer and she may graze as he sleeps. The bond of the mother to the foal gradually weakens as revealed by her response to separation from the foal. Weaning usually takes place shortly before the birth of the next foal. Some mares will attempt to steal foals and this can lead to injury of either the mares or the foal. Because of the strong and exclusive bond of most mares to their foal, foal rejection is especially abnormal. It occurs in some breeds more frequently than others, indicating a heritable component. Arabian mares reject 5% of their foals and other breeds reject less than 2%. There are three types of foal rejection- simple fear of the foal that can be quickly solved by holding the mare so the foal can suckle. The mare learns that nursing is pleasurable. This process usually takes only a few hours of holding the mare because foals suckle so frequently- about four times an hours. The second form of foal rejection is avoidance of tactile stimulation of the inguinal fold. When the foal attempts to suckle he usually strikes that skin fold and causes the mare to cow kick and move away. Desensitization to stimulation of the inguinal fold can solve this problem in a few hours. Treatment is more complex and longer for mares that are aggressive to the foal even when it does not touch them. This type of foal rejection can be treated with drugs that inhibit dopamine such as acepromazine-not the alpha adrenergic agent xylazine. Dopamine inhibits the pituitary hormone prolactin, a putative maternal hormone, which increases milk production. Blocking dopamine will increase prolactin. The mare should always have visual contact with the foal, but be restrained so she can not bite or kick the foal. A pole across the stall confining the mare against a wall is best. Maternal behavior can be induced in non-pregnant mares using injections of estrogen, progesterone, and the dopamine inhibitor sulpiride. Once lactation begins cervical stimulation can be used to elicit maternal behavior toward the next foal the mare sees.
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Crowell-Davis, S. L., Houpt, K. A., & Carini, C. M. (1986). Mutual grooming and nearest-neighbor relationships among foals of Equus caballus. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 15(2), 113–123.
Abstract: A 3-year study was carried out on the developmental behavior of foals from birth to 24 weeks of age and the behavior of mares living with foals. Mutual-grooming partners of foals were primarily other foals. The peak frequency of mutual grooming occurred during Weeks 9-12, when fillies mutual-groomed 1.6 times h-1 and colts mutual-groomed 0.9 times h-1. Fillies mutual-groomed more frequently than colts (P < 0.025). Fillies mutual-groomed randomly with colts and other fillies (P < 0.05), whereas colts mutual-groomed almost exclusively with fillies (P = 0.03). At all ages studied, if a foal's nearest neighbor was not its mother, it was more likely to be another foal than would be expected if the foal was associating randomly with non-mother ponies. Fillies were more likely than expected to have a filly rather than a colt as their nearest neighbor (P = 0.01). Thus, during their first few months of life, the foals studied exhibited patterns of behavior which were consistent with the development of the usual social milieu of unmanaged adults, in which several mares form a cohesive herd with one or more stallions associating with them.
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Houpt, K. A. (1995). New perspectives on equine stereotypic behaviour (Vol. 27).
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Houpt, T. R., & Houpt, K. A. (1971). Nitrogen conservation by ponies fed a low -protein ration. Am J Vet Res, 32(4), 579–588.
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Sufit, E., Houpt, K. A., & Sweeting, M. (1985). Physiological stimuli of thirst and drinking patterns in ponies. Equine Vet J, 17(1), 12–16.
Abstract: The stimuli that elicit thirst were studied in four ponies. Nineteen hours of water deprivation produced an increase in plasma protein from 67 +/- 0.1 g/litre to 72 +/- 2 g/litre, a mean (+/- se) increase in plasma sodium from 139 +/- 3 to 145 +/- 2 mmol/litre and an increase in plasma osmolality from 297 +/- 1 to 306 +/- 2 mosmol/litre. Undeprived ponies drank 1.5 +/- 0.9 kg/30 mins; 19 h deprived ponies drank 10.2 +/- 2.5 kg/30 mins and corrected the deficits in plasma protein, plasma sodium and plasma osmolality as well as compensating for the water they would have drunk during the deprivation period. In order to determine if an increase in plasma osmolality would stimulate thirst, 250 ml of 15 per cent sodium chloride was infused intravenously. The ponies drank when osmolality increased 3 per cent and when plasma sodium rose from 136 +/- 3 mmol/litre to 143 +/- 3 mmol/litre. Ponies infused with 15 per cent sodium chloride drank 2.9 +/- 0.7 kg; those infused with 0.9 per cent sodium chloride drank 0.7 +/- 0.5 kg. In order to determine if a decrease in plasma volume would stimulate thirst, ponies were injected with 1 or 2 mg/kg bodyweight (bwt) frusemide. Plasma protein rose from 68 +/- 2 g/litre pre-injection to 75 +/- 2 g/litre 1 h after 1 mg/kg bwt frusemide and to 81 +/- 1 g/litre 1 h after 2 mg/kg bwt frusemide.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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