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Gorgasser I., Tichy A., & Palme R. (2007). Faecal cortisol metabolites in Quarter Horses during initial training under field conditions[Messung der Kortisolmetaboliten im Pferdekot während der Grundausbildung von 2jährigen Quarter Horses]. Wien. Tierärztl. Mschr. – Vet. Med. Austria, 94, 226–230.
Abstract: The first month of training of a young horse is suspected to be stressful, but the endocrine responses to initial training are unknown. Therefore in our study a total of 40 Quarter Horses (QH), all at the age of almost 2 years, were followed during the first 30 days of their training. During this time faecal samples were collected twice daily and faecal cortisol metabolites (FCM) were measured. Baseline values of FCM ranged between 1.3 and 20.1 (median: 6.7) ng/g faeces. No differences in FCM values between days of training were found. Mares showed the highest values. Significant diurnal variations were observed in mares (p=0.035) and stallions (p=0.003), but not in geldings (p=0.282). As in this study adrenocortical activity was not increased during initial training, horses seem to cope very well with this new situation. The results of our large-scale study provide basic physiological data about initial training. This gives additional input in an emotional debate about animal welfare aspects of first time handling and training of horses.
Abbreviations: 11,17-DOA = 11,17-dioxoandrostanes; EIA = Enyzme Immunoassay; FCM = faecal cortisol metabolites; GC = glucocorticoids; HPA-axis = hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical-axis; QH = Quarter Horses [Das Einreiten eines jungen Pferdes steht unter Verdacht belastend zu sein. Bisher gibt es aber keine Veröffentlichungen über endokrine Vorgänge während dieser Phase. Mit der vorliegenden Studie wurde überprüft, ob Pferde aufgrund physischer und psychischer Belastungen während des Trainings höhere Konzentrationen an Kortisolmetaboliten im Kot (FCM) aufweisen. Es wurden dazu 40 Quarter Horses im Alter von 2 Jahren während der ersten 30 Tage der Grundausbildung des Westernreitens beobachtet und ihre FCM Werte gemessen. Während dieser Zeitspanne wurden täglich morgens und abends Kotproben der Pferde genommen. Die Basalwerte der FCM Konzentration variierten zwischen 1,3 und 20,1 (Median: 6,7) ng/g Kot, wobei Stuten die höchsten Werte hatten. Signifikante Unterschiede während der einzelnen Trainingstage konnten nicht festgestellt werden. In der Tagesrhythmik wurden signifikante Unterschiede bei Stuten (p=0,035) und bei Hengsten (p=0,003), jedoch nicht bei Wallachen (p=0,282) ermittelt. In dieser Studie konnte keine erhöhte Aktivität der Nebennierenrinde im Verlauf der Grundausbildung eines Pferdes im Westernreitstil festgestellt werden. Das legt nahe, dass Pferde mit dieser neuen, zeitlich kurz andauernden Situationen gut zurechtkommen. Unsere Studie wurde an einer großen Anzahl von Tieren unter Feldbedingungen durchgeführt. Sie bietet daher eine gute Datenbasis über Belastungen während des Einreitens. Damit liefert sie einen zusätzlichen Beitrag zu einer mitunter emotional geführten Debatte über tierschutzrelevante Aspekte bei der Grundausbildung von Pferden.] |
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Clayton, H. M., Larson, B., Kaiser, L. A. J., & Lavagnino, M. (2011). Length and elasticity of side reins affect rein tension at trot. The Veterinary Journal, 188(3), 291–294.
Abstract: This study investigated the horse’s contribution to tension in the reins. The experimental hypotheses were that tension in side reins (1) increases biphasically in each trot stride, (2) changes inversely with rein length, and (3) changes with elasticity of the reins. Eight riding horses trotted in hand at consistent speed in a straight line wearing a bit and bridle and three types of side reins (inelastic, stiff elastic, compliant elastic) were evaluated in random order at long, neutral, and short lengths. Strain gauge transducers (240 Hz) measured minimal, maximal and mean rein tension, rate of loading and impulse. The effects of rein type and length were evaluated using ANOVA with Bonferroni post hoc tests. Rein tension oscillated in a regular pattern with a peak during each diagonal stance phase. Within each rein type, minimal, maximal and mean tensions were higher with shorter reins. At neutral or short lengths, minimal tension increased and maximal tension decreased with elasticity of the reins. Short, inelastic reins had the highest maximal tension and rate of loading. Since the tension variables respond differently to rein elasticity at different lengths, it is recommended that a set of variables representing different aspects of rein tension should be reported.
Keywords: Horse; Equitation; Training; Rein aids
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Albright, J., Sun, X., & Houpt, K. Does cribbing behavior in horses vary with dietary taste or direct gastric stimuli? Appl Anim Behav Sci, .
Abstract: 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.
Keywords: Horse; Stereotypy; Cribbing; Diet
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Siniscalchi, M., Padalino, B., Lusito, R., & Quaranta, A. (2014). Is the left forelimb preference indicative of a stressful situation in horses? Behav. Process., 107, 61–67.
Abstract: Abstract Evidence for behavioural and brain lateralisation is now widespread among the animal kingdom; lateralisation of limb use (pawedness) occurs in several mammals including both feral and domestic horses. We investigated limb preferences in 14 Quarter Horse during different motor tasks (walking, stepping on and off a step, truck loading and unloading). Population lateralisation was observed in two tasks: horses preferentially used their left forelimb during truck loading and stepping off a step. The results also revealed that horses showed higher scores for anxious behaviours during truck loading suggesting that the use of the left forelimb in this task may reflect the main role of the right hemisphere in control of behaviour during stressful situation.
Keywords: Animal welfare; Ethology; Horse; Limb preference; Physiology
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Löckener, S., Reese, S., Erhard, M., & Wöhr, A. - C. (2016). Pasturing in herds after housing in horseboxes induces a positive cognitive bias in horses. Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research, 11, 50–55.
Abstract: Abstract Horses are kept in various housing systems, for example, with conspecifics in horse pens or singly in horseboxes, with or without pasturing. To provide appropriate living conditions for horses, it is necessary to know in which conditions they feel well or unwell. Here, a cognitive bias assessment provides information about an individual's affective state and its well-being. When a positive affective state prevails, animals tend to judge optimistically in ambiguous situations. When a negative affective state prevails, animals judge pessimistically in unclear situations. In the present study, we trained horses on a spatial discrimination task and evaluated their judgment of ambiguous locations when they had access to pastures and contact to conspecifics versus when they were kept singly in horseboxes. Ten days of pasturing and contact with conspecifics after being kept singly in horseboxes for 6 months induced a positive cognitive bias in the horses. We suggest that horses need to act out certain behaviors like exploration, social interaction, play, or grooming to fulfill their needs. After a time in which they were individually in horseboxes without pasturing and access to the herd, they seem to have a positive cognitive bias once they have access to pastures and conspecifics. This positive cognitive bias effect seems to disappear over time, as horses appear to adapt to the circumstances.
Keywords: judgment bias; affect; environmental enrichment; well-being; discrimination task; horse
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Rochais, C., Henry, S., Fureix, C., & Hausberger, M. (2016). Investigating attentional processes in depressive-like domestic horses (Equus caballus). Behavioural Processes, 124, 93–96.
Abstract: Abstract Some captive/domestic animals respond to confinement by becoming inactive and unresponsive to external stimuli. Human inactivity is one of the behavioural markers of clinical depression, a mental disorder diagnosed by the co-occurrence of symptoms including deficit in selective attention. Some riding horses display ‘withdrawn’ states of inactivity and low responsiveness to stimuli that resemble the reduced engagement with their environment of some depressed patients. We hypothesized that ‘withdrawn’ horses experience a depressive-like state and evaluated their level of attention by confronting them with auditory stimuli. Five novel auditory stimuli were broadcasted to 27 horses, including 12 ‘withdrawn’ horses, for 5 days. The horses’ reactions and durations of attention were recorded. Non-withdrawn horses reacted more and their attention lasted longer than that of withdrawn horses on the first day, but their durations of attention decreased over days, but those of withdrawn horses remained stable. These results suggest that the withdrawn horses’ selective attention is altered, adding to already evidenced common features between this horses’ state and human depression.
Keywords: Horses; Attention; Cognition; Welfare; Depression
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Brubaker, L., & Udell, M. A. R. (2016). Cognition and learning in horses (Equus caballus): What we know and why we should ask more. Behavioural Processes, 126, 121–131.
Abstract: Abstract Horses (Equus caballus) have a rich history in their relationship with humans. Across different cultures and eras they have been utilized for work, show, cultural rituals, consumption, therapy, and companionship and continue to serve in many of these roles today. As one of the most commonly trained domestic animals, understanding how horses learn and how their relationship with humans and other horses impacts their ability to learn has implications for horse welfare, training, husbandry and management. Given that unlike dogs and cats, domesticated horses have evolved from prey animals, the horse-human relationship poses interesting and unique scientific questions of theoretical value. There is still much to be learned about the cognition and behaviour of horses from a scientific perspective. This review explores current research within three related areas of horse cognition: human-horse interactions, social learning and independent learning in horses. Research on these topics is summarized and suggestions for future research are provided.
Keywords: Horse behaviour; Horse welfare; Learning; Social cognition
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Keeling, L. J., Bøe, K. E., Christensen, J. W., Hyyppä, S., Jansson, H., Jørgensen, G. H. M., et al. Injury incidence, reactivity and ease of handling of horses kept in groups: a matched case control study in four Nordic countries. Appl Anim Behav Sci, .
Abstract: 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.
Keywords: horse; behaviour; reactivity; injury; welfare; management
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Alexandridis, A. (2009). Pferdgestützte Bewegungstherapie bei Essstörungen. mup, 1, 13–26.
Abstract: Inhalte und Methoden des Natural Horsemanship (nach Pat Parelli) werden beschrieben
und in der Verbindung mit aktuellen bewegungstherapeutischen Behandlungsmethoden bei Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa und „Binge-Eating“-Störung dargestellt. Diese Zusammenführung ergibt eine pferdgestützte bewegungstherapeutische Methode zur Behandlung von Essstörungen, welche anhand konkreter Praxisbeispiele beschrieben wird. Der Ausblick auf eine laufende Evaluationsstudie schließt den Artikel ab. |
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Ayala, I., Martos, N. F., Silvan, G., Gutierrez-Panizo, C., Clavel, J. G., & Illera, J. C. (2012). Cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone, serotonin, adrenaline and noradrenaline serum concentrations in relation to disease and stress in the horse. Research in Veterinary Science, 93(1), 103–107.
Abstract: No detailed comparative data are available on the hormonal parameters of horses suffering from a number of diseases. The aim of our study was to measure concentrations of cortisol, adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), serotonin, adrenaline and noradrenaline in horses with various diseases and following surgery, to assess the response of the HPA axis and adrenal medulla. Blood samples were obtained from six groups of horses comprising a total of 119 animals as follows: laminitis, acute abdominal syndrome (AAS), castration surgery, acute diseases, chronic diseases and healthy controls. Serum hormonal concentrations were determined for each group for comparison. Statistically significant differences between all groups and controls were found for cortisol, ACTH (except for castration), serotonin and adrenaline concentrations but only in horses with laminitis and AAS for noradrenaline. No statistically significant differences were found between males and females. The largest changes in the pituitary–adrenal axis activity occurred mainly in acute diseases, laminitis and in the AAS group.
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