Abstract: Feral asses were studied on Volcano Alcedo, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, during the wet season of 1980. On the volcano rim during March/April, two stable groups were observed to have a `female (harem) defense' polygynous mating system [Emlen, S.T., Oring, S.W., 1977. Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. Science 197 (4300), pp. 215-223] and social behavior patterns and feeding ecology similar to feral asses living in a habitat where forage and climate are similar, e.g., Ossabaw Island, Georgia [Moehlman, P.D., 1979. Behavior and ecology of feral asses (Equus asinus). Nat. Geogr. Soc. Res. Rep., 1970, pp. 405-411; Moehlman, P.D., 1997. Feral asses (Equus africanus): intraspecific variation in social organization in arid and mesic habitats. J. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., this issue; McCort, W.D., 1980. The feral asses (Equus asinus) of Ossabaw Island, Georgia., PhD Dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 219 pp.].

Abstract: Feral asses have been studied in the arid habitats of the southwestern United States [Moehlman, P.D., 1974. Behavior and ecology of feral asses (Equus asinus). PhD dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, 251 pp.; Moehlman, P.D., 1979. Behavior and ecology of feral asses (Equus asinus). Nat. Geogr. Soc. Res. Reports 1970, 405-411.; Woodward, S.L., 1979. The social system of feral asses (Equus asinus). Z. Tierpsychol. 49, 304-316] and in the mesic habitat of Ossabaw Island, Georgia [Moehlman, P.D., 1979, ibid; McCort, W.D., 1980. The feral asses (Equus asinus) of Ossabaw Island, Georgia. PhD dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, 219 pp]. The feral ass populations in these two locales exhibited intraspecific variation in polygynous mating systems and social organization which were consistent with the ecological classification of mating systems of Emlen and Oring (1977) [Emlen, S.T., Oring, S.W., 1977. Ecology, sexual selection, and the evolution of mating systems. Science 197 (4300), 215-223]. Feral asses in the arid environment have a `resource defense' polygynous mating system, and those in the mesic habitat exhibit `female (harem) defense' polygyny. The intraspecific variation observed in feral asses encompasses the interspecific variation observed in the family Equidae.

Abstract: Weaving is a common locomotor stereotypy in horses, which has been shown to be reduced by the presence of a mirror in the stable; however, it remains unclear whether this effect is due to the reflected image of a horse or some other property associated with the introduction of a mirror. To investigate this further, the response of six known weaving horses to each of three different types of poster was recorded. The poster images consisted of a life-size image of a horse's face (true image), a version of the same image cut into 54 squares, which were then randomly rearranged (pixilated image) and a blank (white image) display of the same size as the other posters. Four observation periods were included in each of the two days of observation per treatment condition: 08:00-08:30 h, 10:00-10:30 h, 12:00-12:30 h and 16:00-17:00 h. The first observation period was followed by the provision of concentrate feed and forage, the second observation period by exercise, the third by further forage and the fourth by concentrate feed and forage. The horses' activities and positions in the box were scanned at 1 min intervals and the number of observations registering each activity and position was calculated as a percentage of the total number of observations for each observation period. Weaving was significantly less when the horses were provided with the image of a horse's face (mean percentage of observations +/- S.E.M.; 5.56 +/- 1.57), compared to both the pixilated (14.85 +/- 3.06) and white (20.52 +/- 4.12) images. Nodding was significantly less when provided with the true image of a horse (0.45 +/- 0.15) compared to the pixilated image (2.15 +/- 0.67). The pattern of weaving throughout the day differed from that of nodding, and together these results suggest that the two behaviours are not analogous. The presence of the image of the horse's face was associated with a significant increase in alertness (F112,2 = 11.31, p < 0.001) and recorded time spent looking at the poster(F112,2 = 3.46, p < 0.05). The timing of stereotypic head movements in the horse in this study suggests that they are not associated with boredom, or lack of stimulation but rather acute frustration.

Abstract: The benefits to humans of equine-assisted therapy (EAT) have been well-researched, however few studies have analyzed the effects on the horse. Understanding how differing mental states of humans affect the behaviour and response of the horse can assist in providing optimal outcomes for both horse and human. Four humans clinically diagnosed and under care of a psychotherapist for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) were matched physically to four neurotypical control humans and individually subjected to each of 17 therapy horses loose in a round pen. A professional acting coach instructed the control humans in replicating the physical movements of their paired PTSD individual. Both horses and humans were equipped with a heart rate (HR) monitor recording HR every 5secs. Saliva samples were collected from each horse 30 min before and 30 min after each trial to analyze cortisol concentrations. Each trial consisted of 5 min of baseline observation of the horse alone in the round pen after which the human entered the round pen for 2 min, followed by an additional 5 min of the horse alone. Behavioural observations indicative of stress in the horse (gait, head height, ear orientation, body orientation, distance from the human, latency of approach to the human, vocalizations, and chewing) were retrospectively collected from video recordings of each trial and analyzed using a repeated measures GLIMMIX with Tukey's multiple comparisons for differences between treatments and time periods. Horses moved slower (p < 0.0001), carried their head lower (p < 0.0001), vocalized less (p < 0.0001), and chewed less (p < 0.0001) when any human was present with them in the round pen. Horse HR increased in the presence of the PTSD humans, even after the PTSD human left the pen (p < 0.0001). Since two of the PTSD/control human pairs were experienced with horses and two were not, a post-hoc analysis showed that horses approached quicker (p < 0.016) and stood closer (p < 0.0082) to humans who were experienced with horses. Horse HR was lower when with inexperienced humans (p < 0.0001) whereas inexperienced human HR was higher (p < 0.0001). Horse salivary cortisol did not differ between exposure to PTSD and control humans (p > 0.32). Overall, behavioural and physiological responses of horses to humans are more pronounced based on human experience with horses than whether the human is diagnosed with a mental disorder. This may be a reflection of a directness of movement associated with humans who are experienced with horses that makes the horse more attentive. It appears that horses respond more to physical cues from the human rather than emotional cues. This knowledge is important in tailoring therapy programs and justifying horse responses when interacting with a patient in a therapy setting.

Abstract: Abstract This paper describes a method in which horses learn to communicate by touching different neutral visual symbols, in order to tell the handler whether they want to have a blanket on or not. Horses were trained for 10–15 min per day, following a training program comprising ten steps in a strategic order. Reward based operant conditioning was used to teach horses to approach and touch a board, and to understand the meaning of three different symbols. Heat and cold challenges were performed to help learning and to check level of understanding. At certain stages, a learning criterion of correct responses for 8–14 successive trials had to be achieved before proceeding. After introducing the free choice situation, on average at training day 11, the horse could choose between a “no change” symbol and the symbol for either “blanket on” or “blanket off” depending on whether the horse already wore a blanket or not. A cut off point for performance or non-performance was set to day 14, and 23/23 horses successfully learned the task within this limit. Horses of warm-blood type needed fewer training days to reach criterion than cold-bloods (P < 0.05). Horses were then tested under differing weather conditions. Results show that choices made, i.e. the symbol touched, was not random but dependent on weather. Horses chose to stay without a blanket in nice weather, and they chose to have a blanket on when the weather was wet, windy and cold (χ2 = 36.67, P < 0.005). This indicates that horses both had an understanding of the consequence of their choice on own thermal comfort, and that they successfully had learned to communicate their preference by using the symbols. The method represents a novel tool for studying preferences in horses.