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Dalla Costa, E., Rabolini, A., Scelsa, A., Canali, E., & Minero, M. (2012). A study on inter-observer reliability of castration pain assessment in horses. In K. Krueger, & (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting (Vol. in press). Wald: Xenophon Publishing.
Abstract: Pain evaluation is a key issue for equine welfare and it is often cause of concern because it is difficult to determine its intensity and duration. This is essential when different people are looking after the animals and they need to decide when or not giving analgesics to guarantee the welfare of the subject. The most widely used technique to determine pain in horses is identifying pain related behaviors. The aim of this study was to determine inter-observer reliability of two different assessors evaluating pain related behaviors in horses undergoing castration. 8 stallions of different breed, aged between 2 and 4 years, were included in the study. All the subjects underwent routine castration (closed technique in general anesthesia). The subjects were placed in an observation box for 5 days and their behavior was recorded for 15 minutes before the surgery and 4, 8, 16, 24 and 40 hours after intervention. Two blind observers, using a given ethogram of horse pain related behaviors modified from literature (for a review Ashley, 2005), analyzed horses behavior at each interval. Descriptive statistics and K Kendall test were performed. Observers agreed significantly assessing agitation, reluctance to move, kicking the abdomen, lethargy, rolling, attention and curiosity (P<0.05), however agreement was low for head movements, stretching, flank watching, lowered head carriage, weight shifting, abnormal movement, fixed stare. Our results show that assessing pain in horses should be a cause of concern, because different pain related behaviors are difficult to identify and to have agreement between two observers. Training of care takers of horses on identification of specific behaviors is needed to standardize pain assessment. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank the EU VII Framework programme (FP7-KBBE-2010-4) for financing the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) project and for providing funds for Emanuela Dalla Costa and Michela Minero to present this paper.
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Lloyd, A. S., Martin, J. E., Bornett-Gauci, H. L. I., & Wilkinson, R. G. (2007). Evaluation of a novel method of horse personality assessment: Rater-agreement and links to behaviour. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci., 105(1-3), 205–222.
Abstract: The efficacy of questionnaire-based personality assessment has been shown in a variety of animal and human personality studies. There has been a recent increase in questionnaire-based studies focussing on equine personality but with a lack of comparability to studies on other species. The aim of this study was to test the reliability of an assessment method originally developed for primates and demonstrate reliability using three criteria (1) assessments by independent observers must agree with one another, (2) these assessments must predict behaviours and real-world outcomes and (3) observer ratings must be shown to reflect genuine attributes of the individuals rated, not merely the observer's implicit personality theories about how traits co-vary. The personality of 61 horses (Equus caballus) was assessed using a questionnaire constructed of 30 behaviourally defined adjectives (BDAs). Horses were each assessed by three judges, in addition to a total of 2 h behaviour observations recorded per horse. Rater agreement was demonstrated for 72.1% of the horses and 25 of the BDAs. Principal component analysis was carried out on the rating data and revealed six underlying personality components that were labelled “dominance”, “anxiousness”, “excitability”, “protection”, “sociability” and “inquisitiveness”. Component scores for horses were correlated against behavioural observations for the same horses and revealed significant correlations with 20 of the recorded behaviour variables. Correlations between specific components and their associated behaviours were logical and consistent with the types of behaviours that would be expected to be linked with such personality types. The data were shown to meet all three criteria and provided strong evidence that the assessment method was reliably measuring horse personality.
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Vitale, V., Balocchi, R., Varanini, M., Sgorbini, M., Macerata, A., Sighieri, C., et al. (2013). The effects of restriction of movement on the reliability of heart rate variability measurements in the horse (Equus caballus). J. Vet. Behav., 8(5), 400–403.
Abstract: Analysis of heart rate variability (HRV) is a noninvasive approach for investigating the sympathovagal balance of the autonomic nervous system. In recent years, HRV has been increasingly evaluated in animal research. In horses, it has been suggested that basal resting conditions can be achieved by restraining them. The aim of this study was to verify how restriction of movement influences HRV i2n horses. Ten healthy standardbred mares were used to measure the electrocardiographic signal under 2 conditions: free to move in the stall and restrained in the stock. Results indicate that the restriction of movement is associated with increased nervous system sympathetic activity not consistent with resting conditions.
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