Topic:Behavior
Equine behavior encompasses the study of horses' actions, reactions, and interactions within their environment and with other living beings. It includes the examination of innate behaviors, such as grazing and herd dynamics, as well as learned behaviors influenced by training and human interaction. Understanding equine behavior is essential for improving horse welfare, training methods, and management practices. This topic covers a range of behaviors, from social structures and communication to stress responses and problem behaviors. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the various aspects of equine behavior, including factors that influence it and its implications for horse management and welfare.
Can Ponies (Equus Caballus) Distinguish Human Facial Expressions? Communication within a species is essential for access to resources, alerting to dangers, group facilitation and social bonding; human facial expressions are considered to be an important factor in one’s ability to communicate with others. Evidence has shown that dogs and horses are able to distinguish positive and negative facial expressions by observing photographs of humans, however there is currently no research on how facial expressions from a live human are perceived by horses. This study investigated how ponies distinguish facial expressions presented by live actors. Trained actors (n...
Reinforcer efficacy of grain for horses. Positive reinforcement is becoming more common in horse training. Identifying effective reinforcers is critical for training success. The aim of this study was to determine relative reinforcer efficacy of different grains. Four horses learned to muzzle touch a target, after which they were tested using a progressive ratio schedule of reinforcement with different grains as the consequence. Break points were used to determine relative reinforcer efficacy of each grain and were also converted into unit price per kilocalorie to determine if caloric value impacted reinforcer efficacy. Condition 1 c...
Minimizing the Effects of Social Isolation of Horses by Contact with Animals of a Different Species: The Domestic Goat as an Example. This study aimed to perform a comparative analysis of the horses' heart rate parameters and locomotor activity in a herd or isolation, with or without the company of goats. Twenty horses were tested in a paddock, accompanied (or not) by three goats. The experiment comprised four tests (a control test of a herd of horses without goats, a horse isolation test without goats, a test of a herd of horses with goats and a test of an isolated horse with goats). The horse's locomotor behavior, and the HR, RR, rMSSD, LF, HF, and LF/HF were recorded. The data analysis included a 15-min rest, procedural a...
Influences of Oil-Based Palatants on Eating Behavior in Gestating Mares. Gustatory and olfactory changes have been reported during gestation in multiple species. However, few data are available regarding feeding preferences in gestating mares. The objective of this research was to evaluate the effect of oil-based palatants on feeding behavior in late term gestating mares. Late-term gestating mares (n = 5) and reproductively sound, open mares (n = 4) were evaluated via paired preference testing during the final 120 days of gestation. Oil-based flavors (corn oil, anise, and apple) were topically applied to a basal pelleted diet (0.375 ml/0.23 kg). Diets were offe...
The Relevance of Internal Working Models of Self and Others for Equine-Assisted Psychodynamic Psychotherapy. Attachment characteristics play a key role in mental health and in understanding mental disorders. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the role the attachment characteristics can play in treatment effects in adult patients with intrapsychic and interpersonal problems who underwent Equine-assisted Short-term Psychodynamic Psychotherapy (ESTPP). In the first part of the study, we compared the effects of ESTPP to treatment-as-usual from a previous dataset regarding psychological dysfunction. For this, an explorative experimental non-randomized pre-treatment and 1-year post-treatment de...
A Comparison Between Working and Nonworking Donkeys Welfare Issues in Nyala City, South Darfur, Sudan. In impoverished nations, donkeys help people make a living. The welfare of donkeys in Sudan is neglected compared with developed countries. However, there is no information available about donkey welfare in Nyala. This study aimed to assess the welfare of donkeys in Nyala. Donkeys were divided into two groups (n = 50), working and nonworking. The donkeys' physical, emotional, and clinical parameters and an owner's interview were assessed. There were significant differences in body condition scores: 37% and 47% of working and nonworking donkeys, respectively, had ideal body condition scores, ...
Equines do not live for grass alone: Training equines using social interaction as a reinforcer. Functional analysis data and previous studies on animal training have demonstrated that social interaction with humans can serve as a reinforcer for animals. Yet, some studies have demonstrated that tactile interaction (e.g., patting, petting, or scratching) is less effective or ineffective when compared to food. However, the reinforcement procedures used may account for these discrepancies. The current study investigated whether tactile interaction, in the form of petting and scratching, could be used as a reinforcer to train behaviors to two horses and a mule. First, each equine learned when...
A Review of Equine Sleep: Implications for Equine Welfare. Sleep is a significant biological requirement for all living mammals due to its restorative properties and its cognitive role in memory consolidation. Sleep is ubiquitous amongst all mammals but sleep profiles differ between species dependent upon a range of biological and environmental factors. Given the functional importance of sleep, it is important to understand these differences in order to ensure good physical and psychological wellbeing for domesticated animals. This review focuses specifically on the domestic horse and aims to consolidate current information on equine sleep, in relatio...
Single housing but not changes in group composition causes stress-related immunomodulations in horses. Domestic horses are currently often subject to management practices that can entail social stressors, which in turn can negatively influence immunocompetence and disease susceptibility. The present study therefore aimed to characterize the number of various blood leukocyte subsets in horses, focusing on two potentially stressful housing environments: changes in group composition and relocation to individual stabling. Immune measurements were conducted before as well as one and eight days after changes were made. They were complemented by an assessment of plasma cortisol concentrations as well ...
Journeys, Journey Conditions, and Welfare Assessment of Unbroken (Unhandled) Horses on Arrival at a Slaughterhouse in Italy. Transportation of horses to slaughterhouses can pose a welfare concern, in particular when horses are unbroken/unhandled. This study aimed to describe their journeys and journey conditions, document their welfare status on arrival in a slaughterhouse in Italy, and investigate possible associations between journey conditions and welfare issues. A total of 395 unbroken draft horses in 20 different consignments were assessed with a standardized protocol. The most common departure point (16/20 consignments, 80%) was a French assembly center, but many of these horses had Spanish passports, suggesti...
The Behavior of Horses Stabled in a Large Group at Essential Resources (Watering Point and Lying Halls). Since there is a practical need, this study focused on the behavior of 51 horses kept in one large group in order to make management suggestions regarding the animal:watering point ratio and the design of lying halls. Drinking events and interactions between pairs of horses were analyzed for 18 days as well as the occupancy time of the watering point. The time period had significant effects on drinking events with visible interactions (P < .05). The highest least square means (LSM) and standard errors (SE) of drinking events with and without visible interaction were observed between 12 noon...
Horses form cross-modal representations of adults and children. Recently, research on domestic mammals' sociocognitive skills toward humans has been prolific, allowing us to better understand the human-animal relationship. For example, horses have been shown to distinguish human beings on the basis of photographs and voices and to have cross-modal mental representations of individual humans and human emotions. This leads to questions such as the extent to which horses can differentiate human attributes such as age. Here, we tested whether horses discriminate human adults from children. In a cross-modal paradigm, we presented 31 female horses with two simul...
Testing individual variations of horses’ tactile reactivity: when, where, how? Tactile perception is involved in a variety of contexts (adaptations to climatic conditions, protection of the body against external dangers…) and is as important as the other sensory modalities for the survival of an individual. This tactile modality has been particularly well studied in humans, revealing high individual variations modulated by a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as age, sex, pathological disorders, or temperament. Tactility is also involved in animals' social lives, although there are disparities between species. For example, social tactile contact among hors...
Correction: Wiśniewska et al. Heterospecific Fear and Avoidance Behaviour in Domestic Horses (Equus caballus). Animals 2021, 11, 3081. The authors wish to make the following correction to this paper [...].
Plasma concentration of dopamine varies depending on breed, sex, and the genotype of DRD4 in horses. Dopamine (DA) is known to be a key modulator of animal behaviors. Thus, the plasma concentration of DA might be used as a biomarker for the behavioral characteristics of horses. The behavioral characteristics of horses vary depending on the breed, age, and sex. Moreover, the DA receptor genotypes are also related to horse behaviors. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the DA concentration variations of horse plasma by breed, age, sex, or genotype of its receptor. The horses were divided by breed into Thoroughbred (n = 13), Pony (n = 9), Warmblood (n = 4), and Haflinger (n = 5). The ...
Characterization of the pharmacokinetics, behavioral effects and effects on thermal nociception of morphine 6-glucuronide and morphine 3-glucuronide in horses. To describe the pharmacokinetics, behavioral and physiologic effects and effects on thermal thresholds of morphine, morphine 6-glucuronide (M6G) and morphine 3-glucuronide (M3G) following administration to horses. Methods: Randomized balanced crossover study. Methods: A total of seven University-owned horses, five mares and two geldings, aged 3-6 years. Methods: Horses were treated with a single intravenous dosage of saline, morphine (0.2 mg kg), M6G (0.01 mg kg) and M3G (0.03 mg kg). Blood was collected prior to (baseline) and at several times post administration. Drug and metabolite concentr...
An Initial Survey of Volunteer Perceptions of Horses in Equine-Assisted Services: Volunteer Experiences, Training, and Educational Needs. Equine-Assisted Services (EAS) gained a foothold in the healthcare industry as a unique modality addressing the physical, cognitive, and psychological health issues for people across the lifespan. These services require a team approach, with volunteer support playing a prominent role in service delivery. Volunteers are a precious resource for EAS programs and step into a variety of support roles, including preparation and handling. However, little is known about the horse-volunteer relationship or factors that influence their working relationships. Therefore, the purpose of this web-based surv...
Horse odor exploration behavior is influenced by pregnancy and age. In spite of a highly developed olfactory apparatus of horses, implying a high adaptive value, research on equine olfaction is sparse. Our limited knowledge on equine olfaction poses a risk that horse behavior does not match human expectations, as horses might react fearful when exposed to certain odors, which humans do not consider as frightening. The benefit of acquiring more knowledge of equine olfaction is therefore twofold; (1) it can aid the understanding of horse behavior and hence reduce the risk of dangerous situations, and (2) there may be unexplored potential of using odors in severa...
Horses’ attentional characteristics differ according to the type of work. Attention is a central process of cognition and influences the execution of daily tasks. In humans, different types of work require different attentional skills and sport performance is associated with the ability to attention shift. Attention towards humans varies in dogs used for different types of work. Whether this variation is due to the recruitment of individuals suitable for specific types of work, or to the characteristics of the work, remains unclear. In the present study, we hypothesized that domestic horses (Equus caballus) trained for different types of work would also demonstrate ...
Relationship between anatomical characteristics and personality traits in Lipizzan horses. We tested 35 Lipizzan horses older than 5 years, ridden and healthy in three behavioural tests (handling, fear-reaction, and target training test). Physiological (heart rate and heart rate variability) and anatomical measurements (120 head and body distances and angles) were collected to validate parameters that reliably inform on handling/cooperation, fear/exploration and trainability in horses. Utilizing a standard clustering methodology on the behavioural data, we identified four general types of responses and categorised an individual as intermediate, low fearful, horses with low cooperati...
Effects of a Supplement Containing Cannabidiol (CBD) on Sedation and Ataxia Scores and Health. Supplements containing Cannabidiol (CBD) are available for horses, however, few studies have been published on their effects on behavior and health parameters. The purpose of this study was to determine if a daily oral supplement containing CBD would cause sedation, ataxia or alterations in other health parameters during administration for 56 days. Twenty clinically healthy adult Thoroughbred horses were housed in stalls. Before treatment was initiated, a complete physical examination, complete blood count (CBC) and biochemical panel were evaluated. In addition, horses were examined for sedati...
Does a high social status confer greater levels of trust from groupmates? An experimental study of leadership in domestic horses. In collective movements, specific individuals may emerge as leaders. In this study on the domestic horse (Equus ferus caballus), we conducted experiments to establish if an individual is successfully followed due to its social status (including hierarchical rank and centrality). We first informed one horse about a hidden food location and recorded by how many it was followed when going back to this location. In this context, all horses lead their groupmates successfully. In a second step, we tested whether group members would trust some leaders more than others by removing the food before the ...
Horses wait for more and better rewards in a delay of gratification paradigm. Self-control, defined as the ability to forgo immediate satisfaction in favor of better pay-offs in the future, has been extensively studied, revealing enormous variation between and within species. Horses are interesting in this regard because as a grazing species they are expected to show low self-control whereas its social complexity might be linked to high self-control abilities. Additionally, self-control may be a key factor in training and/or coping with potentially stressful husbandry conditions. We assessed horses' self-control abilities in a simplified delay of gratification test that...
Tool Use in Horses. Tool use has not yet been confirmed in horses, mules or donkeys. As this subject is difficult to research with conventional methods, we used a crowdsourcing approach to gather data. We contacted equid owners and carers and asked them to report and video examples of "unusual" behaviour via a dedicated website. We also searched YouTube and Facebook for videos of equids showing tool use. From 635 reports, including 1014 behaviours, we found 20 cases of tool use, 13 of which were unambiguous in that it was clear that the behaviour was not trained, caused by reduced welfare, incidental or accidenta...
An analysis of the annual mobility of Polish Konik horses depending on habitat, season, and time of the day. The aim of the present study was to analyse the mobility of Polish Konik horses in their natural environment. The study was conducted on a herd of 15 Polish Konik horses in 2018. The Global Positioning System (GPS) transmitter was used to track the horses' movements. Two habitats (forest and meadows), four seasons (autumn, winter, spring, and summer), and four times of the day (morning, midday, evening, and night) were distinguished. Season, habitat, and time of the day as well as the interaction among them significantly ( p < 0.0001 ) affected the mobility of Polish Konik horses. The use of ...
Preliminary study of the pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution, and behavioral and select physiological effects of morphine 6-glucuronide (M6G) following intravenous administration to horses. Although morphine has demonstrated antinociceptive effects in horses, its administration has been associated with dose-dependent adverse effects. In humans and rats, part of the analgesic effect of morphine has been attributed to the active metabolite, morphine-6-glucuronide (M6G). Although morphine can cause several undesirable effects, M6G has a more favorable safety profile. The objective of this study was to characterize the pharmacokinetics, tissue distribution, and behavioral and select physiological effects of M6G following intravenous administration to a small group of horses. In Part ...
Traumatic Nervous System Injury. Mechanisms of traumatic nervous system injury to a degree are similar, but differences exist in etiology, pathophysiology, and treatment of brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nerve injury. The most common clinical abnormalities seen in the horse are abnormal level of consciousness, abnormal behavior, seizures, cranial nerve deficits, vestibular disease, tetra- and paraparesis or paraplegia, cauda equina syndrome, specific gait deficits, and muscle atrophy. Treatments are directed toward reducing inflammation and swelling, halting secondary injury, and promoting mechanisms of neuroregeneration ...
Assessment of Welfare in Groups of Horses with Different Management, Environments and Activities by Measuring Cortisol in Horsehair, Using Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Hybrid Orbitrap High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry. Horses have always been animals used for companionship, work, transportation, and performance purposes over the history of humanity; there are different ways of managing horses, but studies on how horse welfare is influenced by different activities and managements are scanty. Understanding how the management, the environment, and the different uses of horses can affect the level of stress and well-being is important not only for people associated with horses. Three groups of horses with different management, environments, and activities were selected: (1) stabled horses ridden frequently, (2) ...
Does Feeding Management Make a Difference to Behavioural Activities and Welfare of Horses Reared for Meat Production? Horses reared for meat production are generally fed a diet rich in starch with the aim of maximizing production performances. This study evaluated the effects of two feeding management systems on horse welfare by analysing the relative time spent engaged in different behavioural activities. Nineteen Bardigiano horses aged 14.3 ± 0.7 months were randomly assigned to one of two group pens: one group was fed high amounts of starch-rich concentrates (HCG; = 10), the other was fed a fibre-based diet (HFG; = 9). Behavioural activities performed by each horse were video-recorded over a 96-h period...
Host feces, olfactory beacon guiding aggregation of intestinal parasites Gasterophilus pecorum (Diptera: Gasterophilidae). The aim of this study was to identify the aggregation sites and transmission characteristics of Gasterophilus pecorum, the dominant pathogen of endangered equines in desert steppe. Therefore, we tested with a four-arm olfactometer the olfactory response of the G. pecorum adults to the odors that have a great impact on their life cycle, and also investigated the occurrence sites of the adults in the area where the Przewalski's horse (Equus przewalskii) roam frequently during the peak period of G. pecorum infection. The results of four-directional olfactory test showed that the fresh horse feces...