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.
Detecting Welfare in a Non-Verbal Species: Social/Cultural Biases and Difficulties in Horse Welfare Assessment. Horses were domesticated for more than 5000 years and have been one of the most emblematic species living alongside humans. This long-shared history would suggest that horses are well known and well understood, but scientific data raise many concerns about the welfare state of most domestic horses suggesting that many aspects have been largely misunderstood. In the present review, we will examine some of the possible human factors that may explain the huge prevalence of welfare problems, despite horses being of special importance to humans. First of all, as horses are non-verbal, current manag...
Putting the cart before the horse: claims for mirror self-recognition in horses are unfounded. The recent article by Baragli, Scopa, Maglieri, and Palagi (Anim Cogn https://doi.org/10.1007/s10071-021-01502-7 , 2021) that claims to demonstrate mirror self-recognition (MSR) in horses is not based on compelling evidence. We identify problems with their experimental procedures, data, and assertion about "demonstrating MSR at group level." Examples of these problems include incomplete experimental design, absence of important control conditions, inappropriate terminology, suboptimal mark application procedures and coding of videos, ambiguity of videos presented as supporting evidence, and in...
Straw as an Alternative to Grass Forage in Horses-Effects on Post-Prandial Metabolic Profile, Energy Intake, Behaviour and Gastric Ulceration. Straw's low energy content means it is a roughage option for horses with low energy requirements. Previously, in a field study, straw was associated with an increased risk for gastric ulcers. This study evaluated the effect on gastric ulcers, metabolic profile and behaviour of replacing, in a forage-only ration, 50% of the daily allowance with wheat straw. Six equines were studied in a 2 × 21-day cross-over design. The control diet (CON: 100% grass forage) and the straw diet (S: 50% grass forage and 50% straw [DM basis]) were iso-energetic. Gastroscopy was performed prior to the study and on ...
Improving Equine Welfare through Human Habit Formation. This paper explores the potential for interventions to develop pro-animal welfare habitual behaviours (PAWHBs) in people to improve the lives of animals. Human behavioural research indicates that opportunities exist to deliver lasting change through developing positive habitual behaviours. The routine nature of many equine care and management practices lends itself to habit formation and maintenance. This proof-of-concept paper aims to evaluate a theory-based intervention of developing and maintaining a PAWHB in people caring for equines. Qualitative research methods were used. A 30 day PAWHB ...
Do You Think I Am Living Well? A Four-Season Hair Cortisol Analysis on Leisure Horses in Different Housing and Management Conditions. The satisfaction of leisure horses' behavioral needs has begun to be considered a priority, linked to the awareness that horses kept in single boxes may be deprived of social contact and the possibility to perform natural behaviors. Several factors may influence horses' quality of life also in the paddock, and there are very few data on the effects of those variables on leisure horses' chronic stress, measurable in terms of activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis. Therefore, managerial choices faced by owners and stables managers are only based on experience, common sense,...
Evaluating Horse Owner Expertise and Professional Use of Auxiliary Reins during Horse Riding. Auxiliary reins are commonly used for the training of riders and horses as well as in daily training. They are often criticized when used incorrectly, as they will not help and can harm the horse by causing overwork, accidents, and injuries, which harm the horse in the long term. They also often conceal causal rider problems while trying to achieve quick success. The aim of this paper was to investigate, with an online horse-owner questionnaire, which and how often auxiliary reins were used and whether they were used appropriately. Only participants who were currently using auxiliary reins wer...
Use of Remote Camera Traps to Evaluate Animal-Based Welfare Indicators in Individual Free-Roaming Wild Horses. We previously developed a Ten-Stage Protocol for scientifically assessing the welfare of individual free-roaming wild animals using the Five Domains Model. The protocol includes developing methods for measuring or observing welfare indices. In this study, we assessed the use of remote camera traps to evaluate an extensive range of welfare indicators in individual free-roaming wild horses. Still images and videos were collected and analysed to assess whether horses could be detected and identified individually, which welfare indicators could be reliably evaluated, and whether behaviour could be...
Heritability of Locomotor Stereotypies in Chilean Horses. The Chilean horse is a breed of closed registry. Stall-walking and weaving are locomotor stereotypies that affect this breed, and genetic predisposition has been suggested for both conditions. The objective of the present study was to estimate heritability of stall-walking and weaving in Chilean horses. Owners of 2,098 horses registered in the Chilean horse Stud Book, which were or had been stabled for at least 1 year, were asked to provide for identification data of the animal and presence or absence of stall-walking and/or weaving. The Chilean Horse Stud Book was accessed online, to collect ...
Using the Judgment Bias Task to Identify Behavioral Indicators of Affective State: Do Eye Wrinkles in Horses Reflect Mood? Identifying and validating behavioral indicators of mood are important for the assessment of animal welfare. Here, we investigated whether horses' eye wrinkle expression in a presumably neutral situation is a measure of mood as assessed in a cognitive judgment bias task (JBT). To this end, we scored pictures of the left and right eyes of 16 stallions for different aspects of eye wrinkle expression and tested the same individuals on a spatial JBT with active trial initiation. Eye wrinkle expressions were assessed by a qualitative assessment, i.e., the overall assessment of how "worried" horses ...
Evaluation of the subcapsular technique for primary closure castration in donkeys (Equus asinus). This study described the subcapsular technique for primary closure castration in donkeys with special regard to its efficiency and welfare impacts. The study was conducted on twelve adult male donkeys, allocated randomly into two groups; subcapsular castration (SC) and open castration (OC) groups, whether the donkeys were subjected to surgical castration either by subcapsular or open castration techniques, respectively. Testosterone, cortisol, lactate, glucose, total cholesterol (TC), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglyceride (TG), and nitric oxide (NO) were measured before an...
Diagnosis of animal abuse: A Brazilian study. Due to their intimate relationship with human beings, animals can experience abuse, especially in the family environment. Research on the variables involved in this topic is scarce in Latin America. The objective of this study was to identify the main types of animal abuse in Brazilian municipalities and to characterize animals and perpetrators in addition to identifying the socioeconomic factors associated with the incidents. The occurrences of animal abuse were analyzed from the records of the Police Station Specialized in Fauna Crimes Investigation Department of the Civil Police of Minas Ge...
Investigating Equestrians’ Perceptions of Horse Happiness: An Exploratory Study. Happiness is a subjective feeling and associated with positive affective states that can indicate good welfare. It is becoming increasingly agreed that equestrians' ability to recognize indicators of positive emotions has the potential to enhance overall horse wellbeing, but research in this area is limited. Therefore, this study investigated equestrians' perceptions of horse happiness. A survey comprising 25 questions was distributed through equestrian-related social media (internationally) and yielded 332 valid responses. Frequency analysis was conducted within each factor category (e.g., ri...
Equine Activity Time Budgets: The Effect of Housing and Management Conditions on Geriatric Horses and Horses with Chronic Orthopaedic Disease. Housing and management conditions strongly influence the health, welfare and behaviour of horses. Consequently, objective and quantifiable comparisons between domestic environments and their influence on different equine demographics are needed to establish evidence-based criteria to assess and optimize horse welfare. Therefore, the present study aimed to measure and compare the time budgets (=percentage of time spent on specific activities) of horses with chronic orthopaedic disease and geriatric (≥20 years) horses living in different husbandry systems using an automated tracking device. Ho...
From the Eurasian Steppes to the Roman Circuses: A Review of Early Development of Horse Breeding and Management. The domestication of the horse began about 5500 years ago in the Eurasian steppes. In the following millennia horses spread across the ancient world, and their role in transportation and warfare affected every ancient culture. Ownership of horses became an indicator of wealth and social status. The importance of horses led to a growing interest in their breeding and management. Many phenotypic traits, such as height, behavior, and speed potential, have been proven to be a subject of selection; however, the details of ancient breeding practices remain mostly unknown. From the fourth millennium ...
Influence of exercise and emotional stresses on secretion of prolactin and growth hormone in Thoroughbred horses. The secretion of prolactin and growth hormone in response to exercise and emotional stresses was investigated in Thoroughbreds. Two experiments were performed: one with loading of only exercise stress and one with simultaneous loading of exercise and emotional stresses. Exercise stress was loaded in 4 steps using a treadmill for horses: pre-exercise period (5 min), walking period (6.5 min), galloping period (3 min), and cooling down period (10 min). Emotional stress was loaded by showing a loud video of an audience at a racetrack during the walking period. The results clearly demonstrated that...
Application of the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram to Horses Competing at the Hickstead-Rotterdam Grand Prix Challenge and the British Dressage Grand Prix National Championship 2020 and Comparison with World Cup Grand Prix Competitions. The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE) comprising 24 behaviours was developed to facilitate the identification of musculoskeletal discomfort, with scores of ≥8/24 indicating the presence of pain. The median RHpE score for 147 competitors at World Cup Grand Prix events from 2018 to 2020 was three (interquartile range [IQR] 1-4; range 0-7). The aim of the current study was to apply the RHpE to 38 competitors at the Hickstead-Rotterdam Grand Prix Challenge and 26 competitors at the British Dressage Grand Prix National Championship in 2020. The median RHpE scores were four (IQR 3-6; range 0-8) an...
Objective Assessment of Chronic Pain in Horses Using the Horse Chronic Pain Scale (HCPS): A Scale-Construction Study. The objective assessment of chronic pain is of utmost importance for improving welfare and quality of life in horses. Freedom from disease and pain is one of the 'five freedoms' that are necessary for animal welfare. The aim of this study was to develop a pain scale for the assessment of chronic pain in horses (Horse Chronic Pain Scale; HCPS), which is based on behavioural and facial expressions. The scale was used to assess 53 horses (26 horses diagnosed with chronic painful conditions by means of clinical examination and additional diagnostic procedures (consisting of osteoarthritis, chronic...
Basic Needs in Horses?-A Literature Review. Every animal species has particular environmental requirements that are essential for its welfare, and when these so-called "basic needs" are not fulfilled, the animals suffer. The basic needs of horses have been claimed to be social contact, social companionship, free movement and access to roughage. To assess whether horses suffer when one or more of the four proposed basic needs are restricted, we examined several studies ( = 38) that reported behavioural and physiological reactions to these restrictions. We assigned the studies according to the four types of responses investigated: (a) Str...
Attitudes of the Equestrian Public towards Equine End-of-Life Decisions. A key welfare concern for the equine population in the U.K. has been identified as delayed death, leading to prolonged suffering of horses. Reasons why some horse owners fail to have their horses euthanised include financial cost, emotional attachment, peer pressure, negative attitudes towards killing and poor recognition of behavioural indicators of equine pain and stress. The Five Freedoms framework of welfare was used to build a Likert-style survey to investigate the factors underlying attitudes of horse owners towards welfare measures in an end-of-life decision. Participants were asked to ...
UK Horse Carers’ Experiences of Restricting Grazing When Aiming to Prevent Health Issues in Their Horses. Laminitis and obesity are leading welfare issues for UK leisure horses. Limiting grass intake is a common preventative measure but may result in other aspects of welfare being compromised. This study aimed to determine how commonly different restricted grazing methods are used in the UK, barriers limiting their accessibility, and the potential benefits and welfare issues associated with each. A cross-sectional online survey was distributed with questions relating to horse carers' opinions of different restricted grazing practices, which methods they used, and how they implemented these. Closed...
Validation of the Donkey Pain Scale (DOPS) for Assessing Postoperative Pain in Donkeys. This study aimed to validate a scale for assessing acute pain in donkeys. Forty-four adult donkeys underwent castration after sedation with intravenous (IV) xylazine, induction with guaifenesin and thiopental IV, local anesthetic block, and maintenance with isoflurane. The scale was constructed from a pilot study with four animals combined with algetic behaviors described for equines. After content validation, the scale was evaluated in 40 other donkeys by three blinded and one reference evaluator, by means of edited videos referring to the preoperative and postoperative periods: before anesth...
Memory for surface objects in an arena by the horse (Equus ferus caballus) under saddle: Evidence for dual process theory of spatial representation. Place memory, the ability to remember locations, is a feature of many animal species. This episodic-like memory is displayed in the foraging behavior of animals and has been studied in many different kinds of laboratory spatial tasks. A horse stallion, Equus ferus caballus, will create "dung-heaps or stud-piles" by defecation in the same place suggesting that the behavior is central to spatial behavior but to date there has been little investigation of horse olfactory/spatial behavior. The present study describes investigatory behavior of horses for objects on the surface of a riding arena. Ho...
The Effects of Androstenone on the Plasma Serotonin, β-Endorphin, and Cortisol Concentrations in Thoroughbred Horses. Androstenone influences the changing behaviors of animals. Previous studies discovered that an androstenone receptor was expressed in horses and treatment with androstenone induced horses to be more compliant. As changes in the level of neuroendocrine factors result in animal behavioral changes, the objective of the study was to monitor the changes in the concentrations of 5-HT, β-endorphin, and cortisol in response to androstenone. Eight thoroughbred horses (five mares and three geldings) were treated with androstenone diluted in jojoba oil (10 µg/mL) and only oil for a control cross-overly...
Linear elastic and hyperelastic studies of equine hoof mechanical response at different hydration levels. Most simulation studies on equine hoof biomechanics employed linear elastic (LE) material models. However, the equine hoof wall's stress-strain relationship is nonlinear and varies with hydration level. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the accuracy of the LE model compared to more advanced material models, such as hyperelastic (HE) or viscoelastic models. The current research investigated performances of LE and three HE models (Mooney-Rivlin, Neo-Hookean, and Marlow) in describing equine hoof's mechanical behavior using finite element (FE) analysis. In the first attempt, a rectangular...
Influence of workload and weather conditions on rolling behaviour of horses and mules. We evaluated the influences of workload intensity, bath handling and environmental conditions in the rolling behaviour of horses and mules. For this purpose, animals were observed after being exposed to different levels of workload and the rolling behaviour was recorded and described. During all testing procedures, the weather condition (temperature and humidity) was registered by a Black globe and Wet Bulb apparatus. Horses frequently rolled after intense exercise and after bath handling, independently of the weather condition. Mules frequently rolled after control (no exercise) and intense e...
Spontaneous Behaviors of Post-Orchiectomy Pain in Horses Regardless of the Effects of Time of Day, Anesthesia, and Analgesia. This prospective and longitudinal study aimed to identify spontaneous post-orchiectomy pain behaviors in horses regardless of the effects of anesthesia, analgesia, and recording time of day. Twenty-four horses divided into four groups were submitted to: inhalation anesthesia only (GA), or combined with previous analgesia (GAA), or orchiectomy under pre (GCA), or postoperative (GC) analgesia. The data obtained from the subtraction of frequency and/or duration of 34 behaviors recorded during seven 60-min time-points in the 24 h after the anesthesia from those recorded in the mirrored time-points...
Behavioral and cardiac responses in mature horses exposed to a novel object. This study aimed to investigate whether breed, sex, and age affected temperament differently (more or less neophobic) in mature horses during a novel object test. The study included Jeju crossbred (n = 12, age = 9.42 ± 4.57 y), Thoroughbred (n = 15, age = 10.73 ± 3.09 y), and Warmblood horses (n = 12, age = 13.08 ± 3.55 y) with the females (n = 22, age = 11.36 ± 4.24 y) and geldings (n = 17, age = 10.65 ± 3.66 y). Jeju crossbreds (Jeju horse × Thoroughbred) are valuable considering their popular usage in Korea, but limited studies have explored temperament of Jeju crossbred horses. A tra...
Equine-Assisted Interventions (EAIs) for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD): Behavioural and Physiological Indices of Stress in Domestic Horses (Equus caballus) during Riding Sessions. Equine-assisted interventions (EAIs) are well-known complementary practices combining physical activity with emotional/cognitive stimulation. They are especially suited for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) who need a high degree of physical and psychological enrichment. Even though EAIs have become a common practice, stress responses in horses interacting with individuals that can manifest inappropriate behaviours, such as ASD children, have not been thoroughly investigated. Our multicentre study aimed to investigate behavioural and physiological indices of stress in horses involv...
How decision-making about euthanasia for animals is taught to Australasian veterinary students. This study set out to explore how euthanasia decision-making for animals was taught to students in eight Australasian veterinary schools. A questionnaire-style interview guide was used by a representative at each university to interview educators. Educators were interviewed about their teaching of euthanasia decision-making for four categories of animals: livestock, equine, companion and avian/wildlife. Using thematic analysis, the terms provided by participants to describe how (mode of teaching) and what (specific content) they taught to students were categorised. Information about content wa...