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Topic:Observational Study
Observational studies in horses involve systematically assessing and recording behaviors, conditions, or other characteristics without manipulating the study environment. These studies provide insights into natural equine behaviors, health conditions, and interactions with their environment. Researchers often focus on aspects such as herd dynamics, feeding patterns, or responses to environmental changes. The data collected can help identify trends, correlations, and potential risk factors for certain conditions. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore various observational methodologies and their applications in understanding equine behavior and health.
Changes of lying behavior in Thoroughbred foals influenced by age, pasturing time, and weather conditions. The lying behavior of Thoroughbred foals on breeding farms was continuously measured using triaxial accelerometers. Accelerometers were attached on the side of the hind limb cannon and under the halter of six foals to record triaxial angle data every 10 sec for a period of 24 hr. Lying behavior was divided into sternal lying and lateral lying based on head angle. Sampling was performed for two consecutive days each week until weaning. Sampling periods were divided into two periods on the basis of pasturing time: daytime pasturing (period A: 7-hr pasturing period, 2-60 days of age) and overnigh...
An observational study of environmental exposures, airway cytology, and performance in racing thoroughbreds. Mild equine asthma is presumed to arise in response to environmental exposures but the relative impact of differing inflammatory phenotypes upon performance are largely unexplored. Objective: Airway inflammation negatively affects performance and cytological phenotype varies with environmental exposure. Methods: Thoroughbred racehorses in active training and racing. Methods: Thoroughbreds were recruited 24-48 hours before racing. Each horse was eligible for re-enrollment with each race entry. Within one hour of race completion, physical examination, respiratory endoscopy, and BAL were performe...
Snort acoustic structure codes for positive emotions in horses. While the vocal coding of human and animal internal states has been widely studied, the possible acoustic expression of "positive" emotions remains poorly known. Recent studies suggest that snorts (non-vocal sounds produced by the air expiration through the nostrils) appear to be reliable indicators of positive internal states in several ungulate species. Here, we hypothesised in horses that the acoustic structure of the snort could vary with the subjects' current emotional state. Indeed, a preliminary sound analysis of snorts let us suggest structure variations related to the presence of puls...
Social Learning in Horses-Fact or Fiction? Prima facie, the acquisition of novel behaviors in animals through observation of conspecifics seems straightforward. There are, however, various mechanisms through which the behavior of animals can be altered from observing others. These mechanisms range from simple hard-wired contagious processes to genuine learning by observation, which differ fundamentally in cognitive complexity. They range from social facilitation and local enhancement to true social learning. The different learning mechanisms are the subject of this review, largely because research on learning by observation can be conf...
Personality, abnormal behaviour, and health: An evaluation of the welfare of police horses. An animal's welfare depends on an individual's capacity to adapt to the environment in which it lives. This adaptation is directly associated with the quality of the environment and to the possibility of expressing natural behaviours. Horses kept in stables often display a range of abnormal behaviours related to lack of control over their environment, which can lead to behavioural and health problems. An individual's personality also plays an important role in its susceptibility and resilience to the development of diseases and abnormal behaviour; thus, an evaluation of horses' personalities c...
Horses with solar foot penetration, deep digital flexor tendon injury, and absence of concurrent synovial sepsis can have a positive outcome. Solar foot penetration is one of the causes of deep digital flexor tendon injuries in horses, however, limited information is available on the prognosis for return to soundness in the absence of synovial sepsis. Objectives of this retrospective observational study were to describe low-field magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and long-term outcome for a group of horses with this combination of clinical problems. Horses were included if low-field standing MRI of the foot was performed following puncture wounds, injury of the deep digital flexor tendon was diagnosed, and sepsis was confirm...
Domestic horses (Equus caballus) discriminate between negative and positive human nonverbal vocalisations. The ability to discriminate between emotion in vocal signals is highly adaptive in social species. It may also be adaptive for domestic species to distinguish such signals in humans. Here we present a playback study investigating whether horses spontaneously respond in a functionally relevant way towards positive and negative emotion in human nonverbal vocalisations. We presented horses with positively- and negatively-valenced human vocalisations (laughter and growling, respectively) in the absence of all other emotional cues. Horses were found to adopt a freeze posture for significantly longe...
Emotional excitability and behaviour of horses in response to stroking various regions of the body. Touching the skin by gentle stroking is frequently used to reward horses. The objective of the study was to examine emotional excitability and behaviour of horses in response to stroking different regions of their bodies. The study included 15 adult warmbloods and 15 adult ponies, nine geldings and six mares within each type of horse. First, a novel-object test was conducted. For five successive days, one of five regions of the horse's body was stroked on each side for 5 min. Heart rate and heart rate variability were monitored at rest, during the test and stroking. Simultaneously, horse beha...
Prevalence of owner-reported ocular problems and veterinary ocular findings in a population of horses aged ≥15 years. Previous studies suggest that ocular disease is common among aged horses but owners may fail to identify or underestimate their clinical relevance. Objective: To document the prevalence of owner-reported ocular disease in horses aged ≥15 years. In a subset of these horses, to document ophthalmic findings from veterinary examination and compare with owner-reported ocular disease, and to determine risk factors for veterinary ophthalmic findings. Methods: Cross-sectional study. Methods: Owners of aged horses completed a survey on management, clinical signs and medical history. Risk factors for ...
Effect of bandaging techniques on sub-bandage pressures in the equine distal limb, carpus, and tarsus. To determine the influence of 3 types of bandages on sub-bandage pressures over the distal limb, carpus, and tarsus. Methods: Observational study. Methods: Eight healthy horses. Methods: Each of the 6 following bandages was applied on each horse in randomized order: (1) distal limb compression bandage (DLC), (2) double layer bandage (DL), (3) inner sanctum bandage (IS), (4) carpal compression bandage (CC), (5) tarsal compression bandage (TC), and (6) adhesive elastic carpal bandage (C-ELA). Sub-bandage pressures were measured with the Picopress compression measuring system (Microlab Electonica...
Proportion of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug prescription in equine practice. There is little knowledge of the prescription of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and whether their prescription varies between countries. Objective: To describe prescription practices of NSAIDs in equids in the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (USA) and Canada. Methods: Descriptive observational study. Methods: Free-text electronic medical records from 141,543 equids from 10 equine practices in the UK, 255,777 equids from 7 equine practices with 20 branches from the USA and 2 practices with 7 branches from Canada were evaluated. A validated text-mining technique was ...
Exploratory factor analysis of signalment and conformational measurements in Thoroughbred horses with and without recurrent laryngeal neuropathy. Conflicting results have been reported for risk factors for recurrent laryngeal neuropathy (RLN) based on resting endoscopic evaluation and comparison of single conformation traits, with many traits correlated to one another. Objective: To simplify identification of signalment and conformation traits (i.e. variables) associated with RLN cases and controls diagnosed with exercising overground endoscopy (OGE) using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). Methods: Prospective cohort. Methods: Pearson's rank correlation was used to establish significance and association between variables collected from...
Reimmunization increases contraceptive effectiveness of gonadotropin-releasing hormone vaccine (GonaCon-Equine) in free-ranging horses (Equus caballus): Limitations and side effects. Wildlife and humans are increasingly competing for resources worldwide, and a diverse, innovative, and effective set of management tools is needed. Controlling abundance of wildlife species that are simultaneously protected, abundant, competitive for resources, and in conflict with some stakeholders but beloved by others, is a daunting challenge. Free-ranging horses (Equus caballus) present such a conundrum and managers struggle for effective tools for regulating their abundance. Controlling reproduction of female horses presents a potential alternative. During 2009-2017, we determined the lon...
A longitudinal study describing horse demographics and movements during a competition season in Ontario, Canada. The objective of this study was to describe the demographics and movement patterns of a sample of horses in Ontario, Canada. A convenience sample of 222 owners completed an initial questionnaire to provide demographic information for 570 horses. These horses were enrolled in a longitudinal study to document their movements from May to November 2015 using a monthly questionnaire. The median age of the participating horses was 11 years (IQR: 8 to 16 years). The primary discipline of participating horses included competitive disciplines (63.3%), leisure (33.3%), and racing (3.2%). During the 7-mo...
Exuberant granulation tissue in a horse: successful treatment by the intralesional injection of 4% formaldehyde solution. The healing of wounds located on the equine distal limbs can often be impaired, which can result in exuberant granulation tissue and its associated aesthetic alteration and functional failures. Although a number of therapies have been developed and assessed, the treatment of these wounds still presents challenges. This report describes the treatment of exuberant granulation tissue in a horse using an intra-lesional injection of 4% formaldehyde solution. The successful outcome of this treatment suggests that further investigations are required in order to better evaluate its efficacy, as well a...
Survey of human-horse relationships and veterinary care for geriatric horses. OBJECTIVE To assess relationships between horse owners (or lessees) and geriatric or nongeriatric horses and to investigate factors influencing veterinary care decision-making. DESIGN Descriptive, cross-sectional, survey-based study. SAMPLE 2,879 people who owned or leased ≥ 1 horse. PROCEDURES Participants were recruited through social media and online horse forums to participate in an online survey about their horses, including measures of attachment, veterinary care decision-making, and experiences surrounding the death of a horse. Data were collected for primary horses (those respondents...
High field magnetic resonance imaging contributes to diagnosis of equine distal tarsus and proximal metatarsus lesions: 103 horses. Injury of the distal tarsus and proximal metatarsus commonly causes lameness. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) allows concurrent assessment of both the distal tarsal joints and suspensory ligament origin, and aids identification of lesions that may otherwise go undetected by other modalities. In this retrospective observational study, the medical records of a veterinary imaging center were searched for MRI exams of the distal tarsus and proximal metatarsus for the years 2012 through 2014. Studies for 125 limbs of 103 horses were identified and retrospectively evaluated by two board-certified v...
Could the Visual Differential Attention Be a Referential Gesture? A Study on Horses (Equus caballus) on the Impossible Task Paradigm. In order to explore the decision-making processes of horses, we designed an impossible task paradigm aimed at causing an expectancy violation in horses. Our goals were to verify whether this paradigm is effective in horses by analyzing their motivation in trying to solve the task and the mode of the potential helping request in such a context. In the first experiment, 30 horses were subjected to three consecutive conditions: no food condition where two persons were positioned at either side of a table in front of the stall, solvable condition when a researcher placed a reachable reward on the ...
Lameness Evaluation of the Athletic Horse. Lameness examination is commonly performed in the athletic horse. A skilled lameness diagnostician must have keen clinical and observational skills. Evaluation starts with a detailed history and thorough physical examination. Next, gait evaluation in the moving horse is performed. Lame horses have asymmetrical body movement due to unconscious shift of body weight. Recognition of the resultant head nod and pelvic hike is the basis for lameness diagnosis. Lameness identification is enhanced by circling, limb flexions, and riding. Most lame horses do not exhibit pathognomonic gait characteristics...
Differences in third metacarpal trabecular microarchitecture between the parasagittal groove and condyle at birth and in adult racehorses. The aetiology of equine metacarpal condylar fractures is not completely understood and a developmental cause has been postulated. Objective: To investigate the subchondral bone trabecular microarchitecture of the lateral parasagittal groove and condyle in equine neonates and its adaptation with maturation and athletic activity. Methods: Ex vivo observational study. Methods: Distal metacarpi of neonates, yearlings and adult racehorses (n = 24) were harvested. Dorsal and palmar frontal histological sections, containing the lateral parasagittal groove and condyle, were studied. The sections were ...
An unexpected acoustic indicator of positive emotions in horses. Indicators of positive emotions are still scarce and many proposed behavioural markers have proven ambiguous. Studies established a link between acoustic signals and emitter's internal state, but few related to positive emotions and still fewer considered non-vocal sounds. One of them, the snort, is shared by several perrisodactyls and has been associated to positive contexts in these species. We hypothesized that this could be also the case in horses. In this species, there is a clear need for a thorough description of non-vocal acoustic signals (snorts, snores or blows are often used interch...
Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of Riding for Children with Cerebral Palsy Gross Motor Functions. . To evaluate the effects of riding for beginners (short-term) and advanced (long-term) riders with cerebral palsy on their whole mobility. The study involved 15 subjects (two girls and eleven boys). The subjects were aged from 3 to 19 years (8.73 years ± 5.85). All of the subjects had been diagnosed with a spastic form of cerebral palsy. The duration of the participation differed as follows: the advanced subjects had been riding for 1-4 years (2.66 years ± 1.16), while the beginners have been riding for two weeks (10 sessions). Group I (advanced riders) consisted of eight subjects (7 boys a...
Cross-modal perception of human emotion in domestic horses (Equus caballus). Humans have domesticated many kinds of animals in their history. Dogs and horses have particularly close relationships with humans as cooperative partners. However, fewer scientific studies have been conducted on cognition in horses compared to dogs. Studies have shown that horses cross-modally distinguish human facial expressions and recognize familiar people, which suggests that they also cross-modally distinguish human emotions. In the present study, we used the expectancy violation method to investigate whether horses cross-modally perceive human emotions. Horses were shown a picture of a ...
Human Demonstration Does Not Facilitate the Performance of Horses (Equus caballus) in a Spatial Problem-Solving Task. Horses’ ability to adapt to new environments and to acquire new information plays an important role in handling and training. Social learning in particular would be very adaptive for horses as it enables them to flexibly adjust to new environments. In the context of horse handling, social learning from humans has been rarely investigated but could help to facilitate management practices. We assessed the impact of human demonstration on the spatial problem-solving abilities of horses during a detour task. In this task, a bucket with a food reward was placed behind a double-detour barrier ...
Sensory laterality in affiliative interactions in domestic horses and ponies (Equus caballus). Many studies have been carried out into both motor and sensory laterality of horses in agonistic and stressful situations. Here we examine sensory laterality in affiliative interactions within four groups of domestic horses and ponies (N = 31), living in stable social groups, housed at a single complex close to Vienna, Austria, and demonstrate for the first time a significant population preference for the left side in affiliative approaches and interactions. No effects were observed for gender, rank, sociability, phenotype, group, or age. Our results suggest that right hemisphere specializ...
The laterality of the gallop gait in Thoroughbred racehorses. Laterality can be observed as side biases in locomotory behaviour which, in the horse, manifest inter alia as forelimb preferences, most notably in the gallop. The current study investigated possible leading-leg preferences at the population and individual level in Thoroughbred racehorses (n = 2095) making halt-to-gallop transitions. Videos of flat races in the UK (n = 350) were studied to record, for each horse, the lead-leg preference of the initial stride into gallop from the starting stalls. Races from clockwise (C) and anti-clockwise (AC) tracks were chosen alternately at random to ensure...
Effect of Aromatherapy on Equine Heart Rate Variability. This study explored whether aromatherapy increases the parasympathetic component (root mean square of successive differences [RMSSD]) of heart rate variability (HRV) in horses. Horses are highly sensitive, easily stressed, have an acute sense of smell, and have been shown to benefit from aromatherapy. The protocol, performed on eight dressage horses, followed a crossover design with an experimental treatment of humidified essential oil (lavender, Lavandula angustifolia) and a control treatment of humidified air. Heart rate variability was recorded for 7 minutes before, during, and immediately...
Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage in Thoroughbred racehorses: a longitudinal study. Exercise-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) is considered a progressive disease based on histopathology, but it is unknown if tracheobronchoscopic EIPH severity worsens over time. Objective: The aim of this study was to examine tracheobronchoscopic EIPH changes over time in a population of Thoroughbred racehorses. A secondary aim was to identify factors that affect changes in tracheobronchoscopic EIPH severity between observations. Methods: Prospective, longitudinal, observational cross-sectional study. Methods: Thoroughbred racehorses were examined with tracheobronchoscopy no earlier than 3...
Social information in equine movement gestalts. One model of signal evolution is based on the notion that behaviours become increasingly detached from their original biological functions to obtain a communicative value. Selection may not always favour the evolution of such transitions, for instance, if signalling is costly due to predators usurping signal production. Here, we collected inertial movement sensing data recorded from multiple locations in free-ranging horses (Equus caballus), which we subjected to a machine learning algorithm to extract kinematic gestalt profiles. This yielded surprisingly rich and multi-layered sets of informa...
