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Topic:Stereotypic Behavior
Stereotypic behavior in horses refers to repetitive, invariant actions with no apparent function or goal, often observed in domesticated equines. These behaviors can include cribbing, weaving, and stall walking, among others. Stereotypic behaviors are generally considered indicators of suboptimal environmental conditions or stress and are of interest in equine welfare studies. This page compiles peer-reviewed research studies and scholarly articles that explore the prevalence, potential causes, and management strategies for stereotypic behaviors in horses, as well as their implications for equine welfare and management practices.
Entrapment of the small intestine in the epiploic foramen in horses: a retrospective analysis of 71 cases recorded between 1991 and 2001. The clinical features of 71 cases in 70 horses in which part of the small intestine became entrapped in the epiploic foramen are described. The horses' sex, age and breed, the month during which they were affected, and whether they exhibited stereotypic behaviour were compared with the same variables in 1279 horses which suffered other types of surgical colic during the same period. Thoroughbred and thoroughbred cross horses were over-represented among the 70 affected horses. There was no age or sex predilection. Fifty-five (77.5 per cent) of the cases occurred between October and March and 15...
Altered mesoaccumbens and nigro-striatal dopamine physiology is associated with stereotypy development in a non-rodent species. Stress-induced changes in mesoaccumbens dopamine neurophysiology have been associated with the development of stereotypic behaviour in in-bred strains of laboratory rodents. This experiment evaluated whether similar changes are associated with environmentally-induced stereotypic behaviour in a higher-vertebrate species, the horse. D1- and D2-like dopamine receptor densities (B(max)) and dissociation constants (K(d)) were measured in control (n=9) and stereotypy (n=9) horses in the nucleus accumbens, caudate nucleus, putamen, substantia nigra and ventral tegmentum brain regions. Results reveale...
Association between cribbing and entrapment of the small intestine in the epiploic foramen in horses: 68 cases (1991-2002). To determine whether there was an association between a history of cribbing and epiploic foramen entrapment (EFE) of the small intestine in horses. Methods: Retrospective study. Methods: 68 horses examined at the University of Illinois or the University of Liverpool veterinary teaching hospitals. Methods: For horses examined at the University of Illinois that underwent surgery because of strangulating small intestine lesions, information about cribbing was obtained through telephone calls with owners. For horses examined at the University of Liverpool that underwent surgery for colic for any r...
Risk factors associated with behavioural disorders of crib-biting, weaving and box-walking in Swiss horses. Studies on the prevalence of behavioural disorders in horses and on associated risk factors have revealed inconsistent results. There are many studies on the neuropharmacological, surgical or mechanical therapy of stereotypies, but little is known about their causation. Objective: To explore risk factors associated with the occurrence of behavioural disorders in horses. Methods: A sample of horse owners, selected randomly and representative for Switzerland, was contacted in a postal survey. Answers were provided for 622 stables (response rate 35.2%). Individual data of 2,341 horses were examin...
Study of crib-biting and gastric inflammation and ulceration in young horses. Nineteen young horses that had recently started to perform the stereotypy of crib-biting were compared with 16 non-stereotypic horses for 14 weeks. After initial observations of their behaviour and an endoscopic examination of the condition of their stomachs, the horses were randomly allocated to a control or an antacid diet At the start of the trial, the stomachs of the crib-biting foals were significantly more ulcerated and inflamed than the stomachs of the normal foals. In addition, the faecal pH of the crib-biting foals (6.05) was significantly lower than that of the normal foals (6.58). T...
Foraging enrichment for stabled horses: effects on behaviour and selection. The restricted access to pasture experienced by many competition horses has been linked to the exhibition of stereotypic and redirected behaviour patterns. It has been suggested that racehorses provided with more than one source of forage are less likely to perform these patterns; however, the reasons for this are currently unclear. To investigate this in 4 replicated trials, up to 12 horses were introduced into each of 2 identical stables containing a single forage, or 6 forages for 5 min. To detect novelty effects, in the first and third trials the single forage was hay. In the second and fo...
Factors influencing the development of stereotypic and redirected behaviours in young horses: findings of a four year prospective epidemiological study. Stereotypies are invariant and repetitive behaviour patterns that seemingly have no function, which tend to develop in captive animals faced with insoluble problems and may be indicative of reduced welfare. A 4 year prospective study of the factors influencing the development of stereotypic and redirected behaviours (abnormal behaviour) in a population of 225 young Thoroughbred and part-Thoroughbred horses was conducted between 1995 and 1999. Abnormal behaviour affected 34.7% of the population. Multivariable analysis showed that foals of low- or middle-ranking mares were less likely to develop...
[Prevalence of behavioral disorders in the Swiss horse population]. In the Swiss horse population, the prevalence of conspicuous behaviours (behavioural disorders and stable vices) was recorded with a written questionnaire in a representative survey among 1861 horse yards, and the occurrence of the stereotypic behavioural disorders crib-biting, weaving and boxwalking was analysed with emphasis on their association with horse specific (breed, age, sex) and environmental factors (e.g. housing system, nutrition, management and utilisation). 622 horse yards with a total number of 2536 horses answered to the questionnaire, and conspicuous behaviours were described ...
Nd:YAG laser-assisted modified Forssell’s procedure for treatment of cribbing (crib-biting) in horses. To report an neodymium:yttrium-aluminum garnet (Nd:YAG) laser-assisted modified Forssell's surgical technique and outcome for treatment of cribbing (crib-biting) in horses. Methods: Retrospective clinical study. Methods: Ten adult horses with stereotypic cribbing behavior. Methods: Data were obtained from medical records and telephone conversations with owners, trainers, and veterinarians. Surgical technique involved an approximately 34-cm ventral median skin incision starting rostral to the larynx and extending caudally. A 10-cm section of the ventral branch of the spinal accessory nerve was ...
Management of horses showing stereotypic behaviour, owner perception and the implications for welfare. A telephone survey was conducted of 100 racing stables, 100 riding schools and 100 competition establishments (8,427 horses in total) to determine what management practices were being applied to horses showing stereotypic behaviour, and to determine the underlying reasons for them by assessing the perceptions and opinions of the people working with the horses. The results indicated that horse owners are concerned about stereotypic behaviour, first, because it reduces the performance of the animal (31, 30 and 27 per cent of the owners of racing stables, riding schools and competition establishm...
Study of the behaviour, digestive efficiency and gut transit times of crib-biting horses. The spontaneous behaviour and the apparent digestibility of dry matter and fibre and transit times of digesta were compared in four normal horses and four crib-biters. A technique was developed for measuring total gut transit times (TGTT) by using single-stool analysis of the passage of radio-opaque polyethylene markers. Longer TGTT were recorded in the crib-biters than in the normal horses but the orocaecal transit times did not differ. The crib-biters rested less than the normal horses.
Understanding equine stereotypies. It is frequently asserted that equine stereotypies, such as crib-biting, wind-sucking and weaving, are caused by boredom. However, this explanation is too general to be of practical use in discerning the causes of each stereotypy or in devising management practices to prevent their occurrence. The majority of equine stereotypes start within one month of weaning when both the nutritional and social environment of the foal are substantially altered. Epidemiological research has revealed that the provision of low quantities of forage and minimal opportunities for social contact are associated wit...
The effect of the NMDA receptor blocker, dextromethorphan, on cribbing in horses. Stereotypic cribbing in horses is thought to involve excess dopaminergic activity within the striatum. Various models of stress-induced stereotypies including cribbing in horses postulate that stress stimulates the release of endorphins, triggering the release of striatal dopamine. Dopamine in turn activates basal ganglia motor programs, reinforcing behavior via a reward mechanism. Furthermore, the release of dopamine by endorphins has been shown to depend on activation of NMDA receptors. In the present study, horses identified as cribbers and volunteered by their owners were treated with the ...
Heart rate and behavioural responses of crib-biting horses to two acute stressors. The heart rate and behaviour of 14 adult saddle horses, eight crib-biters and six normal controls, were investigated. Initially, the relationship between crib-biting and heart rate was investigated while the horses were undisturbed. The horses were tested when restrained with a lip twitch, and assessed when they were exposed suddenly to the rapid inflation of a balloon. The heart rate of the crib-biters during crib-biting was lower than during other behaviours. The crib-biters had a higher overall mean heart rate (P<0.05) suggesting that they may have had a higher basal sympathetic activity...
The effect of increasing visual horizons on stereotypic weaving: implications for the social housing of stabled horses. Stabled horses commonly perform stereotypic patterns of weaving, where the horse shifts its weight from side to side often swinging its head. Ten warm-blood types, of which five were known to reliably weave, were housed in similar 12x12 ft wooden loose boxes in a single stable block surrounding a courtyard. Each horse was exposed to each of five stable designs. These were: the conventional front top-half of the door open only with a view of the stable courtyard (F); front half-door open and a similar half-door open at the back of the stable with a view to the surrounding fields (FB); back open...
A cross-sectional study on compulsive behaviour (stable vices) in horses. A researcher-administered survey study was performed involving 769 horses from 32 Thoroughbred, Standardbred, and pleasure horse stables in southwestern Ontario. Data were gathered on individuals (breed, age, and sex) and at the stable level (housing, management). The effects of these factors on cribbing, stall-walking, weaving, stall-kicking, tongue playing, and pawing were assessed by unconditional analysis (Chi-square, t test) and conditionally using stepwise logistic regression. Individual level factors had significant effects on most compulsive behaviours. Some stable level factors, in mo...
Prevention of crib-biting: a review. Crib-biting is a common oral stereotype. Because of perceived deleterious effects on the health and appearance of subjects the prevention of crib-biting is regularly attempted. The resourcefulness of horses in satisfying their motivation to perform this behaviour often frustrates owners' efforts at prevention. This paper reviews the efficacy and observable consequences of attempting to prevent crib-biting by a variety of methods. These include attempts to prevent the grasping of objects, to interfere with air-engulfing and to introduce punishment for grasping and neck-flexion. Other approaches...
The effect of short-term prevention on the subsequent rate of crib-biting in thoroughbred horses. The results of an experimental study of the motivational consequences of short-term prevention of crib-biting are reported here. Eight test horses wore a cribbing collar for 24 h. This was effective in preventing crib-biting in 6 subjects. Using analysis of co-variance that accounted for baseline differences in crib-biting rate, test horses showed significantly more crib-biting than control horses on the first day after prevention (P < 0.05). There was also a highly significant increase in the crib-biting rate of test horses on the first day after prevention in comparison with their baselin...
Physiological correlates associated with cribbing behaviour in horses: changes in thermal threshold, heart rate, plasma beta-endorphin and serotonin. The aim of the present study was to obtain information on the possible mechanisms underlying cribbing behaviour in horses. To investigate the horse's responsiveness to an external stimulus, a device for telemetric measurement of thermal threshold, using the forelimb withdrawal reflex, was developed and validated. Measurements of thermal threshold took place in cribbing horses (n = 11) before and during cribbing periods. Heart rate was monitored continuously in the same horses. Blood samples were collected before and during cribbing periods as well and in age- and sex-matched control horses (n ...
Physiological and behavioral consequences associated with short-term prevention of crib-biting in horses. Crib-biting in the horse is frequently prevented in the short-term by horse-owners using physical means. Because it has been proposed that crib-biting may function to reduce stress, the effect of prevention of crib-biting and/or eating on the behaviour, heart rate, and plasma cortisol and beta-endorphin concentrations was measured in six crib-biting and six normal horses. When crib-biters were unable to crib-bite, they showed an increase in ingestive behaviour. When crib-biters were prevented from crib-biting and eating, a relative stasis in the motility of the foregut occurred, suggesting tha...
Assessment of the modified Forssell’s procedure for the treatment of oral stereotypies in 10 horses. The modified Forssell's procedure was performed on 10 horses in an attempt to cure oral stereotypies. Three horses were cured completely, two horses were considerably improved, and five horses continued to perform the stereotypy after periods of remission ranging from two weeks to six months. This rate of success for the modified Forssell's procedure, as in other published reports, was lower than for the original Forssell's procedure. Surgery to eliminate a stereotypical behaviour pattern may exacerbate the stress for an animal and the modified Forssell's procedure can no longer be recommended...
Management of headshaking in three horses by treatment for protozoal myeloencephalitis. Unlike the incidence of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), which appears to be increasing, headshaking is an uncommon problem for horses in Missouri and the adjacent states. Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis was incriminated in three horses examined for the treatment of headshaking on the basis of a neurological examination, an analysis of cerebrospinal fluid and their response to treatment. The headshaking and stereotypical behaviour associated with EPM was successfully treated with potentiated sulphonamides and pyrimethamine.
Consideration of the relevance of ethological animal models for human repetitive behavioral spectrum disorders. Treatment successes of various stereotyped behaviors in animals and humans has renewed interest in ethologic animal models for the study of psychiatric disorders. This report presents another such behavior occurring in horses to weaving. This anomalous, repetitive, and purposeless behavior draws analogies to human compulsive spectrum behaviors. A "weaver" provided an opportunity to evaluate serotonin, dopamine, and opioid neurotransmitter system contributions by probing each with a selective agent in A-B-A-C-A-D design. The horse was treated in sequential 1-month periods separated by 1-month w...
The prevalence of abnormal behaviours in dressage, eventing and endurance horses in relation to stabling. The behaviour of horses competing in different disciplines was studied and the relationship between the time they spent out of the stable and the prevalence of abnormal behaviour was examined. The owners of dressage, eventing and endurance horses were sent a questionnaire and a total of 1101 responses were received, giving data on 1750 horses. The behaviours studied were wood-chewing, weaving, crib-biting/wind-sucking and box-walking. The reported percentage prevalences of abnormal behaviour for the dressage, eventing and endurance horses were 32.5, 30.8 and 19.5, respectively. The relationshi...
Local initiation of spermatogenesis in the horse. Gross observation of testicular parenchyma of 1.5- to 2-yr-old horses reveals both light and dark regions. If this gross, differential shading reflects quantitative differences in the development of spermatogenesis and interstitial cell populations, the horse may prove to be a useful model for study of the paracrine relationships associated with initiation of spermatogenesis. The objective of this study was to characterize seminiferous tubules and interstitium of testes with gross, differential shading. Testes with both light and dark regions of parenchyma were obtained from horses 1.5-2 yr ol...
