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Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2021; 11(2); 457; doi: 10.3390/ani11020457

From the Horse’s Perspective: Investigating Attachment Behaviour and the Effect of Training Method on Fear Reactions and Ease of Handling-A Pilot Study.

Abstract: The study investigated equine responses to novelty and handling, aiming to reveal whether horse-human relationships reflect criteria of an attachment bond. Twelve adult Standardbreds were subjected to a fear-eliciting test (novel objects presented close to two humans) and a handling test (being led passing novel objects) to study attachment-related behaviours and ease of handling. The tests were performed both before (pre-test) and after (post-test) horses had been trained by the same female handler (10 sessions of 15 min). Horses were assigned to three groups of four, each of which underwent different operant conditioning protocols: negative reinforcement (NR; pressure, release of lead, and whip tap signals) or combined NR with either positive reinforcement using food (PRf) or wither scratching (PRs). Results showed that neither familiarity of the person nor training method had a significant impact on the horses' behavioural responses in the post-tests. However, horses showed decreased heart rates between pre- and post-tests, which may indicate habituation, an effect of training per se, or that the presence of the familiar trainer served to calm the horses during the challenging situations. There were large individual variations among the horses' responses and further studies are needed to increase our understanding of horse-human relationships.
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Publication Date: 2021-02-09 PubMed ID: 33572351PubMed Central: PMC7916092DOI: 10.3390/ani11020457Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This research explores horses’ reactions to novel situations and handling, with the aim to understand if the relationship between horses and humans reflects attachment behaviours. Twelve adult horses were subjected to tests involving fear responses and handling before and after being trained by the same female handler. The horses were divided into three groups, each group receiving different training methods. The findings showed that familiarity with the handler or the type of training didn’t have a significant effect on how horses responded in the post-training tests, but horses had lower heart rates in the post-tests, which could be due to habituation, the effect of training, or the calming presence of the familiar handler.

Methodology

  • The study involved twelve adult Standardbreds that underwent a fear-eliciting test (novel objects presented near two humans) and a handling test (being led passing novel objects) to study attachment-related behaviours and ease of handling.
  • These tests were conducted before and after the horses had been trained by a single female handler through ten sessions, each lasting 15 minutes.
  • The horses were divided into three groups of four. Each group was subjected to different operant conditioning protocols: one group underwent negative reinforcement (NR; pressure, release of lead, and whip tap signals), while the other two groups experienced NR combined with either positive reinforcement through food (PRf) or wither scratching (PRs).

Findings

  • The research found that neither the familiarity of the person nor the training method had a significant impact on the horses’ behavioural responses in the post-tests.
  • However, a decrease in heart rates was observed between pre- and post-tests. This reduction could indicate habituation (adaptation to the reoccurring presence of humans), an effect of the training itself, or the calming influence of the familiar trainer during stressful situations.
  • The study also uncovered large individual differences among the horses’ responses, suggesting that further research is needed to increase our understanding of horse-human relationships.

Implications and Future Research

  • Although this study does not provide a clear answer to whether the human-horse relationship reflects attachment behaviours, it does suggest potential areas of exploration for future research, such as a deeper study into the effects of habituation and individual variations in horses.
  • The fact that neither the familiarity of the person nor the type of training significantly affected the horses’ behavioural responses could be seen as a starting point for investigating other factors that may influence horse-handler relationships.
  • This study should be viewed as a pilot study and further, more detailed studies would be needed to make definitive conclusions on the nature of horse-human relationships.

Cite This Article

APA
Hartmann E, Rehn T, Christensen JW, Nielsen PP, McGreevy P. (2021). From the Horse’s Perspective: Investigating Attachment Behaviour and the Effect of Training Method on Fear Reactions and Ease of Handling-A Pilot Study. Animals (Basel), 11(2), 457. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11020457

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 11
Issue: 2
PII: 457

Researcher Affiliations

Hartmann, Elke
  • Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
Rehn, Therese
  • Department of Animal Environment and Health, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 75007 Uppsala, Sweden.
Christensen, Janne Winther
  • Department of Animal Science-ANIS Welfare, Aarhus University, 8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Nielsen, Per Peetz
  • Department of Agriculture and Food, RISE Research Institute of Sweden, 22370 Lund, Sweden.
McGreevy, Paul
  • Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

Grant Funding

  • 942-2015-1430 / Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development, FORMAS

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funding agency FORMAS had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish the results.

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Citations

This article has been cited 3 times.
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