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Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2021; 11(11); 3081; doi: 10.3390/ani11113081

Heterospecific Fear and Avoidance Behaviour in Domestic Horses (Equus caballus).

Abstract: Ridden horses have been reported to be fearful of cows. We tested whether cows could provoke behavioural and cardiac fear responses in horses, and whether these responses differ in magnitude to those shown to other potential dangers. Twenty horses were exposed to cow, a mobile object or no object. The time spent at different distances from the stimulus was measured. In a separate test, heart rate (HR), root mean square of successive differences between heartbeats (RMSSD) and the horses' perceived fear were assessed at various distances from the stimuli. The horses avoided the area nearest to all stimuli. During hand-leading, the cow elicited the highest HR and lowest RMSSD. Led horses' responses to the cow and box were rated as more fearful as the distance to the stimulus decreased. Mares had a higher HR than geldings across all tests. HR positively correlated with the fearfulness rating at the furthest distance from the cow and box, and RMSSD negatively correlated with this rating in cow and control conditions. Our results show that these horses' avoidance response to cows was similar or higher to that shown towards a novel moving object, demonstrating that potentially, both neophobia and heterospecific communication play a role in this reaction.
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Publication Date: 2021-10-28 PubMed ID: 34827813PubMed Central: PMC8614530DOI: 10.3390/ani11113081Google 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.

The research paper studies whether domestic horses have a specific fear or avoidance for cows as opposed to other potentially scary objects, and further looks into what physiological responses are brought about in horses when exposed to such stimuli.

Research Methodology

  • The study was conducted on twenty horses which were exposed to either a cow or a moving object, or no object at all.
  • The time the horses spent at different distances from the stimulus was measured and recorded.
  • Physiological responses such as heart rate (HR) and root mean square of successive differences between heartbeats (RMSSD) were also monitored at various distances from the stimuli.
  • A separate test was conducted to gauge the horses’ perceived fear towards different stimuli.

Research Findings

  • Horses avoided areas that were in close proximity to all the stimuli, i.e., both the cow and the moving object.
  • When the horses were led by hand towards the stimuli, the presence of a cow triggered the highest heart rate and the lowest RMSSD, indicating a higher level of stress or fear.
  • As the horses were led closer to the stimuli, their response to both the cow and the mobile object were rated as higher on the fear scale and their heart rates increased.
  • It was noted that female horses or mares exhibited a higher heart rate than male horses or geldings across all the tests conducted.
  • There were significant positive correlations between the horses’ heart rates and the levels of fear observed at the furthest distance from both the cow and the box.
  • Similarly, the RMSSD showed a negative correlation with the fear ratings, indicating that higher fear levels corresponded with lower RMSSD, denoting more stress in cow and control conditions.

Conclusion

  • The study concluded that horses indeed demonstrated an avoidance response towards cows and the magnitude of this response was similar to, if not greater than, the fear response shown towards an unfamiliar moving object.
  • This suggests that both neophobia (fear of new things or experiences) and heterospecific communication (interaction and communication between different species) have roles to play in these reactions.

Cite This Article

APA
Wiśniewska A, Janczarek I, Wilk I, Tkaczyk E, Mierzicka M, Stanley CR, Górecka-Bruzda A. (2021). Heterospecific Fear and Avoidance Behaviour in Domestic Horses (Equus caballus). Animals (Basel), 11(11), 3081. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11113081

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 11
Issue: 11
PII: 3081

Researcher Affiliations

Wiśniewska, Anna
  • Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.
Janczarek, Iwona
  • Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.
Wilk, Izabela
  • Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.
Tkaczyk, Ewelina
  • Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.
Mierzicka, Martyna
  • Department of Horse Breeding and Use, Faculty of Animal Sciences and Bioeconomy, University of Life Sciences in Lublin, 20-950 Lublin, Poland.
Stanley, Christina R
  • Animal Behaviour & Welfare Research Group, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Chester, Chester CH1 4BJ, UK.
Górecka-Bruzda, Aleksandra
  • Department of Animal Behaviour and Welfare, Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 05-552 Magdalenka, Poland.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Citations

This article has been cited 1 times.
  1. Wiśniewska A, Janczarek I, Wilk I, Tkaczyk E, Mierzicka M, Stanley CR, Górecka-Bruzda A. Correction: Wiśniewska et al. Heterospecific Fear and Avoidance Behaviour in Domestic Horses (Equus caballus). Animals 2021, 11, 3081. Animals (Basel) 2022 Aug 10;12(16).
    doi: 10.3390/ani12162026pubmed: 36009750google scholar: lookup
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