Equine Behavior

When looking through the literature about horses and their social dynamics we read about dominance hierarchies everywhere. But there is no consensus about either what a dominance hierarchy is or how it is displayed. Most literature only assumes the reality of them, but do not define the concept itself. "Dominance is an elusive and difficult concept. Dominance is not a precise term, and authors should take care to clarify their meaning. But do we have enough studies of dominance to propose yet another definition? I suspect not, and I would suggest that we might never have enough information for a useful definition if we prelude evolutionary oriented studies. If someone is brave (or fool hardy) enough to propose such a definition, I only ask that an evolutionary view of dominance be incorporated. We should not let our definitions limit our experimental approaches." (Moore, 1993). The purpose of this small study is to see how practice and theory come together and to reflect on what we see in field studies like this, what we think we see and reflect on how we can advance our knowledge of horses' social dynamics and group life.

The ancestors of the domestic horse were important prey species for many predators, including humans. Equids possess few physical defence mechanisms, relying on survival strategies centred on the formation of cohesive social bonds within stable groups. Mutual grooming is common between these individuals, maintains bonds and can be a source of reassurance following social conflict. Disruption of these bonds is associated with great social stress. Social isolation is uncommon in natural horse society. Around 6000 BC the history of human-horse interactions began to change as the Eurasian wild horse population dwindled, threatening an important food resource. Early domestication processes began with human groups maintaining associations with free-ranging groups of mares and geldings, that were ridden, herded and harvested as meat, milk and hides. Cultural differences in approach to the human-horse relationship have been evident from ancient and classical history. These differences persist to the present day. There are two main approaches, a co-operative approach based upon understanding the behaviour of the horse, and an alternative approach based on human dominance and equine submission. Social interactions and contact between humans and horses have reflected these differences in approach. Current management practices for horses are driven by human requirements and costs limitations, but often ignore basic equine needs. Intensive management of performance and leisure horses is frequently associated with social isolation, considerable alterations of feeding and foraging practices and confinement. These have behavioural and physical consequences for the health and welfare of horses. Preventive and curative behavioural solutions offer welfare, practical and financial advantages

The  purpose  of  this  review  article  is  first  to  offer  a  broad  overview  of  the  physical, physiological, and behavioral changes and consequences, induced by the use of bits, bridles and reins, during training or riding practices. Second, and mainly, it is observed that archaeologists, to define whether an equine bone was of wild or domesticated animal, seek to find traces of trauma in teeth, alveolar bones and mandible and maxilla, particularly in diastema, by mechanical injury created by metal piece. This is a scientific fact: the bits cause injury not only to soft tissues, but even leave their pathological record in the bones and veterinary medicine needs to analyze this both from the clinical and zootechnical point of view, as well as from the philosophical and ethical point  of  view  and  present  solutions.  Current  discussions  are  here  presented,  in  the  light  of  the most  recent  findings  and  data,  provided  by  works  based  on  the  principles  of  the  science  of equitation.As a result, it was observed that bitlessequitation, in general, is potentially capable of improving  animal  welfare, inhabiting,or  mitigating  a  great  number  of  behavioral  disorders,  as well as preventing the appearance of many pathologies. Therefore, it is recommended the adoption of a bitlessequitation, not only in training sessions and leisure activities, but also, it is suggested that bitlessbridles should be accepted in any official sports competition in general.

Studies have shown that horses are sensitive to human attentional cues. Also, there is some evidence that they might be able to infer the knowledge state of a human and communicate intentionally with us. However, this ability is not fully characterized and certain behaviors, like gaze, asymmetric ears position or vocalizations, which could work as attentiongetting behaviors, have been scarcely studied in this context. The aim of the present study was to assess whether horses’ gaze toward a person, asymmetric ears position and vocalizations are subject to audience effects and adjust to human attentional cues, which would suggest a communicative function. For this purpose, we adapted a protocol used with domestic dogs [Kaminski et al. 2017] and observed horses’ spontaneous behavior (gaze, asymmetric ears position and vocalizations) in the presence of a human holding and not holding food in an attentive position (facing the horse with open eyes) and in a non-attentive position (with her back turned towards the horse). We found significant evidence of horses being sensitive to human attentional cues (reflected in the horses’ gaze duration and asymmetric position of the ears), but not of intentional communication towards human.

This paper reports on research into wildlife emotion, interpretation and usefulness as a means for broad-scale learning about environmental sustainability. Part of the Australian landscape for 16 million years, the iconic kangaroo has characteristics that make them suited, as wild animals, for humans to learn about environmental integrity. A "new way of knowing" about sustainability is proposed that seeks to learn directly from wildlife through their emotional states using a "being-for" (

Education is key to a decent life. But the concept of education is marginalized in the equestrian world. Horses are trained, not educated. The riding-centric focus of most riding schools makes historically laden narratives of the proficient rider, rather than the learned horseperson,
dominant. Many thus join this world through technical or performance commitments rather than educational ones. Moreover, attention is seldom given to what horses might gain, let alone meaningfully learn, from these interactions and their role within the triad teacher—rider—horse is ambiguous: Is the horse a co-teacher, a student, or a prop? According to philosopher and educator Ann Margaret Sharp, education should promote growth, teachers should thus become liberators through a commitment to the voice of children (or any historically excluded voice) (1975, 1981). In this talk, building on Sharp’s vision of emancipatory education, we argue for
an emancipatory educational model as the basis for decent lives in shared equine-human communities. We take seriously the claim that equines are cognitive creatures (Brubaker et al., 2016) and that their education should thus aim to promote their flourishing, rather than focus on functional training or conditioning (Kiley Worthington 2004). Within this model teacher—
horseperson—horse are all meant to take part in a conversation, thus liberating the voices of horses, but also, encouragingly, of all others involved in this co-creative process. To draw out general implications of this model, two case studies will be discussed.

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 involved in EAI standardised sessions with children with ASD compared to typically developing (TD) children. A controlled within-subject design with repeated measurements involving 19 horses and 38 children was adopted. Stress-related behaviours, heart rate, heart rate variability, and eye temperature were recorded during the riding sessions. Moreover, blood samples were collected from horses before ...

This article is a response to G.M. Burghardt (Biosemiotics, 17(2):387-406, 2024): 'Jakob von Uexküll, Heterophenomenology, and Behavior Systems i: Core Ethology and Merleau-Ponty'. I discuss (with an example taken from the equine welfare literature) why Burghardt's concept of 'heterophenomenology' is an important one for animal welfare science, as well as having a broader relevance to the field of ethology. I also suggest paradigms by which heterophenomenology could be incorporated into applied animal welfare studies, promoting an interdisciplinary approach to both animal welfare research, and the practical implementation of welfare management strategies derived from applied welfare science.

This article is a response to G.M. Burghardt (Biosemiotics, 17(2):387-406, 2024): 'Jakob von Uexküll, Heterophenomenology, and Behavior Systems i: Core Ethology and Merleau-Ponty'. I discuss (with an example taken from the equine welfare literature) why Burghardt's concept of 'heterophenomenology' is an important one for animal welfare science, as well as having a broader relevance to the field of ethology. I also suggest paradigms by which heterophenomenology could be incorporated into applied animal welfare studies, promoting an interdisciplinary approach to both animal welfare research, and the practical implementation of welfare management strategies derived from applied welfare science.

4 Introduction 5-8 Overall Aspects Contributing to Individual from Therapeutic Horseback Riding Emotional 9-10 Psychological 11 Physical 12 Hippotherapy and How It Relates Origin 13 Effects Seen in Individuals 14-17 Basal Cortisol History and Connection with Equine Therapy and Hippotherapy 18-20 Reviews and Public Opinion Scholarly Articles 21-24 Oregon Legislative Assembly House Bill 2723 25-26 Interviews 27-30 Building the Business Plan Social, Physical, Thinking, and Emotional Aspects 31-32 Logistics 33-34 Conclusion 35 Appendix Bill 2723 36 Interview Consent Form and Questions 37-38 Letter of Approval from the Institutional Review Board 39 Tack for Business Plan 40 References 41-43 Therapeutic and Health Benefits of Horse-Human Interactions | 4 Abstract With completing this thesis, I hope to achieve an answer that could potentially help numerous people with their recovery from tragic events or progress in their life overall. Horseback riding has been suggested to help special ne...

Study animals…………………………………………………….…113 Call acquisition………………………………………………………113 Playback procedure…………………………………………...……114 Behavioural and statistical analysis of responses………………115 Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………116 References…………………………………………………………………..117 8 Article II: Cross-modal recognition of humans by domestic horses (Equus caballus) shows hemispheric specialisation……….120

This is an historical inquiry into to the substantial effects that animals had on the character and trajectory of Spanish expeditions (entradas) in North America. It looks at animals (domestic livestock primarily), people (Eurasians, Africans, and Native Americans), and the landscapes in which these hitherto strangers came to know one another, and (often enough) clash. The conclusions, such as they are, are thus: 1) The Spanish imperial project was impossible without animals, and animals were far more influential than, say, guns or steel. 2) Animals had their own ambitions and independent agency that often subtly catalyzed violent encounters between conquistadors and indigenous defenders. 3) “Conquest” itself is a decidedly unsatisfactory term, particularly for the earliest phases of the mid-sixteenth century attempts to colonize the northern perimeter of New Spain. In fact, one might plausibly argue that the vaunted term “conquistador” was an antonym for the handful of struggling, beset travelers attempting to increase the royal patrimony of Spain while improving their own material circumstances. One of the best ways to see the failure of Spanish ambitions is by looking closely at their animals—to see to what an extraordinary degree the “conquest” was out of the hands of these all-too-human historical actors and how much rested instead on the backs (and legs, and muscles, and minds) of their beasts.
“Conquering Beasts” is a conscious metaphor. It indicates the need for a reckoning about our assumptions of animals and conquest—what, for instance, is a “beast,” and what indeed is a “conquest”? Is the phrase, as one might assume, a euphemism for Spanish conquistadors, known to have acted in various beastly ways in the Americas? Is it an intimation—an aspersion even— that humans spend a good deal of energy attempting to subjugate animals as well as one another? Or is it the slightly more outré insinuation that animals themselves somehow engaged in their
own conquest activities in the sixteenth century? This dissertation answers yes to all three renderings, revealing that important elements of each are true and simultaneously incomplete, and that they are best understood harnessed together into a comprehensive, sometimes counter- intuitive whole.

Haynets have become an integral part of equine management, offering a practical way to provide forage while addressing the challenges of domesticated horse care services. However, their use is multifaceted, requiring thoughtful consideration to maximize benefits and mitigate risks. Below, we explore their role, challenges, and nuances in detail, along with practical tips for individualized application.

This paper explores the similarities and differences in the locomotion muscles of horses and dogs, highlighting the impact of domestication and breeding on muscle anatomy, movement patterns, and behaviors. Through a comparative analysis of muscle structure and function, it is evident that these animals have adapted to their environment, lifestyle, and roles in human society in unique ways. For instance, horses have developed larger gluteal muscles for weight support during galloping, while dogs have stronger shoulder muscles for turning and acceleration.

Opium poppies grow wild worldwide, and testing for morphine is now highly sensitive. Currently, many authorities worldwide do not pursue urinary morphine concentrations of 100 ng/ml. This is because such low urinary morphine concentrations are likely to be environmental morphine identifications (EMIs) and are also unlikely to be associated with pharmacological responses. Authors’ addresses: Maxwell Gluck Equine Research Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40546 (Camargo, Karpiesiuk, Tobin); e-mail: [email protected] (Camargo); U.K. Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center, Lexington, KY 40512 (Lehner); Florida Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, Miami, FL 33024 (Stirling); Department of Pharmacology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland (Kavanagh); and Connolly’s Redmills, Goresbridge, Kilkenny, Ireland (Brennan, Dowling). © 2005 AAEP.

Money pushes sports to extremes. As the rewards for success grow, so does the pressure, with sportspeople pushing themselves ever harder. In equestrian sports, this can mean pushing the horse as well, too often to the point of abuse. This article discusses the beautiful side of equestrianism as well as its darker side, which is a bitter reality for many competition horses. It sets out a comparison of legal standards for equine animal welfare (at the level of international law, EU law and national laws) as well as those coming from sports laws. It also examines dependencies between animal protection rules under EU law and animal protection rules under the laws of individual EU Member States concerning equestrian sports. It aims to answer the questions of whether equestrian sports constitute a general exemption to their being considered animal abuse and on what grounds this exemption might be changed in the future.

Horses are being increasingly incorporated into health and wellbeing treatments and interventions. These Equine-Assisted Services (EASs) vary widely in both theoretical and practical applications. However, until now, the experiences and perspectives of the practitioners of these services have received little attention. To address this gap in knowledge, EAS practitioners were asked to complete a survey exploring the service they provide, practice patterns, background education, perceived knowledge, challenges faced and issues moving forwards. Practitioners' backgrounds were found to have a significant influence on both the type of EAS provided and respondents' perceived knowledge. Most practitioners received training specific to the service they provided, with block release being a common trend. Just under half the sample had received under 20 days of training. Horse-specific training was relatively uncommon. Practitioners reported client and horse welfare, financial sustainability and raising awareness as the most important challenges facing their service. This study highlights the diversity within the field of EAS and the challenges faced by practitioners, as well as possible opportunities for growth. More progress is needed to support practitioners in order to grow, professionalise and legitimise these services.

Objetivou-se com o presente trabalho avaliar a expressao das caracteristicas comportamentais de eguas em periodo de estro e diestro, estabuladas submetidas a tecnicas de inseminacao artificial (IA) e transferencia de embrioes (TE) em uma clinica de reproducao equina. Utilizou-se 16 eguas doadoras das racas Mangalarga Marchador, Quarto de Milha e Campolina, com idades entre tres e 12 anos e pesos entre 490 a 740 kg. Essas foram estabuladas em baias individuais de dimensao 4 x 4 metros, tendo acesso a um piquete de exercicio durante algumas horas do dia. As eguas foram observadas por um periodo de 24 horas, anotando a cada dez minutos as atividades e o tempo gasto por cada animal nessas atividades, nas fases de estro e diestro, analisando os parâmetros comportamentais de: frequencia de miccao (MIC), frequencia de defecacao (DEF), tempo em ocio (O), tempo gasto com se alimentando (ALI), frequencia de consumo de agua (H 2 O), tempo caminhando (CAM), tempo dormindo em pe (DP), tempo dorm...

The present article examines eVects of power on basic cognition. It proposes that power bolsters the ability to attend to information selectively; enhancing the processing of information that is related to accessible constructs in detriment of peripheral, less accessible information. In contrast, powerlessness increases attunement to peripheral information, inducing greater distractibility and less attentional Xexibility. Experiment 1 focuses on attention to an object and its context. Experiment 2 examines attentional focus and readiness to act. Experiment 3 examines attention to global vs. local aspects of a focal target. Powerful individuals, relative to powerless individuals, showed greater ability to inhibit peripheral information, and greater ability to focus attention in line with the demands of the task. Furthermore, inhibiting peripheral information facilitated action. The consequences of these Wndings for diVerent domains are discussed.

The present article examines eVects of power on basic cognition. It proposes that power bolsters the ability to attend to information selectively; enhancing the processing of information that is related to accessible constructs in detriment of peripheral, less accessible information. In contrast, powerlessness increases attunement to peripheral information, inducing greater distractibility and less attentional Xexibility. Experiment 1 focuses on attention to an object and its context. Experiment 2 examines attentional focus and readiness to act. Experiment 3 examines attention to global vs. local aspects of a focal target. Powerful individuals, relative to powerless individuals, showed greater ability to inhibit peripheral information, and greater ability to focus attention in line with the demands of the task. Furthermore, inhibiting peripheral information facilitated action. The consequences of these Wndings for diVerent domains are discussed.

This study compares the behaviour of the mule (Equus asinus £ Equus caballus) with that of its parent species to assess the eVects of hybridization on cognition. Six mules, six ponies (E. caballus) and six donkeys (E. asinus) were given a two choice visual discrimination learning task. Each session consisted of 12 trials and pass level was reached when subjects chose the correct stimulus for at least 9 out of the 12 trials in three consecutive sessions. A record was made of how many pairs each subject learnt over 25 sessions. The mules' performance was signiWcantly better than that of either of the parent species (Kruskal-Wallis: H x = 8.11, P = 0.017). They were also the only group to learn enough pairs to be able to show a successive reduction in the number of sessions required to reach criterion level. This study provides the Wrst empirical evidence that the improved characteristics of mules may be extended from physical attributes to cognitive function.

Donkeys and mules are frequently kept as companion animals for horses and ponies, with these different equids often being considered a homogenous group. However, the extent to which domestic equids form inter-specific bonds and display similar social behaviour when living in a mixed herd has not previously been studied. Here we compare the social organization of these three (sub)species when housed together, providing the first systematic analysis of how genetic hybridization is expressed in the social behaviour of mules. A group of 16 mules, donkeys and ponies was observed for 70 h and preferred associates, dominance rank and the linearity of the group's hierarchy was determined. The different equids formed distinct affiliative groups that were ordered in a linear hierarchy with ponies as the most dominant, mules in the middle ranks and donkeys in the lowest ranks. Within each equid subgroup, the strength of the hierarchy also varied. Thus in the present study, the three (sub)species displayed different social organization and levels of dominance and preferred to associate with animals of the same equid type, given the opportunity. These results suggest that different domestic equid (sub)species display variations in social behaviour that are likely to have a strong genetic basis.

Cognition and perception in horses has often been misunderstood. Not only in the past but even today, people proclaim that horses react only by instinct, that they are just conditioned-response animals, that they lack advanced cognitive ability, and that they have poor visual ...

Humans use food rewards as positive reinforcement for training horses, but there is little evidence to show that human interaction (scratching or patting) has reward value or if domestic horses perceive human touch as social bonding. Most equine training is based on negative reinforcement, but food is a known reward for training through positive reinforcement. This study looked at how horses perceive human interaction as a form of positive reward by examining whether scratching and patting can serve as a reward for a behavior and how this compares to known rewards (treats) based on horses' ability to use symbols to show preferences. A secondary purpose of this study was to explore behaviors before, during, and after the choice test and code changes based on known equine ethology and determine any correlations between known individual histories of horses, their behavior, and any differences in preferences for human interactions based on whether the human was familiar versus unfamiliar. For the quantitative component, the study counted the number of times each horse touched each target (touch counts) and behaviors were recorded with use of a GoPro Hero camera. The touch counts for each symbol for the last trial were compared using Observation Oriented Modelling (OOM), a non-parametric approach to analyze patterns in data, and the behaviors were coded and compared to known behaviors in equine ethology. Post-hoc analysis of final touch counts resulted in a pattern of fewer than 2 touches for both scratches and pats for most horses and consistently ten touches (the maximum) for treats for all horses. Post-hoc pattern analysis resulted in a Percent Correct Classification (PCC) index of 93.94 (c-value < .001) for the familiar human and 87.88 (c-value < .001) for the unfamiliar researcher suggesting that, given the study conditions, all horses in this study showed preference for treats over human contact, regardless of handling or training histories. All horses also displayed arousal behaviors during the study suggesting the study, and potentially the novel food component, induced an arousal response.

Feral animals are those that live in the wild but are descendants of domesticated populations. Although, in many cases, these feral populations imply a demonstrable risk to the ecosystems in which they live and may conflict with local wild species and human activities, there are feral populations that are considered worth preserving and, in some cases, they already enjoy protection by interest groups and even public authorities. In this review, we aim to identify valuable populations using three criteria: (a) Genetic conservation value (for instance, if the wild ancestor is extinct), (b) the niche occupancy criterion and, finally, (c) a cultural criterion. We propose a detailed analysis of feral populations under scrutiny, supporting control measures when necessary, but also allowing for international protection at the same level as wild animals for feral taxa of special concern. Feral taxa, which are already in the focus of conservation efforts, and should be awarded extended recog...

Horses express social-based organizations when grouped and also show conflicts over resources, which can progress to agonistic interactions. The domestication led horses to be fed in confinement, which may have had increased the competition for food. We tested whether the distance, height of positioning, and proportion of feeding troughs affect the agonistic behavior in horses, and whether such effects are influenced by the social stability. We simultaneously varied these three factors at two levels (eight treatments). The group of horses (n ¼ 8) was subjected to all treatments in a primary phase (no previous experience of feeding ration together) and in a secondary phase (social relationships better established by the agonistic interactions in the primary phase). In each treatment, we recorded agonistic behaviors during 30 minutes while horses were feeding. A distance of 10 m and a height of 0.71 m of the troughs reduced kick behavior, regardless of the phases evaluated. For agonistic signaling pinned back ears behavior, initially, a far distance (10 m), low positioning (0 m of height), and a greater proportion of feeding troughs (1.5 per horse) reduced this behavior. However, in the secondary phase, the effect of distance was consistent, but the effects of height positioning and proportion were opposite. Moreover, pinned back ears was the most frequent agonistic behavior. We conclude that the effect of height and proportion of troughs on agonistic behaviors of horses may depend of the social stability, whereas a far distance between troughs reduces the most frequent agonistic behavior, regardless of such social homeostasis.

Khur (Equus hemionus khur) is an endangered species for the most part restricted in little Rann of Kutch (India) and surrounding areas. We investigated factors influencing spatial distribution and social organization of Khur. The spatial distribution is largely influenced by distribution of food patches and water in this ecosystem. The inter group distances were smaller in resource rich areas in comparison to resource poor areas (p = 0.017). The group sizes are larger in areas having higher productivity (r = 0.85) and rainfall (r = 0.88). Four social units are observed in Khur (a) Family group (median = 17), (b) All male group (median = 17), (c) Territorial stallion and (d) displaced stallion. The family group and all male group are very fluid showing fission and fusion in group sizes (CV = 73 % to 63 % respectively). The maximum home range overlap was between family group and territorial stallion. The territorial stallion defends water sources, productive grassland and scrubland. K...

There are few studies on locomotion patterns of horses and the amounts of time they spend stall walking. The objective of this study was to describe the locomotion patterns of horses performing stall walking. The time animals spent in this stereotype was also recorded. Ten thoroughbred racehorses residing in the Club Hípico de Concepción and exhibiting stall walking behavior were recorded continuously in their own stalls from 15:00-18:00 over two days in a row. Locomotion patterns (direction and gait) and time spent (loops per hour walking around the stall and duration of each round) were described. Nine of ten horses (90%) showed a unique locomotion pattern inside the stall, such as walking or trotting in only one direction around the stall without stopping; walking in only one direction around the stall and stopping at the door; walking in one direction around the stall and stopping at the door and in a corner different from the door; walking in one direction and stopping eventually in four locations of the stall; and walking forming an eight by the wall opposite to the door. Just one of the horses performed two types of patterns. Mean stall walking time was 31.4 ± 22.3 min during the observation period. The results indicate that, under similar management conditions, thoroughbred horses performed different locomotion patterns. Besides, the time horses spent performing stall walking ranged between 3.9% and 41.7% of the observation time. No increase of stall walking frequency was observed before feeding time.

Recognizing other individuals by integrating different sensory modalities is a crucial ability of social animals, including humans. Although cross-modal individual recognition has been demonstrated in mammals, the extent of its use by birds remains unknown. Herein, we report the first evidence of cross-modal recognition of group members by a highly social bird, the large-billed crow ( Corvus macrorhynchos ). A cross-modal expectancy violation paradigm was used to test whether crows were sensitive to identity congruence between visual presentation of a group member and the subsequent playback of a contact call. Crows looked more rapidly and for a longer duration when the visual and auditory stimuli were incongruent than when congruent. Moreover, these responses were not observed with non-group member stimuli. These results indicate that crows spontaneously associate visual and auditory information of group members but not of non-group members, which is a demonstration of cross-modal ...

Restrictive nosebands are of growing concern because of their potential effect on equine welfare. This study evaluates archived radiographs of equine nasal bones for evidence of trauma and to test whether age, sex, or breed were risk factors for such radiographic changes. Radiographs of equine nasal bones (n ¼ 60) were studied for evidence of bony or soft tissue changes by a specialist radiologist blinded to their signalment. Horses with described changes were classified as possible cases and horses without changes, non-cases. The possible cases (n ¼ 9) were discussed with a second specialist radiologist following which the first radiologist reclassified 3 possible cases as non-cases. Radiographs were matched to the age, sex, and breed of each horse and associations with being a case were assessed using Fisher's exact tests. Of 60 horses assessed, 50% of Warmbloods (3/6), 11% of Thoroughbreds (2/18), and 20% of Australian Stock Horses (1/5) were cases. Warmbloods had a greater proportion of changes than other breeds (P ¼ 0.01). There were no statistically significant sex or age associations. The radiologists disagreed as to whether some changes were within normal anatomical variation or were radiographic artifacts but agreed that assessing equine nasal bones using existing radiographs was surprisingly difficult due to issues such as inconsistent radiographic technique and equipment, obliquity of many of the radiographs, and lack of objective data as to what comprises normal nasal bones. Further radiographic studies in this domain should consider the merits of a prospective sample, establish consistent radiography protocols, and aim to establish normality, perhaps by studying a control population that has not had human interventions, such as Australian wild brumbies.

This research aims at examining the learning performance of Arabian horses with the use of Join-up, Parelli's Seven Games, and Clicker methods in combination and separately. In the research, thirty-six Arabian mares were examined and combinations of training methods were applied. Before and after the application of each training method, horses were directed to pass through a narrow-spaces and to walk on a tarp. While applying training methods, stress parameters, behavioral responses, and learning responses of horses were evaluated. The highest heart rates of the training groups were being during the application of the Join-up method. When the Parelli method was performed last, the training duration was 13.3% shorter. In walk on tarp task, the highest success score was in Clicker Method (75%). In the triple combination of training, when the Join-up method was performed last, task success rates decreased (33.3%). However, when the Join-up method was performed first, the success rate was 100%. When Parelli's methods were applied last, conflict behaviors were prevented, all horses learned vocal cues, and trusted their trainers. During the application of the Clicker method, all horses learned vocal cues and trusted their trainers. It was concluded that the order of methods is so crucial.

As part of ongoing research into the relationship between HRV measures and behavior, we examined social isolation (SI) as a potential stressor in 8 Arabian horses. We hypothesized that horses displaying the strongest indication of behavioral distress would show HRV indicators of distress also. Horses were fitted with Polar heart rate monitors and 5 min of baseline HR, HRV and behavioral data were collected. Individually, horses were released into an isolated round pen. Five min of SI data were collected for HR, HRV and behavior, which was videotaped for later review. Post testing, an ethogram was developed. Behaviors deemed to indicate a level of distress (DB), e.g. vocalizing, defecating, pawing, bucking, snorting were counted as frequencies; behavioral states, e.g. trotting, cantering were recorded as duration. Heart rata data were analysed with Kubios software, version 2.2. HRV values were highly correlated (Pearson test) to combined behavioral scores (mean HR, r ¼ 0.99; SDRR, r ¼-0.99; RMSSD, r ¼-0.99; LF, r ¼ 0.98; HF, r ¼-0.98; LF/HF ratio, r ¼ 0.95) (all P values < 0.001). ANOVA was used to compare groups; analyses were performed using SPSS 17.1. The group average of baseline HR and HRV as compared to SI differed significantly. The basal mean HR ¼ 42.7 AE 6.89 bpm, whereas the SI average ¼ 120.11 AE 15.88 bpm (F 1,14 ¼ 45.0, P < 0.05). LF/HF ratio was 1.49 AE 0.15 for the basal average and 11.25 AE 3.58 for the SI average (F 1,14 ¼ 55.0, P <0.05). HRV measures were strongly correlated with behavioral indicators of distress.

Practitioners of Equine Assisted Activities and Therapies (EAAT) use these therapies to help individuals suffering from a wide range of physical and psychological disorders as an alternative practice in physical and psychotherapy. Although there is plenty of research to support the benefits of these therapies, there is little research in equine behavior in this context, specifically how equine behaviors can best be utilized to improve the health of the human component. Although much of EAAT uses horses in physical therapy, newer practices in EAAT focus on assisting individuals in building and improving interpersonal skills through practicing those skills with horses. To fully understand and develop this area of EAAT, researchers need to look at the behavioral patterns of horses, how they learn and adapt to changes in human emotions and behaviors, and how these behaviors correspond to bonding within equine-human interactions. To do this, scientists need to rely upon the principles of learning theory and behavioral sciences associated with comparative psychology. The scientific methods used in comparative psychology provide a strong foundation from which to research these areas of EAAT.

Rein tension is used to apply pressure to control both ridden and unridden horses. The pressure is delivered by equipment such as the bit, which may restrict voluntary movement and cause changes in behavior and physiology. Managing the effects of such pressure on arousal level and behavioral indicators will optimise horse learning outcomes. This study examined the effect of training horses to turn away from bit pressure on cardiac outcomes and behavior (including responsiveness) over the course of eight trials in a standardised learning task. The experimental procedure consisted of a resting phase, treatment/control phase, standardised learning trials requiring the horses (n = 68) to step backwards in response to bit pressure and a recovery phase. As expected, heart rate increased (P = 0.028) when the handler applied rein tension during the treatment phase. The amount of rein tension required to elicit a response during treatment was higher on the left than the right rein (P = 0.009). Total rein tension required for trials reduced (P < 0.001) as they progressed, as did time taken (P < 0.001) and steps taken (P < 0.001). The incidence of head tossing decreased (P = 0.015) with the progression of the trials and was higher (P = 0.018) for the control horses than the treated horses. These results suggest that preparing the horses for the lesson and slightly raising their arousal levels, improved learning outcomes.

Objective—To determine whether therapeutic riding resulted in higher levels of stress or frustration for horses than did recreational riding and whether therapeutic riding with at-risk individuals was more stressful for the horses than was therapeutic riding with individuals with physical or emotional handicaps. Design—Observational study. Animals—14 horses in a therapeutic riding program. Procedure—An ethogram of equine behaviors was created, and horses were observed while ridden by 5 groups of riders (recreational riders, physically handicapped riders, psychologically handicapped riders, atrisk children, and special education children). Number of stress-related behaviors (ears pinned back, head raised, head turned, head tossed, head shaken, head down, and defecation) was compared among groups. Results—No significant differences in mean number of stress-related behaviors were found when horses were ridden by recreational riders, physically handicapped riders, psychologically handic...

Tactile perception is involved in a variety of contexts (adaptations to climatic conditions, protection of the body against external dangers...) and is as important as the other sensory modalities for the survival of an individual. This tactile modality has been particularly well studied in humans, revealing high individual variations modulated by a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as age, sex, pathological disorders or temperament. Tactility is also involved in animals' social lives, although there are disparities between species. For example, social tactile contact among horses is limited, but this does not mean that they do not react to tactile stimuli but rather with their very thin skin they are able to detect minute stimuli (although they respond more to larger stimuli). Despite a fairly large effort to characterize it, there are controversies concerning equine tactile sensitivity. In this review, we examine studies that have used the same tool (Von Frey filaments) and try to disentangle what could explain the differences observed. It appears that many aspects are poorly known or controversial and that the procedures may be so different that the results of different studies cannot be compared. We went further by testing tactile reactivity of a population of unridden horses and found that four factors influenced their tactile reactivity (type of horse, filament size, body area, time of day). These results could explain some of the discrepancies observed in the literature and suggest, in particular, that more attention should be paid to the context of the test.