This work aimed to apply a combined qualitative and quantitative approach to the interpretation of an onfarm behaviour test for horses, and to examine whether 1 month of handling would affect the response of yearlings to an unfamiliar stationary human in their home environment. Throughout a 1-month period, 14 Thoroughbred Yearlings (16 ± 0.22 months old) that had formerly experienced minimal contact with humans, were handled daily for about 45 min. The yearlings were tested twice, just before and just after the handling period. The behaviour of the horses during the tests was both video-recorded and directly recorded by the experimenter using an instantaneous time sampling recording method. Quantitative analysis of these data was achieved using principal component analysis (PCA). Qualitative analysis took place from video clips using a free choice profiling (FCP)methodology that requires observers to generate their own qualitative descriptors of behaviour, and in a second phase instructs these observers to quantify their personal descriptors on a Visual Analogue Scale. Observers were 21 veterinarians who were unaware that the horses had been handled in half of the clips and not in the other half. The data generated through FCP assessment were analysed using generalised procrustes analysis (GPA). Any differences in behaviour that may have occurred before and after the handling period were evaluated by comparing horse scores on the main PCA and GPA factors using a Wilcoxon matched-pairs test. To compare qualitative and quantitative assessments, both the quantitative behaviour measures and the qualitative behaviour scores were correlated to the main PCA factors obtained from the quantitative analysis using Spearman's rank correlation. PCA analysis revealed three main factors (explaining 30%, 23% and 21% of the total variation between horses, respectively). The first factor showed high-negative loadings for immobile behaviour and high-positive loadings for contact and nibbling behaviour, and indicated that the horses tended to be more inclined to approach and contact the experimenter after handling (p = 0.08). GPA analysis revealed two main factors of expression (explaining 51.4% and 10.2%, respectively). Both factors indicated significant qualitative differences in the behavioural style of yearlings before and after handling (p < 0.05 and <0.01, respectively), characterising yearlings as 'suspicious/nervous' and 'impatient/reactive' before handling, and as 'explorative/sociable' and 'calm/apathetic' after handling. The correlation betweenGPAfactor1 scores with PCA factor 1 scores was highly significant (Spearman's r = 0.75; p < 0.001), while those between GPA factor 2 scores with PCA factor 2 and 3 scores were not significant (r =-0.255; ns and r = 0.251; ns, respectively). On the whole a meaningful relationship was found to exist between the quantitative and qualitative behavioural assessments of the horses' behaviour, indicating that these methods may be usefully combined in interpreting a behavioural test involvi...

Measuring behaviour, especially oral behaviour, has always been a debated issue: therefore the aim of this paper is to closely examine the study of oral behaviour in calves and the approaching methodology. Behavioural observations were conducted by two media (direct observations by check sheets and indirect observations by videotapes recorded by cameras connected to a digital field switcher and a time-lapse video recorder) in order to compare data and assess the reliability and validity of the two methods in identifying some oral behavioural patterns in calves. The study was carried out on 54 Polish Friesian calves housed in group pens and in individual crates. The behaviour of the calves was investigated during the fattening period on the 2 nd , 7 th , 13 th , 18 th and 23 rd week, one hour before and one hour after each of the two meals. Two experienced observers checked the behaviour of the calves, including oral behaviours on structures and buckets and oral stereotypies, by direct observations using a scan sampling every 2 minutes. The calves' behaviour was also video recorded on the same days in which the direct observations were carried out and analysed by the same two observers. Percentages of time spent on each type of behaviour were calculated and analysed by Chi-square test. Regardless of the housing system, the comparison between direct and indirect observations revealed significant differences in almost every behavioural category. Licking, biting and nibbling structures, nibbling and sucking the bucket, playing with the bucket and the teat, chewing and oral stereotypies were significantly higher in direct observations compared to indirect (P < 0.001), while inactivity was higher in video recorded observations (P < 0.001).In conclusion, regardless of the type of housing, our results revealed an objective difficulty in analysing videotapes with very detailed behavioural categories, like oral behaviours. Although video recording can certainly represent a useful and practical alternative to direct observations in many situations, the video recording system used in this study for investigating calves' oral behaviour, in spite of the use of multiple cameras, could not replace direct observations, probably due to the restricted field of view, the low depth of focus, the black and white vision, the lack of audio and the time-lapse feature.