Experts' assessment of temperament in sport horses

Visser, Kathalijne; Karlas, Karin; Deurzen, Ine Van; Workel, Inge; Reenen, Kees van

doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2009.11.003

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…The scale was adapted from a scoring system used by 67 Visser et al (2010) to assess the temperaments of sports horses exposed to novel 68 objects, not to evaluate stress responses. Some level of experience/expertise was 69 needed to accurately assess temperament in this latter study.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel scale of behavioural indicators of stress for use with domestic horses

Young

Creighton

Smith

et al. 2012

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

132

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

A novel scale of behavioural indicators of stress for use with domestic horses

Young

Creighton

Smith

et al. 2012

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

132

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“…Na konieczność wykorzystania parametrów biochemiczno-fizjologicznych w ocenie stanu psychosomatycznego koni wskazuje także wielu autorów (19,22,25,27). Podkreślają oni również, że wszelkiego rodzaju metody oceny behawioralnej powinny być przeprowadzane przez osoby bardzo doświadczone, gdyż ekspresja wyrażania odczuć przez zwierzęta jest niekiedy bardzo dyskretna, co może powodować utratę nawet najistotniejszych informacji.…”

Section: Tab 3 Stężenie Kortyzolu W śLinie Badanych Koniunclassified

Visual and behavioral assessment versus cortisol level and racing performance in Purebred Arabian horses

Janczarek¹,

Kędzierski²,

Wilk³

et al. 2018

Medycyna Weterynaryjna

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SummaryThis paper analyses the hypothesis that there is a link between the psychophysical traits of horses trained for racing and the level of cortisol in the saliva and performance results in competitions. Based on this hypothesis, the objective of the study was to analyse the correlation between the evaluations of the psychosomatic status and the concentration of cortisol and performance parameters in racing horses. The study was carried out with 30 Purebred Arabian horses (15 stallions and 15 mares), aged 34-38 months. On the initial day of the experiment, the horses were kept in the area of the Służewiec Racetrack where they had arrived 3-4 months earlier. The horses were examined once, 2-3 days before the planned start of the first race. The examination was carried out during a daily training session. The visual and behavioural scores for the psychosomatic status of the horse were scaled from 1 to 5 and assigned by a trainer three times. The first assessment took place directly after physical exercise, the second 15 minutes following physical exercise, while the third one was 45 minutes after physical exercise. The following features were included: the manner of perspiration and some organoleptic characteristics of sweat, abdominal movements, gaze, head position and body movements during handling. The saliva for cortisol concentration measurements was sampled three times at time points coinciding with the observation of the psychosomatic status of the horses. The concentration of cortisol was determined with the immune-enzymatic method. In addition, an analysis of the selected performance parameters was conducted. The multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measurements, t-Tukey's test and Spearman's rank correlations were performed. It was demonstrated that the assessment of the psychosomatic status in Purebred Arabian horses may be applied based only on an analysis of some parameters determined directly after physical exercise or during the first minutes of resting (regeneration). These elements mainly include the manner of sweating and various organoleptic features of the sweat. It was also emphasized that non-observable body movements, calming down during handling, and regular abdominal movements are beneficial for stallions.

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“…For each test, a BS of each horse was given by an experienced observer on a 0 to 5 scale (Table 1), adapted from the study of Munsters et al (2012) and Visser et al (2010). To make this as 'blinded' as possible, the assessment was done by the first author 1 month later in a randomized order.…”

Section: Bs and Ppsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Physiological and behavioral responses of horses during police training

Munsters

Visser

Broek

et al. 2013

Animal

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Mounted police horses have to cope with challenging, unpredictable situations when on duty and it is essential to gain insight into how these horses handle stress to warrant their welfare. The aim of the study was to evaluate physiological and behavioral responses of 12 (six experienced and six inexperienced) police horses during police training. Horses were evaluated during four test settings at three time points over a 7-week period: outdoor track test, street track test, indoor arena test and smoke machine test. Heart rate (HR; beats/min), HR variability (HRV; root means square of successive differences; ms), behavior score (BS; scores 0 to 5) and standard police performance score (PPS; scores 1 to 0) were obtained per test. All data were statistically evaluated using a linear mixed model (Akaike's Information criterium; t . 2.00) or logistic regression (P , 0.05). HR of horses was increased at indoor arena test (98 6 26) and smoke machine test (107 6 25) compared with outdoor track (80 6 12, t 5 2.83 and t 5 3.91, respectively) and street track tests (81 6 14, t 5 2.48 and t 5 3.52, respectively). HRV of horses at the indoor arena test (42.4 6 50.2) was significantly lower compared with street track test (85.7 6 94.3 and t 5 2.78). BS did not show significant differences between tests and HR of horses was not always correlated with the observed moderate behavioral responses. HR, HRV, PPS and BS did not differ between repetition of tests and there were no significant differences in any of the four tests between experienced and inexperienced horses. No habituation occurred during the test weeks, and experience as a police horse does not seem to be a key factor in how these horses handle stress. All horses showed only modest behavioral responses, and HR may provide complimentary information for individual evaluation and welfare assessment of these horses. Overall, little evidence of stress was observed during these police training tests. As three of these tests (excluding the indoor arena test) reflect normal police work, it is suggested that this kind of police work is not significantly stressful for horses and will have no negative impact on the horse's welfare.

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Experts' assessment of temperament in sport horses

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

A novel scale of behavioural indicators of stress for use with domestic horses

A novel scale of behavioural indicators of stress for use with domestic horses

Visual and behavioral assessment versus cortisol level and racing performance in Purebred Arabian horses

Physiological and behavioral responses of horses during police training

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