Gently handled foals generalize responses to humans

Abstract

Equines perform tasks along humans, and there are evidences and controversies that they are able to discriminate between familiar and unfamiliar humans. This study assessed whether foals can discriminate between humans in terms of familiarity and human experience in equine handling. Daily, in the first two weeks of life, 30 foals went through a short section of gentle handling. After about four months, a human forced approach test was carried out by 4 evaluators varying in the familiarity aspect and experience with equine handling. Data was submitted to the McNemar test (P<0.05). In 66.7% of the assessments, the foals accepted the human approach, and among the positive cases, 60.0% were characterized by seeking contact with the evaluators. Among the foals that accepted the human approach, 97.5% also accepted tactile stimulation. No differences were found regarding the familiarity of the evaluators (P>0.05) or their experience in equine handling (P>0.05). The individual variation was evident, which indicates that we must work with personalized training techniques, in which the behavior of each individual is the main factor to be considered. Our results show that the adoption of good handling practices with foals favored their relationship with humans, and it is possible to assume that such practices can improve animal welfare, as well as the safety of the humans that will have contact with them in the future.

Forced Handling Decreases Emotionality but Does Not Improve Young Horses’ Responses toward Humans and their Adaptability to Stress

“…Handling, stroking, or “gentling” [ 29 ] an animal is traditionally assumed to be a positive procedure and to have beneficial effects on animal behavior and physiology of some species. But in horses, while some studies state that forcing human contact or handling is perceived as positive [ 25 , 28 , 29 , 30 ], others disagree [ 33 , 34 , 36 ], making the topic controversial. With handling, fundamentally, the animal learns through habituation [ 27 ] to identify irrelevant specific stimuli and diminishes reactivity toward them [ 12 ].…”

“…The person inside the paddock was unknown to the foals, but it is not certain if the presence of a familiar person would help the young horses feel safer while facing potential threats [ 24 ], and they would most probably generalize their responses [ 28 ]. For example, Schmidek [ 28 ] observed that gently handled foals did not discriminate between handlers regarding their familiarity or experience, while Ijichi [ 24 ] observed the opposite when comparing horse owners to unfamiliar handlers during mildly stressful handling procedures. However, more research is needed on the extent of generalization of handling experiences.…”

“…The handling procedure was adapted from our previous work [ 31 ] and followed the methodology first described by Miller [ 44 ] and modified by Henry [ 28 ] and Schmideck [ 29 ] regarding the time it was performed and it being performed with the foals standing up. Three months of age was the timeframe chosen for the start of the experiment, as this is the usual age for the first consult performed by a veterinarian for routine examination.…”

“…A review of the literature suggests that human interactions may simply consist of habituation to any contact stimulus (brushing, haltering, etc.) [ 21 , 22 , 25 ], and the continuous repetition of such stimuli, until they become neutral, has been named handling [ 26 , 27 , 28 ].…”

“…Early handling of young horses is suggested to be a good strategy for improving relationships with humans [ 28 , 29 ] and manageability [ 30 ] and reducing emotional reactivity or fearfulness [ 31 , 32 , 33 ]. However, some studies have led to contradictory results, possibly due to the heterogeneity of study designs, the time handling was performed, and the type or duration of the contact.…”