Responses of horses to novel visual, olfactory and auditory stimuli

Christensen, Janne Winther; Keeling, Linda J.; Nielsen, Birte L.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2005.06.017

Cited by 113 publications

(89 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…For the fear test (Dai et al, 2015a;Gorecka-Bruzda et al, 2011), minimum, maximum values and means and standard deviations were calculated; an ANOVA was used to identify possible links between fear behaviour shown by horses (e.g. freezing, prancing, vigilance, defecation/urination) (Le Wolff et al, 1997;Christensen et al, 2005;Forkman et al, 2007) and the latency to approach the novel object in the fear test. Latency was considered the dependent variable, and fear behaviour was introduced in the model as fixed effect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial outcomes of a harmonized approach to collect welfare data in sport and leisure horses

Costa

Dai

Lebelt³

et al. 2017

Animal

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A truthful snapshot of horse welfare conditions is a prerequisite for predicting the impact of any actions intended to improve the quality of life of horses. This can be achieved when welfare information, gathered by different assessors in diverse geographical areas, is valid, comparable and collected in a harmonized way. This paper aims to present the first outcomes of the Animal Welfare Indicators (AWIN) approach: the results of on-farm assessment and a reliable and harmonized data collection system. A total of 355 sport and leisure horses, stabled in 40 facilities in Italy and in Germany, were evaluated by three trained assessors using the AWIN welfare assessment protocol for horses. The AWINHorse app was used to collect, store and send data to a common server. Identified welfare issues were obesity, unsatisfactory box dimensions, long periods of confinement and lack of social interaction. The digitalized data collection was feasible in an on-farm environment, and our results suggest that this approach could prove useful in identifying the most relevant welfare issues of horses in Europe or worldwide.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Initial outcomes of a harmonized approach to collect welfare data in sport and leisure horses

Costa

Dai

Lebelt³

et al. 2017

Animal

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“…In several mammal species station and release systems are used on a regular basis, and were applied to equine studies in recent decades (e.g. Christensen et al 2005;Hanggi 1999). However, this was not practical for this field study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Horses (Equus caballus) use human local enhancement cues and adjust to human attention

et al. 2010

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This study evaluates the horse (Equus caballus) use of human local enhancement cues and reaction to human attention when making feeding decisions. The superior performance of dogs in observing human states of attention suggests this ability evolved with domestication. However, some species show an improved ability to read human cues through socialization and training. We observed 60 horses approach a bucket with feed in a three-way object choice task when confronted with a) an unfamiliar or b) a familiar person in 4 different situations: 1) squatting behind the bucket, facing the horse (2) standing behind the bucket, facing the horse (3) standing behind the bucket in a back-turned position, gazing away from the horse and (4) standing a few meters from the bucket in a distant, back-turned position, again gazing away from the horse. Additionally, postures 1 and 2 were tested both with the person looking permanently at the horse, and with the person alternating their gaze between the horse and the bucket. When the person remained behind the correct bucket it was chosen significantly above chance. However, when the test person was turned and distant from the buckets, the horses' performance deteriorated. In the turned person situations the horses approached a familiar person and walked towards their focus of attention significantly more often than with an unfamiliar person. Additionally, in the squatting and standing person situations, some horses approached the person before approaching the correct bucket. This happened more with a familiar person. We therefore conclude that horses can use humans as a local enhancement cue independently of their body posture or gaze consistency when the persons remain close to the food source, and that horses seem to orientate on the attention of familiar more than of unfamiliar persons. We suggest that socialization and training improve the ability of horses to read human cues.

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“…Horses may respond to stress situations by displaying behavioural changes, which can include physical activity such as struggling, kicking, pawing, jumping, rearing and bucking. The latter may lead to muscle exertion with muscle damage and consequently to increased activities of muscle enzymes (Boissy, 1995;Winther Christensen et al, 2005;Werner and Gallo, 2008). In the present study, the activities of CK and AST exceeded the upper value of normal ranges at all sampling times (Eades and Bounous, 1997).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…The latter might lead to changes of biochemical, haematological and oxidative stress variables (Mitchell et al, 1988;Wernicki et al, 2006;Miranda-de la Lama et al, 2010). Being fear and flight animals, horses can respond to different stressful conditions by displaying behavioural changes that might include strenuous physical activity with muscle damage and oxidative stress (Ishida et al, 1999;Winther Christensen et al, 2005;Werner and Gallo, 2008).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serum cortisol and haematological, biochemical and antioxidant enzyme variables in horse blood sampled in a slaughterhouse lairage, immediately before stunning and during exsanguination

Svete

Čebulj‐Kadunc

Frangež

et al. 2012

Animal

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The aim of the study was to determine changes of serum cortisol and biochemical, haematological and antioxidant enzyme variables in the blood of horses sampled during the pre-slaughter period (in the lairage and in the stunning box) and during exsanguination. A total of 24 Slovenian warm-blooded horses were observed. Blood samples for determination of serum cortisol and biochemical, haematological (red blood cell count, haematocrit, haemaglobin concentration) and antioxidant enzyme (whole blood superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase) variables were collected by venipuncture of the left jugular vein in the lairage pen, 60 min before stunning (lairage) and immediately before stunning (stunning box). At exsanguination, blood samples were collected from the wound at the time of jugular vein sticking. During blood collection in the lairage pen and in the stunning box, horses were gently restrained with a halter. They were stunned using a penetrating captive bolt pistol impelled by air and were bled by jugular vein sticking. Horses were physically active in the lairage pen and in the race before entering the stunning box. After stunning, the horses showed paddling movements with their legs. In horses, the plasma lactate and glucose concentrations, the serum potassium concentration, the activities of the serum muscle enzymes aspartate aminotransferase and creatine kinase, and values of most of the other biochemical (Table 1) and haematological variables (Table 2), were significantly (P< 0.05) higher at exsanguination, than in blood sampled while they were in the lairage and in the stunning box. The serum concentrations of cortisol and chloride and the activities of alanine aminotransferase and antioxidant enzymes were not significantly different between the pre-slaughter period and exsanguination. All selected blood variables were not significantly different between the lairge and the stunning box sampling time, indicating no physiological stress responses of the investigated horses to stressors, such as novelty of the pre-slaughter environment and handling, present in the slaughterhouse between the lairage and the stunning box. However, the significantly higher values, at exsanguination, for the plasma lactate and glucose concentrations, serum muscle enzyme activities and haematological variables, than during the pre-slaughter period, might partially be attributed to stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, caused by stunning and bleeding.

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Responses of horses to novel visual, olfactory and auditory stimuli

Cited by 113 publications

References 18 publications

Initial outcomes of a harmonized approach to collect welfare data in sport and leisure horses

Initial outcomes of a harmonized approach to collect welfare data in sport and leisure horses

Horses (Equus caballus) use human local enhancement cues and adjust to human attention

Serum cortisol and haematological, biochemical and antioxidant enzyme variables in horse blood sampled in a slaughterhouse lairage, immediately before stunning and during exsanguination

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