Study of crib‐biting and gastric inflammation and ulceration in young horses

Nicol, Christine J; Davidson, H P D; Harries, Priscilla; Waters, Alexander J.; Wilson, A D

doi:10.1136/vr.151.22.658

Cited by 138 publications

(85 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Gastric ulcers have been loosely associated with a range of clinical signs in adult horses, despite a paucity of strong epidemiological evidence to support these associations. Reported clinical signs include poor appetite or ‘picky eating’,7, 11, 33, 34 poor body condition, or weight loss,9, 11, 33 chronic diarrhea,11, 33 poor coat condition,7 bruxism,35 behavioral changes (including an aggressive or nervous disposition),12, 33, 36 acute or recurrent colic7, 11, 33, 37, 38, 39, and poor performance 7, 10, 33, 40, 41…”

Section: Clinical Signsmentioning

confidence: 99%

European College of Equine Internal Medicine Consensus Statement—Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome in Adult Horses

Sykes

Hewetson

Hepburn³

et al. 2015

Veterinary Internal Medicne

254

436

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Section: Clinical Signsmentioning

confidence: 99%

European College of Equine Internal Medicine Consensus Statement—Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome in Adult Horses

Sykes

Hewetson

Hepburn³

et al. 2015

Veterinary Internal Medicne

254

436

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“…Conversely, domestic/captive horses daily receive a limited number of high energy meals and a limited amount of roughage (e.g. Harris, 2005;Nicol et al, 2002). When domestic horses are placed as a group in a bare paddock and given a variety of enrichments including straw, branches, object, they showed a time limited interest in objects and the only efficient enrichment appeared to be the straw (providing thus foraging opportunity) (Jorgensen et al, 2011).…”

Section: Resources Availabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring aggression regulation in managed groups of horses Equus caballus

Fureix

Bourjade²,

Henry

et al. 2012

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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General rightsThis document is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Full terms of use are available: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/pure/about/ebr-terms 1 Exploring aggression regulation in managed groups of horses Equus caballusAbstract. Horses are highly social animals that have evolved to live in social groups.However, in modern husbandry systems, single housing prevails where horses experience social isolation, a challenge-to-welfare factor. One major reason for this single housing is the owners' concerns that horses may injure each other during aggressive encounters. However, in natural conditions, serious injuries due to aggressive encounters are rare. What could therefore explain the claimed risks of group living for domestic horses? Basing our questioning on the current knowledge of the social life of horses in natural conditions, we review different practices that may lead to higher levels of aggression in horses and propose practical solutions.Observations of natural and feral horses mostly indicate a predominance of low frequencies and mild forms of aggression, based on subtle communication signals and ritualized displays and made possible by group stability (i.e. stable composition), dominance hierarchy and learning of appropriate social skills by young horses. Obviously, adults play a major role here in canalizing undesirable behaviours, and social experience during development, associated with a diversity of social partners, seems to be a prerequisite for the young horse to become socially skilled.Given the natural propensity of horses to have a regulation of aggression in groups, the tendency to display more aggression in groups of domestic horses under some management practices seems clearly related to the conditions offered. We therefore review the managing practices that could trigger aggressiveness in horses. Non social practices (space, resource availability) and social practices (group size, stability of membership, composition and opportunities for social experiences during development) in groups of domestic horses are discussed here.2 Finally, we propose simple practical solutions leading to more peaceful interactions in groups of domestic horses, based on the knowledge of horses' natural social life which therefore should be enhanced (e.g. ensuring roughage availability, favouring group stability,, introducing socially experienced adults in groups of young horses;…). The state of the art indicates that many questions still need to be answered. Given the importance of the associated welfare issues and the consequences on the use of horses, further research is required, which could benefit horses… and humans.

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“…Reward behaviour has been connected as a causal factor with crib-biting (Nicol et al, 2002;Hemmings et al, 2007). The plasma leptin concentration was lower in crib-biting horses compared with controls and correlated negatively with crib-biting intensity during feeding .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Genetic evidence in other animal stereotypies has been established, including examples such as bank voles (Schoenecker and Heller, 2000) and compulsive dogs (Dodman et al, 2010). Stress, gastric discomfort and frustration caused by stall restrictions and early weaning (Nicol et al, 2002;Latham and Mason, 2008;Hothersall and Nicol, 2009) have been suggested as additional risk factors for equine crib-biting.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Post-feeding peaks of oral stereotypic behaviour have also been observed in pigs (Robert et al, 1993), cattle and sheep (Sambraus, 1985). An association between crib-biting and gastric ulceration (Nicol et al, 2002) and entrapment of the small intestine in the epiploic foramen (Archer et al, 2004) has been suggested. Crib-biting may occupy several hours of the horse's day with a high cribbing rate (up to 2000 repetitions), and can interfere with a horse's daily routines by reducing the time available for eating and resting (McGreevy and Nicol, 1998).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploration of known stereotypic behaviour-related candidate genes in equine crib-biting

Hemmann

Ahonen

Raekallio

et al. 2014

Animal

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Crib-biting in horses is a stereotypic oral behaviour. Genetic susceptibility has been suggested on a causal basis, together with environmental factors such as stress, gastric discomfort and frustration caused by stall restrictions. This study aimed to test the associations of known or suspected stereotypic genes with equine crib-biting, including Ghrelin, Ghrelin receptor, Leptin, Dopamine receptor, μ-opioid receptor, N-cadherin, Serotonin receptor and Semaphorin. We conducted a candidate gene study with a case-control design, including 98 crib-biting and 135 control horses of two breeds, Finnhorses and half-breds. Detailed phenotypic information on crib-biting behaviour was surveyed through an owner-completed questionnaire. Control horses were more than 10 years old and without a history of crib-biting. Single nucleotide polymorphisms flanking the candidate genes were genotyped using either Sanger sequencing or Taqman assays. According to the survey, the affected horses started crib-biting at a young age, had exhibited crib-biting for more than a year, and expressed the behaviour after feeding or when stressed. Comparison of allele frequencies between the cases and controls for each breed separately did not provide evidence of an association at any of the tested loci. These results suggest that the previously known stereotypic genes are not major risk factors for crib-biting in horses, and further genome-wide studies are warranted on larger sample cohorts.

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Study of crib‐biting and gastric inflammation and ulceration in young horses

Cited by 138 publications

References 16 publications

European College of Equine Internal Medicine Consensus Statement—Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome in Adult Horses

European College of Equine Internal Medicine Consensus Statement—Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome in Adult Horses

Exploring aggression regulation in managed groups of horses Equus caballus

Exploration of known stereotypic behaviour-related candidate genes in equine crib-biting

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