The effects of transport, riot control training and night patrols on the workload and stress of mounted police horses

Munsters, Carolien C.B.M.; Broek, J. van den; Weeren, René van; Oldruitenborgh‐Oosterbaan, M.M. Sloet van

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2012.10.019

Cited by 13 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Other stress-indicators that have been used in horses include (see also table 1) plasma or blood lactate levels (Powell et al, 2008;Fazio et al, 2013;Munsters et al, 2013), plasma ascorbic acid (Baucus et al, 1990), prolactin (Colborn et al, 1991),iodothyronine (Medica et al, 2011), oestradial-17β (Medica et al, 2011), serum creatin kinase activity (Powell et al, 2008), packed cell volume (Sloet van Oldruitenborgh-Oosterbaan et al, 2006), ACTH (Ferlazzo et al, 2012;Fazio et al, 2013) and plasma β-endorphin (McCarthy et al, 1993;Gillham et al, 1994;McGreevy and Nicol, 1998;Niinistö et al, 2010;Ferlazzo et al, 2012) as well as various other parameters for example, related to blood chemistry (e.g., De Rantere et al, 2007) and immune function (Malinowski et al, 2006). However, all these parameters are predominantly linked to physiological workload or other physiological processes in the body, and it is questionable to what extent, if any, these parameters can serve to detect psychological stress.…”

Section: Other Endocrine or Humoral Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indicators of stress in equitation

Borstel

Visser²,

Hall

2017

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Information on equine stress levels are important in evaluating many aspects of horse management and training. For example, for correct assessment of equine welfare, implications of training and handling procedures, success of training and the interpretation of equine temperament. Stress is a generic concept describing the body's reaction to external stimuli, including both physiological and psychological factors. Therefore, by definition, the assessment of psychological stress in the exercising horse encompasses the problem of teasing apart the psychological and physiological factors both of which result in stress responses.. The present paper reviews the existing literature on various measures of stress taken specifically in the context of equitation science. Particular attention has been paid to short-term effects, and commonly used measurements of short-term stress include heart rate, a number of heart rate variability parameters, blood or saliva cortisol levels, eye temperature, and various behaviour parameters including in particular behaviour patterns presumably indicative of conflict with the rider's/trainer's aids. Inspection of the individual studies' results revealed that disagreement between these different measures of stress is commonplace. For physiological parameters, the largest proportion of agreement (i.e. both parameters simultaneously indicated either higher, non-significant or lower stress compared to a control treatment) was found for heart rate and heart rate variability parameters, while generally limited agreement was found for cortisol and cardiovascular parameters. It appears that cortisol levels may not be particularly useful for assessment of the valence of a situation in the exercising horse as cortisol levels are predominantly linked to activity and exercise levels. Although heart rate variability parameters reflect in theory more closely sympathovagal balance compared to cortisol levels, great care has to be taken regarding the use of appropriate equipment, time-frames, as well as raw data correction. In spite of its widespread and apparently successful use, popular equipment may in fact not be accurate enough under 2 field conditions. Eye temperature is another promising parameter for assessment of psychological stress, but the technique is likewise susceptible to application errors. Given the high susceptibility of physiological parameters to errors at various experimental stages, behavioural rather than physiological parameters may in fact provide more accurate measures of valence when conducting experiments in the exercising horse. Behavioural parameters that appear to be particularly practical in assessing stress in ridden horses' behaviour are frequencies of behaviour patterns indicative of conflict. However, while increased frequencies of behaviour patterns indicative of conflict are a good indicator of stress, the absence of conflict behaviour does not provide proof of the absence of stress due to the possible occurrence of conditions such as Learned Helplessness. In future...

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Section: Other Endocrine or Humoral Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Indicators of stress in equitation

Borstel

Visser²,

Hall

2017

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…Anxiety in police horses during riot control training and night patrols was assessed using a ten-point scale whereby each level of anxiety was defined by listing the associated behaviour indicative of this state (Munsters et al, 2013). Behavioural events in this case related primarily to ear position, position of the head and neck and the speed and direction of movement in relation to an identified object.…”

Section: Situational Evidencementioning

confidence: 99%

The role of the ethogram in equitation science

Hall

Heleski

2017

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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The development of a comprehensive ethogram that could be used to record the behaviour of the ridden horse in a range of different scenarios would provide a valuable resource for researchers within Equitation Science. However, the relevance of the behaviours included in such an ethogram and guidelines on how these behaviours should be interpreted need to be resolved before such a resource could be universally adopted. The aim of this review is to summarise and evaluate the ethograms used by researchers within Equitation Science to date, including comparisons between studies and information relating to additional measures taken. Evidence for behavioural interpretation based on equine social behaviour, qualitative behavioural assessment, physiological measures, specific situations and subjective assessment of 'rideability' is discussed with reference to the results and conclusions drawn by the authors of the studies included in the review. The behavioural signs of conflict between horse and rider and the potential sources of this conflict, including discomfort, pain, fear and frustration, are identified. To date the most common use of ridden horse ethograms has been in the evaluation of training methods and dressage performance, with the spotlight being on welfare concerns, in particular in relation to head and neck position. It is suggested that future work should include the development of ethograms that are relevant in other equestrian disciplines, where they have the potential to contribute to furthering understanding of the challenges faced by ridden horses and the behaviours associated with positive and negative responses to these. Although the association between specific behaviours and physiological measures was found to be inconsistent in many cases, and individual differences occurred, behavioural observation is still the primary means of evaluating the performance and welfare of the ridden horse. Consequently it is imperative to know what behaviours are important and why. By combining the evidence from the range of available sources it will be possible to get closer to an accurate interpretation of the meaning of different ridden horse behaviours. The evaluation of training methods and the adoption of appropriate performance criteria will only be possible when there is sufficient evidence on which to base these conclusions. .

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“…HR and/or HRV (using time-domain analysis and frequency-domain analysis) have been used to define the welfare and quantify the degree of psychological stress for horses undergoing various tasks, including initial training [ 2 , 8 , 9 , 10 ], desensitization to alarming stimuli [ 11 ], public competition [ 12 , 13 ], ridden obstacle tests [ 14 ], forced-backward movement [ 15 ], novel object/startle tests [ 16 , 17 ], transportation [ 18 , 19 ], and sudden individual stabling [ 20 ], all of which are possible events which horses used in Monty Roberts’ public demonstrations may experience. In addition, during these demonstrations Monty Roberts uses a method called Join-up ® [ 21 ] which has been considered by some as fear evoking via hypothesized overt activation of the flight response [ 22 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Monty Roberts’ Public Demonstrations: Preliminary Report on the Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability of Horses Undergoing Training during Live Audience Events

Loftus

Marks²,

McVey

et al. 2016

Animals

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Simple SummaryMonty Roberts is a famous horse trainer, commonly referred to as a ‘horse whisperer’, who shares his training methods all over the world, including through large public audience events. These events have the potential to compromise the horse’s welfare since the horses have usually been transported to the event on the day and stabled in an unfamiliar environment before being used in demonstrations watched by hundreds of people. This paper describes the opportunistic collection and analysis of heart rate (HR; beat-to-beat intervals) and heart rate variability (HRV) of horses being trained during Monty Roberts’ public demonstrations within the United Kingdom. HR and HRV measured during the demonstrations were lower (indicative of an increase in heart rate as measured in beats-per-minute) than recordings within the stable and consistent with low-moderate exercise intensities used during training. The HR and HRV during a specific training method known as “Join-up®” were comparable to other methods of training used by Monty Roberts during public demonstrations. In conclusion, training of horses during public demonstrations is a low-moderate physiological, rather than psychological stressor for horses, with the stress response comparable or less than those previously reported in the literature for horses being trained outside of public audience events. Furthermore, we found no evidence that Join-up® alters HR and HRV in a way to suggest that this training method negatively affects the psychological welfare of horses.AbstractEffective training of horses relies on the trainer’s awareness of learning theory and equine ethology, and should be undertaken with skill and time. Some trainers, such as Monty Roberts, share their methods through the medium of public demonstrations. This paper describes the opportunistic analysis of beat-to-beat (RR) intervals and heart rate variability (HRV) of ten horses being used in Monty Roberts’ public demonstrations within the United Kingdom. RR and HRV was measured in the stable before training and during training. The HRV variables standard deviation of the RR interval (SDRR), root mean square of successive RR differences (RMSSD), geometric means standard deviation 1 (SD1) and 2 (SD2), along with the low and high frequency ratio (LF/HF ratio) were calculated. The minimum, average and maximum RR intervals were significantly lower in training (indicative of an increase in heart rate as measured in beats-per-minute) than in the stable (p = 0.0006; p = 0.01; p = 0.03). SDRR, RMSSD, SD1, SD2 and the LF/HF ratio were all significantly lower in training than in the stable (p = 0.001; p = 0.049; p = 0.049; p = 0.001; p = 0.01). When comparing the HR and HRV of horses during Join-up® to overall training, there were no significant differences in any variable with the exception of maximum RR which was significantly lower (p = 0.007) during Join-up®, indicative of short increases in physical exertion (canter) associated with this training exercise. In conclusion, training of horses durin...

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The effects of transport, riot control training and night patrols on the workload and stress of mounted police horses

Cited by 13 publications

References 25 publications

Indicators of stress in equitation

Indicators of stress in equitation

The role of the ethogram in equitation science

Monty Roberts’ Public Demonstrations: Preliminary Report on the Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability of Horses Undergoing Training during Live Audience Events

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