Assessment of mental stress in warmblood horses: heart rate variability in comparison to heart rate and selected behavioural parameters

Rietmann, T R; Stuart, A. E.; Bernasconi, Paolo; Stauffacher, Markus; Auer, Jörg A; Weishaupt, Michael A

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2004.02.016

Cited by 155 publications

(136 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…During the study, significant changes were observed in HR with the highest values reached during and immediately after the jumping course (mean HR: 176 ± 12 bpm). The official competition itself probably represented a contributing factor to HR increase, as mental stress (Rietmann et al, 2004) and emotionality (Visser et al, 2002;Jansen et al, 2009) might play a role in affecting HR during the course. Effectively, the use of the GPS/HR monitoring system allowed us to simultaneously record the horses' HR and speed changes, showing high HR values despite a low mean speed during the inbound to the show jumping arena before competing.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of a combined global positioning and heart rate monitoring system in jumper horses during an official competition — A preliminary study

Bazzano

Giudice

Rizzo

et al. 2016

Acta Veterinaria Hungarica

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The aim of this study was to investigate whether a combined global positioning system (GPS)/heart rate (HR) monitoring system is a valuable tool to assess, step by step, the physiological response of HR and its relationship with speed in healthy horses competing in an official show jumping class. Six mares performing a standardised warm-up and jumping course were monitored using a HR/GPS device. Venous blood lactate (BL), assessed before and after exercise, showed a significant increase (P = 0.0004) following the physical effort. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant changes in HR throughout the experimental period. The analysis of HR data recorded during the warm-up jumping stage showed significantly higher HR (P = 0.001) in the recovery period compared to the related jumping phase. Shifting the fence height from 100 cm to 125 cm during the warm-up jumps was also found to cause a significant increase (P = 0.016) in HR. According to these preliminary results, the simultaneous logging of heart rate and speed has the potential to be a reliable and powerful technique for field testing that can help in the monitoring of the horse's response to jumping effort during training and competition.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Application of a combined global positioning and heart rate monitoring system in jumper horses during an official competition — A preliminary study

Bazzano

Giudice

Rizzo

et al. 2016

Acta Veterinaria Hungarica

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“…Taka ocena może w pozytywny sposób przełożyć się na dobrostan i wyniki osiągane przez konie w gonitwach (3,4). Dowiedziono jednak, że ocena przeprowadzona wyłącznie na podstawie obserwacji behawioralnych może być niedokładna, a nawet niekiedy sprzeczna z faktycznym stanem fizjologicznym zwierzęcia (16,19).…”

Section: Praca Oryginalnaunclassified

“…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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“…Kierowanie uszu w stronę trenera wymienia Kruger (6). Wysoka pozycja głowy oznacza, iż pysk konia znajduje się powyżej poziomu kłębu, natomiast niska, że sięga poniżej linii brzucha (10). Jako kierowanie głowy w stronę trenera uznawano zwrócenie jej co najmniej o 45° w stosunku do tułowia.…”

Section: Materiał I Metodyunclassified

Frequency of various kinds of behaviour and emotional excitability in Thoroughbred yearlings trained by natural methods

Janczarek

Stachurska

Wilk

et al. 2016

Medycyna Weterynaryjna

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Naturalne metody treningu koni (inaczej zwane sympatycznymi) są stosowane coraz powszechniej. Uważa się, że za ich pomocą można łatwiej kontrolować zachowanie koni niż w treningu tradycyjnym, gdyż człowiek opiera się tu na zrozumieniu mowy ciała zwierzęcia, a sygnały przekazywane przez człowieka mają być także zrozumiałe dla zwierzęcia. Stosowanie metod naturalnych ogranicza stres konia i zapobiega występowaniu takich negatywnych emocji, jak strach czy agresja. Skuteczność tych metod zależy przede wszystkim od prawidłowej interpretacji zachowania konia, która z kolei wynika z wiedzy człowieka i jego doświadczenia. Kiedy koń wyraża akceptację danego zadania i uległość, np. skierowuje uszy w stronę trenera czy zwalnia chód i obniża szyję, trener przechodzi do następnych etapów treningu (5). Nieprawidłowa interpretacja zachowania może natomiast prowadzić do nieporozumień i w ten sposób zaburzyć proces uczenia się konia. W przypadku treningu prowadzonego przez mało doświadczonych trenerów obserwowano u koni, szczególnie ogierów, wystąpienie zachowań agresywnych (16).Metody oceny emocji zwierząt oparte wyłącznie o bezpośrednie obserwacje są obarczone błędem wynikającym z częstej niezgodności między zachowaniem a fizjologiczną reakcją organizmu (8). Aby dogłębnie poznać procesy behawioralne koni, badania powinny uwzględniać wskaźniki fizjologiczne towarzyszące poszczególnym reakcjom (17). Szczególną uwagę poświęca się analizie pracy serca. Frequency of various kinds of behaviour and emotional excitability in Thoroughbred yearlings trained by natural methodsSummary The objective of the study was to determine the activity of the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems associated with various kinds of behaviour in Thoroughbred yearlings during initial training by natural methods. The initial training lasted approximately one hour a day for three successive days. Each day, the behaviour of each colt during the first 15 minutes of training was filmed. During training, a telemetric device was used to measure heart rhythm parameters: heart rate (HR per minute), which shows the activity level of the sympathetic system, and RMSSD (root mean square of two successive RR intervals in QRS curve; ms), illustrating the activity level of the parasympathetic system. On the basis of the film, the frequency of 10 most typical kinds of behaviour was estimated. The synchronization of the film with the heart rhythm parameters record made it possible to determine the mean values of these parameters for particular kinds of behaviour. The results show that on the successive days of training, the activity of the parasympathetic part of the autonomic system increased, and the frequency of reactions decreased. The heart rhythm parameters show that, among the typical reactions to training, four kinds of behaviour are desirable: turning the head towards the trainer, low position of the head, turning ears towards the trainer and licking the lips. Other kinds of behaviour, that is, running away, a high position of the head, vocalization, teeth grin...

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Assessment of mental stress in warmblood horses: heart rate variability in comparison to heart rate and selected behavioural parameters

Cited by 155 publications

References 40 publications

Application of a combined global positioning and heart rate monitoring system in jumper horses during an official competition — A preliminary study

Application of a combined global positioning and heart rate monitoring system in jumper horses during an official competition — A preliminary study

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

Frequency of various kinds of behaviour and emotional excitability in Thoroughbred yearlings trained by natural methods

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