Behavioral, demographic, and management influences on equine responses to negative reinforcement

Fenner, Kate; Freire, Rafael; McLean, Andrew N.; McGreevy, Paul D.

doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2018.08.007

Cited by 16 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…Sex-related stereotypes are common in equestrian contexts, where mares are sometimes perceived by riders and trainers as having inherent temperament traits that are undesirable [6,13]. This is evident throughout the equestrian literature as riders and trainers often report a preference to work with horses of one sex rather than the other [6,8,14]. As described earlier, this may be anecdotally explained by the various equine temperamental requirements of the diverse horse sports.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Today, horses are bred and trained mainly for sport and recreational purposes, including competition riding and leisure riding [1,6,7]. As partnership styles within the human-horse dyad have evolved, the value of attributes such as social behaviour and temperament have become increasingly important as they influence horses' merit as riding partners and companions [8,9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Reported Behavioural Differences between Geldings and Mares Challenge Sex-Driven Stereotypes in Ridden Equine Behaviour

Aune

Fenner

Wilson

et al. 2020

Animals

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Horse trainers and riders may have preconceived ideas of horse temperament based solely on the sex of the horse. A study (n = 1233) of horse enthusiasts (75% of whom had more than 8 years of riding experience) revealed that riders prefer geldings over mares and stallions. While these data may reflect different sex preferences in horses used for sport, they may also reduce the chances of some horses reaching their performance potential. Further, an unfounded sex prejudice is likely to contribute to unconscious bias when perceiving unwanted behaviours, simplistically attributing them to demographic characteristics rather than more complex legacies of training and prior learning. The current study analysed reported sex-related behavioural differences in ridden and non-ridden horses using data from responses to the pilot study of the Equine Behaviour Assessment and Research Questionnaire (E-BARQ) survey. Respondents (n = 1233) reported on the behaviour of their horse using a 151-item questionnaire. Data were searched for responses relating to mares and geldings, and 110 traits with the greatest percentage difference scores between mares and geldings were selected were tested for univariate significance at p < 0.2. Multivariable modelling of the effect of sex (mare or gelding) on remaining traits was assessed by ordinal logistic regression, using a cumulative proportional log odds model. Results revealed mares were significantly more likely to move away when being caught compared to geldings (p = 0.003). Geldings were significantly more likely to chew on lead ropes when tied (p = 0.003) and to chew on rugs (p = 0.024). However, despite sex-related differences in these non-ridden behaviours, there was no evidence of any significant sex-related differences in the behaviours of the horses when ridden. This finding suggests that ridden horse behaviour is not sexually dimorphic or that particular horse sports variously favour one sex over another.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reported Behavioural Differences between Geldings and Mares Challenge Sex-Driven Stereotypes in Ridden Equine Behaviour

Aune

Fenner

Wilson

et al. 2020

Animals

Self Cite

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“…In horses, performance in different types of tasks such as dressage and racing was found to be associated with laterality. For instance, studies have shown that horses led from the left side (the side horses are traditionally handled from [128]) had higher trotting speeds [118] and needed less pressure to be pushed into movement [113]. However, another study found opposite results, with right-sided training resulting in faster task completion [128], which they attributed to desensitization to negative reinforcement on the left due to regular training on this side.…”

Section: Production and Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, studies have shown that horses led from the left side (the side horses are traditionally handled from [128]) had higher trotting speeds [118] and needed less pressure to be pushed into movement [113]. However, another study found opposite results, with right-sided training resulting in faster task completion [128], which they attributed to desensitization to negative reinforcement on the left due to regular training on this side. In addition, since most sports require horses to perform symmetrically [94,97,120], strongly lateralized horses were found to require a longer period of training to even out sidedness in their performance [94].…”

Section: Production and Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Altogether, these findings suggest that laterality is associated with production and performance and should be taken into account in farm/sport practice. To some extent, laterality is already an important aspect of horse training, with a traditional practice to handle horses mainly from the left side [128] and an aim to achieve symmetrical performance [94,97]. However, acquired knowledge on lateralized fear responses and training success in horses [68,128] would help to adapt this practice to improve training results.…”

Section: Production and Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

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From Science to Practice: A Review of Laterality Research on Ungulate Livestock

Leliveld

2019

Symmetry

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In functional laterality research, most ungulate livestock species have until recently been mainly overlooked. However, there are many scientific and practical benefits of studying laterality in ungulate livestock. As social, precocial and domestic species, they may offer insight into the mechanisms involved in the ontogeny and phylogeny of functional laterality and help to better understand the role of laterality in animal welfare. Until now, most studies on ungulate livestock have focused on motor laterality, but interest in other lateralized functions, e.g., cognition and emotions, is growing. Increasingly more studies are also focused on associations with age, sex, personality, health, stress, production and performance. Although the full potential of research on laterality in ungulate livestock is not yet exploited, findings have already shed new light on central issues in cognitive and emotional processing and laid the basis for potentially useful applications in future practice, e.g., stress reduction during human-animal interactions and improved assessments of health, production and welfare. Future research would benefit from further integration of basic laterality methodology (e.g., testing for individual preferences) and applied ethological approaches (e.g., established emotionality tests), which would not only improve our understanding of functional laterality but also benefit the assessment of animal welfare.

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A systematic review of equine personality

Rankins

Wickens

2020

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Behavioral, demographic, and management influences on equine responses to negative reinforcement

Cited by 16 publications

References 47 publications

Reported Behavioural Differences between Geldings and Mares Challenge Sex-Driven Stereotypes in Ridden Equine Behaviour

Reported Behavioural Differences between Geldings and Mares Challenge Sex-Driven Stereotypes in Ridden Equine Behaviour

From Science to Practice: A Review of Laterality Research on Ungulate Livestock

A systematic review of equine personality

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