Does Experience Make Hucul Horses More Resistant to Stress? A Pilot Study

Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine whether experience related to horse age and number of starts in championships influences stress level, measured by salivary cortisol concentration. The study involved 18 clinically healthy Hucul mares who participated in the Polish Championships for Hucul Horses. Evaluation of performance value was carried out in accordance with the guidelines specified in the breeding and genetic resources conservation program for this breed. The championship lasted two days, consisting of conformation evaluation, endurance, and Hucul path. Saliva was collected at baseline (T1), after arena assessment (T2), after endurance (T3), and on the second day after the Hucul path (T4). Cortisol levels increased from an average of 2.73 ± 1.18 ng/mL (T1) to 10.46 ± 8.03 ng/mL after T3. Significantly lower levels of free cortisol were detected in the saliva of the younger mares, up to 9 years old, and mares who participated in only one qualifying path after each element of the championship. The highest levels of cortisol (T3) were found in mares competing repeatedly on the qualifying path. No correlation was found between cortisol levels and the championship results. Participation of mares in the championship was associated with stress, which was reflected in the increase in cortisol levels in saliva.

Phenotypic and Genetic Study of the Presence of Hair Whorls in Pura Raza Español Horses

“…Numerous papers have studied the relationship between body conformation, coat color or coat particularities and temperament traits in domestic animals [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. Among the particularities which have been studied in greater depth are hair whorl patterns [ 5 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 ].…”

Basal Reactivity Evaluated by Infrared Thermography in the “Caballo de Deporte Español” Horse Breed According to Its Coat Color

“…The relevance of coat coloration in research into horse domestication and selection has been previously demonstrated [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]. However, in addition to the importance of the coat color in defining the standard of a breed or a horse’s sale price, the pleiotropic effect that the genes which determine the coat color have on diseases as the effect of MC1R gen on vitiligo or melanoma [ 5 , 6 ], or the effect of roan gen on lethal diseases [ 7 , 8 ]; conformation as congenital ocular abnormalities linked to different coat colors [ 9 , 10 ]; functionality, as gaits [ 11 ], performance in race, and endurance horses [ 12 , 13 ]; and behavior, as the influence of MC1R and ASIP genes on boldness [ 14 ], the silver gene on fear reactions [ 15 ], and influence on habituation, temperament, and stress of different coat colors [ 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], makes it a factor of paramount importance in horse selection and improvement. Particularly, different temperaments in horses have been traditionally related to phaneroptic and genetic characteristics, such as coat color, which determine the way the horse perceives their environment and reacts towards it.…”