Human Direct Actions May Alter Animal Welfare, a Study on Horses (Equus caballus)

Lesimple, Clémence; Fureix, Carole; Menguy, Hervéy; Hausberger, Martine

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0010257

Cited by 46 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…However, there is also growing evidence that obesity due to over nutrition among horses is increasing (Lesimple et al, 2010;Ireland et al, 2012) and represents a significant detriment to health of equines in a manner similar to that by which it is affecting the human population. Studies have revealed varying prevalences up to 45% in pleasure riding horses in the UK (Wyse et al, 2008).…”

Section: Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Pathological or painful conditions such as lameness, sore mouth, and back pain can arise through injury associated with inadequate housing, management, activities, and equipment (Wyse et al, 2008;Lesimple et al, 2010;McGowan et al, 2010;Murray et al, 2010;Ireland et al, 2012;Lesimple et al, 2012). Lameness was a frequently reported health problem by owners of dressage horses in the study of Murray et al (2010): 33% of the horses were lame at some time during their career.…”

Section: Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Risk factors associated with health disorders in sport and leisure horses in the Netherlands1

Visser

Neijenhuis

Graaf-Roelfsema

et al. 2014

Journal of Animal Science

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ABstRACt:Horses are used for a wide variety of purposes from being used for recreational purposes to competing at an international level. With these different uses, horses have to adapt to numerous challenges and changes in their environment, which can be a challenge itself in continuously safeguarding their welfare. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of health disorders with clinical examination and identify possible risk factors of health disorders affecting horse welfare in professional husbandry systems in the Netherlands. With the use of fixed protocols for recording health aspects in horses, 150 horse farms voluntarily participating in the study were assessed by trained assessors. On each farm, 20 horses were clinically examined, in total almost 3,000 animals. This study recorded on the basis of the clinical examinations: the respiratory system (i.e., , and ocular discharge (12%). Risk factor analysis, stepwise using mixed model regression, demonstrated several risk factors for health aspects. Horses used for instruction (riding lessons) were almost two times more at risk to develop moderate to severe back pain compared to horses used for recreation (odds ratios [OR] = 0.54) or for competition (OR = 0.61). Horses used for instruction (riding school lessons), breeding, or recreation all had a higher risk for irregular locomotion or lameness compared to competition horses (OR = 0.42, OR = 0.55, OR = 2.14, respectively). Horses used for recreation were more prone to have a higher BCS compared to horses used for breeding (OR = 3.07) and instruction (OR = 2.06). The prevalence of health problems and the identified risk factors are valid for the horses in the present study in which farms voluntarily participated. Furthermore, the results may provide the basis for horse welfare and health programs on farm and horse industry levels. With the development of a valid welfare monitoring system for the horse industry, the welfare of horses can be increased through improving awareness and stimulating changes in management.

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Section: Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk factors associated with health disorders in sport and leisure horses in the Netherlands1

Visser

Neijenhuis

Graaf-Roelfsema

et al. 2014

Journal of Animal Science

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“…Although this may seem a constraint for riding centers, keeping horses which work regularly as a group outside work may also favour easier management of horses and riders during lessons. As hierarchy and familiarity are established outside work, much less attention has to be given to the regulation of aggression at work, which may lower the attention to the riders' action and therefore the horses' welfare (Lesimple et al, 2010). This in turn may also be a source of aggression from horses … to humans .…”

Section: Conclusion: Towards Better Practicesmentioning

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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“…A study on how human psychological and physiological state can be perceived by horses was performed in [5] via the study of the heart rate. A more relaxed equine behavior was observed when humans showed positive attitudes toward them [6,7], while an equine increased heart rate was observed when humans were engaged in negative thinking [8]. A nervous mood can be transmitted from humans to horses under handling and riding conditions [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The perception of humans by horses seems to be based on experience and repeated interactions, with horses that form a memory of humans that impacts their reactions in subsequent interactions [5]. Hence, previous negative experiences with human contact could lead horses toward a negative emotional reaction [7] or, vice versa, previous positive experience could lead them toward positive feelings with humans [41].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Wearable System for the Evaluation of the Human-Horse Interaction: A Preliminary Study

et al. 2016

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Abstract:This study reports on a preliminary estimation of the human-horse interaction through the analysis of the heart rate variability (HRV) in both human and animal by using the dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithm. Here, we present a wearable system for HRV monitoring in horses. Specifically, we first present a validation of a wearable electrocardiographic (ECG) monitoring system for horses in terms of comfort and robustness, then we introduce a preliminary objective estimation of the human-horse interaction. The performance of the proposed wearable system for horses was compared with a standard system in terms of movement artifact (MA) percentage. Seven healthy horses were monitored without any movement constraints. As a result, the lower amount of MA% of the wearable system suggests that it could be profitably used for reliable measurement of physiological parameters related to the autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity in horses, such as the HRV. Human-horse interaction estimation was achieved through the analysis of their HRV time series. Specifically, DTW was applied to estimate dynamic coupling between human and horse in a group of fourteen human subjects and one horse. Moreover, a support vector machine (SVM) classifier was able to recognize the three classes of interaction with an accuracy greater than 78%. Preliminary significant results showed the discrimination of three distinct real human-animal interaction levels. These results open the measurement and characterization of the already empirically-proven relationship between human and horse.

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Human Direct Actions May Alter Animal Welfare, a Study on Horses (Equus caballus)

Cited by 46 publications

References 28 publications

Risk factors associated with health disorders in sport and leisure horses in the Netherlands1

Risk factors associated with health disorders in sport and leisure horses in the Netherlands1

Exploring aggression regulation in managed groups of horses Equus caballus

A Wearable System for the Evaluation of the Human-Horse Interaction: A Preliminary Study

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