Undesired behaviour in horses: A review of their development, prevention, management and association with welfare

Abstract

Summary Undesired behaviours are a common problem amongst leisure and sporting horses in the UK and have a significant impact on the work of equine practitioners. In most cases, behaviours considered aberrant by owners are normal responses for their horses. Behaviours perceived as ‘naughtiness’ may in fact signify direct actions to avoid pain‐ or fear‐inducing stimuli. Examples that practitioners might deal with include trailer loading problems, avoidance of having saddlery equipment applied or reluctance to leave the yard. Even where no evidence of physical problems or pain can be detected, avoidance behaviours may reflect learnt responses that previously led to success in evading unpleasant consequences. Because owners often misunderstand the reason for such behaviours to develop in their horses, attempts at resolution often involve suppression or punishment based approaches. Although repeated subjugation of undesirable responses may ultimately appear to resolve the overt behavioural problem in some cases, in many others it can lead to a worsening of the problem, the development of alternative avoidance strategies or the horse learning that escaping the source of its pain or anxiety is impossible and ceasing to respond. Some horses develop abnormal or repetitive behaviours, which are not in the ‘normal’ behavioural repertoire. These stereotypic behaviours, sometimes termed ‘vices’, can indicate strategies to cope with a suboptimal environment. Indeed, their performance may serve to improve the situation for the animal. Attempts to suppress or prevent horses showing stereotypies, therefore, will generally exacerbate the underlying welfare problem. When dealing with either stereotypies or avoidance behaviours, it is important to recognise the role of learning in their development and maintenance. Resolution involves both understanding the underlying motivation for showing the behaviour and how it has become reinforced and established over time, for each individual case. The use of environmental change and/or behavioural modification techniques that are both successful and welfare compatible, are important in dealing with undesired behaviour in horses and selection of suitable professionals for referral an important responsibility for the equine practitioner.

Husbandry practices associated with the presentation of abnormal behaviours in Chilean Creole horses

“…One factor that could have had an effect over our results is the small amount of time that these horses spent inside their boxes, compared with the case of thoroughbreds that spend most of the day inside the box. McGreevy et al (1995ª) found that the risk of presentation of stereotypic behaviour increased significantly when spending less than 4 hours outside the stall, and that endurance horses spend significantly more time out of their stalls than dressage and eventing horses For animals stabled permanently or with restricted turnout, the environment limits their behavioural options considerably (Hothersall and Casey 2012) increasing the risk of developing abnormal behaviours.…”

“…The development of these behaviours is generally associated with horses being managed in suboptimal environments either currently or in the past (Hothersall and Casey 2012). Some husbandry practices that have been considered as risk factors for the development of these behaviours include confinement, isolation from other horses, feeding practices, bedding material, and weaning method, among others (Broom and Kennedy 1993a , Nicol 1999, Waters et al 2002, Christie et al 2006, Clegg et al 2008, Visser et al 2008, Wickens and Heleski 2010.…”

Validation of a fear test in sport horses using infrared thermography

“…Because owners often misunderstand the reason for the development of such behaviors in their horses, attempts at correcting them often involve suppression-or punishment-based approaches (Hothersall and Casey, 2012). Although repeated subjugation of undesirable fear responses may ultimately appear to solve the overt behavioral reaction, this method can cause short-or long-term stress (McGreevy and McLean, 2010) and can worsen the problem or lead to the development of alternative avoidance strategies such as abnormal behaviors (Hothersall and Casey, 2012). Besides possible problems caused by inappropriate human reactions to fear displays, a long-term negative emotional state related to fear can per se cause chronic stress and reduced welfare (Dantzer and Mormede, 1983;Désiré et al, 2006;Minch et al, 2008;Willner et al, 1992).…”

“…Keeling (1999) demonstrated that in equitation sports many serious human injuries occur as a result of unexpected horse fear reactions. Because owners often misunderstand the reason for the development of such behaviors in their horses, attempts at correcting them often involve suppression-or punishment-based approaches (Hothersall and Casey, 2012). Although repeated subjugation of undesirable fear responses may ultimately appear to solve the overt behavioral reaction, this method can cause short-or long-term stress (McGreevy and McLean, 2010) and can worsen the problem or lead to the development of alternative avoidance strategies such as abnormal behaviors (Hothersall and Casey, 2012).…”

Perspectives on assessing the emotional behavior of animals with behavior problems

“…many dogs are scared by hot air balloons especially when the burner is used to help them gain height) or the intensity of emotional arousal [15] (e. g. it is normal and acceptable for a dog to be scared to some extent of a loud noise, but if this response is so intense that it results in destructive attempts to escape and self-harm when there are fireworks outside, this becomes a problem). Evaluating and managing such problems has a growing scientific basis and falls within the rapidly developing discipline of what is often referred to as clinical animal behavior [15,16] or veterinary behavioral medicine [11 ,17]; there are currently three main paradigms underpinning this field's scientific foundation [11 ]: referred to here as the Behavioral, Medical and Psychobiological Approaches. While trying to achieve a common goal in practice, they are based on different philosophical conceptualisations to the study of the emotional basis to animal behavior which has implications for the type of assessment made of emotion and the evidence used in this process.…”