Assessing Equine Anxiety-Related Parameters Using an Isolation Test in Combination with a Questionnaire Survey

  • MOMOZAWA Yukihide
    Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, The University of Tokyo
  • TERADA Misao
    Department of Comparative and Behavioral Medicine, Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University
  • SATO Fumio
    Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association
  • KIKUSUI Takefumi
    Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, The University of Tokyo
  • TAKEUCHI Yukari
    Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, The University of Tokyo
  • KUSUNOSE Ryo
    Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association
  • MORI Yuji
    Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, The University of Tokyo

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Other Title
  • アンケートを併用した隔離試験によるウマの不安傾向の評価
  • Ethology: Assessing equine anxiety-related parameters using an isolation test in combination with a questionnaire survey

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Abstract

The aim of the study was to determine parameters reflecting equine anxiety trait by comparing results obtained in a behavior test and an anxiety score assessed by familiar caretakers in response to a questionnaire. In the behavior test, horses were individually led into a novel room by their caretakers and loosely tethered to decrease excessive movement using the common cross-tying technique with two leads and breakable plastic cords. The horses initially remained with their caretaker for 2 min; the caretaker then left and the subject animal was left alone for 2 min. The latency to break the plastic cords, heart rate, the number of steps and pawings were recorded. When the horses were left alone, most parameters changed significantly and some showed sexual differences. A correlation analysis revealed that anxiety score assessed by caretakers showed a negative correlation with the latency to break the plastic cord and a positive correlation with heart rate only when horses were isolated. These two were suggested feasible parameters for assessing the anxiety trait of unfamiliar horses. Both the behavioral results and the anxiety scores also indicated that females were more anxious than males. Our results suggest that it would be a useful strategy for assessing other temperament traits as well to combine behavior tests with a questionnaire survey.<br>

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