Behavior Lab Projects in Progress: 2002

Elkanah Grogan

Equine Behavior Lab
University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine

In recent years, intranasal application of vaccines has become more popular in equine medicine.  Clinicians report that some horses with a history of general compliance with veterinary procedures appear to resent intranasal medication, and may become head-shy and may even become non-compliant with other veterinary procedures following intranasal treatment.  In 2001, we evaluated two newly marketed equine intranasal vaccine applicators for potential effects on behavior of horses.  General compliance and head-shyness behavior of each of 15 mares from the teaching herd at Hofmann Center were evaluated before and after experience with one of the two types of applicator (Heska Flu Avert I.N. and Fort Dodge Pinnacle I.N.) or control manipulation.  Heska and Fort Dodge applicator treatments consisted of simulated intranasal vaccination following package instructions but using sterile water instead of vaccine product. Control manipulation consisted of external placement of either the Heska or Fort Dodge intranasal applicator and application of sterile water.  Baseline and post-treatment behavior exams included a simulated physical exam, which included hand-sweep over the body with a stethoscope, manipulation and cleaning of each ear, wipe each eye, examine each nostril, examine teeth, administer oral dose of sterile saline, and administer jugular stick.  The examination technician noted the duration of the examination and noted any difficulties at the time.  Subjects were also scored on catch, lead, enter stocks and tie, stand until examination, and stand until turn-out, and return to pasture.  Procedures were videotaped to obtain detailed quantitative measures of behavior for repeated measures analysis of variance.   For all groups the mean duration of the post-treatment examination was lower (2.4 + 0.4 minutes) than the baseline examination (2.7 + 0.3 minutes). Differences among groups were not significant.  Similarly, for all other measures, compliance for all groups generally improved from baseline to post-test examination, and the differences among groups were not significant.

Occurrence of Injuries and Blemishes in a
Semi-feral Herd of Ponies

The purpose of this study was to describe in detail the types of injuries and blemishes acquired by ponies living under semi-feral conditions.  In varying degrees of frequency and detail, the injuries and blemishes of ponies of the semi-feral herd at New Bolton Center have been recorded or formally inventoried since the herd’s beginning in 1994. This involves recording injury markings or blemishes in herd inspection notes and at specific times on body maps, to include the general location of each blemish or injury, the severity, the animal's age, gender, social category, date, and expected or known cause.  These data and more recent formal data from 1998 through 2002 have been summarized. While data summary is in progress, results so far include the following:

·       Bachelor stallions have had the greatest frequency of blemishes, mares and young animals have the fewest, and the harem stallions have relatively few. 

·       Almost all blemishes and injuries are minor, and resolve rapidly.

·       The greatest incidence of blemishes and minor injuries have occurred during breeding and foaling season months.  During May through July, a mean of 95% of animals had one or more blemishes.  During August through October, approximately 70% of animals had one or more blemishes.

·       The most frequent site of blemishes was the rump (mostly of bachelors).

·       Over a period of 7 years (approximately 425 animal years), only five instances of injury have been serious enough to warrant veterinary examination (3 eye injuries, 1 bite abscess on the neck, 1 wire puncture of foot).  All have resolved uneventfully with conservative or no treatment.

·       Injuries and blemishes among social categories and across season are consistent with observed levels of aggression for these social categories.

Do Mares Wait for Better Weather to Foal?

Horse owners and breeders often offer anecdotal suggestion that mares living outdoors tend to foal on days that weather has improved. Our casual impression has been that foaling in our herd has seemed to follow this pattern. The objectives of this project were to examine the weather associated with birth of 64 foals in our semi-feral herd from 1996 to 2002 and to similarly evaluate foaling patterns for 58 foals born at Linwood Ranch in Manitoba, Canada in Spring of 2002.  Our questions included

·       Is this purported phenomenon true?

·       Is there evidence that mares avoid bad weather for foaling?

·       Do mares wait for a nice day?

·       Any suggestions on how it might work.

For each day of the foaling season, weather was scored as similar to previous the day, improving, or worsening (based on average temperature, wind speed and/ or precipitation data from www.erh.noaa.gov for Wilmington, Delaware and www.Wunderground.com  for Brandon, Manitoba). 

For our semi-feral herd, for days on which the weather either improved or worsened, there was a tendency for more foals to be born on days with improved vs worse weather (Chi Square p = 0.10).  For the Linwood Ranch herd, more foals were born on days on which the weather stayed the same or improved than on days on which the weather worsened (Chi Square, p <0.05).  With data from both herds combined, there was a tendency for more foals to be born on days on which the weather was similar to previous days or improved than on days on which the weather worsened (Chi Square, p = 0.60).

These data support anecdotal suggestion that mares tend to foal on days on which the weather has improved.  The weather in Manitoba this spring was unusually warm, with few days that would be considered severe.  Therefore we plan to repeat this work with data for years on which weather varied normally, and to include a larger sample size.  Further data may also address whether bad weather delays or improved weather hastens parturition, which may suggest underlying mechanism.

The Equid Video Ethogram

One of the long-term goals of our behavior lab is to improve science-based knowledge about equine behavior.  One of our objectives towards this goal is to develop and publish equid ethograms, which are annotated catalogs of behavior sequences and their elements.  To date we have published two ethograms in the scientific literature, each on a specific class of behavior. The first was on bachelor behavior (McDonnell and Haviland, 1995) and the second on play behavior (McDonnel and Poulin, 2002). This year a book version including all classes of behavior will be published (McDonnell, 2002) for both the academic and the lay audience.

The objective of the current project is to develop video samples of all of the behavior entries in this book, as a companion to the book. A high quality digital video camera with quality audio is being used to capture video samples of each behavior and the accompanying audio.  The subjects are our semi-feral herd.  Our goal is to publish the product as an interactive CD-ROM with proceeds supporting our herd.  Toward that end we are meeting/negotiating with a video production/marketing group.

Preliminary Investigation of Equine Appeasing Pheromone (EAP)

A new synthetic pheromone is being marketed for potential calming effects on horses. The objective of this preliminary project was to compare the behavioral investigatory response of horses to the pheromone product and to a sterile water control. Sixty horses and ponies served as subjects.  Each was given a trial presentation of EAP and sterile water control, in random order, at an interval of one or more days.  The EAP product and sterile water were presented on small squares of sponge. The duration of investigation, either muzzle contact with the sponge or very close sniffing, was timed with a stop watch. Differences in duration of investigation of the EAP or the control were not significant (dependent t-test, P > 0.10). For yearlings and two-year olds, there was a tendency for a longer duration of investigation of the EAP samples than control.  We plan to re-evaluate response to EAP and control using a larger sample of foals, yearlings and two-year olds.

Kana Grogan is a native of Chester County who is currently majoring in Animal Science and Animal Behavior at the University of Delaware in the Class of 2003.  She was the 2001 Havemeyer Summer Research Assistant. In that position she served as the semi-feral herd manager, as the research and clinical “gal Friday,” and as the lab photographer.  She has also conducted a number of preliminary studies and assisted with mentoring projects.  Over the 2001-2002 school year Kana continued managing the semi-feral herd, assisting with photography for the Ethogram Book Project, and also assisting with organization of behavior lab events.  She assisted with proceedings preparation and organization for the September 2001 Horse Behavior Short Course at New Bolton Center and the June 2002 Havemeyer International Workshop on Horse Behavior and Welfare in Holar, Iceland.

For the summer of 2002 Kana has again filled the position of Havemeyer Summer Research Assistant.  Her primary assignment has been to begin the video ethogram project and to complete preliminary projects begun in 2001. Kana attended both the Havemeyer International Workshop on Horse Behavior and Welfare in Holar, Iceland and the Annual Animal Behavior Society Behavior Meeting in Bloomington, Indiana.