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Olfactory Discrimination in the Horse |
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Jessica Wilson MS Candidate in Animal Science Department of Dairy and Animal Science Penn State |
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Discrimination studies with horses have primarily involved the use of visual stimuli. Very little research has been done in regards to the horses’ ability to discriminate particular odors. This project looks specifically at the horse’s capacity to discriminate between the various phases of the Estrous cycle using only olfaction. Within the current literature there is conflicting information in regards to the importance of olfaction in discriminating the phases of the Estrous cycle. Subjects in this study, five pony stallions, will be trained on successive discrimination of three pairs of odor stimuli (estrus vs. water, estrus vs. diestrus, and estrus vs. proestrus) using instrumental conditioning. Research will take place 5 days a week in the early morning hours. Each subject will participate in one experimental session per day. There will be 20 trials, presentation of the odor stimuli, within one experimental session. If the subject responds to the positive stimuli (S+/estrus) they will immediately receive a bridge (“click” sound) and food reinforcement. If the subject responds to the negative stimuli (S-/water, diestrus, or proestrus) they will receive no reinforcement. If the subject doesn’t respond in any fashion within the 15 second trial this will be considered a non-response. To move from one discrimination task to the next a subject must respond at the above chance level of 17/20 for three consecutive sessions. The number of incorrect and correct responses will be recorded along with left, right, and non-response. The response latency to the first response in each session will also be recorded. Preliminary data indicates that the subjects are able to discriminate between estrus urine and water. |
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