FEA R IN HORSES AND H O W IT IS A FFECTED BY THE RIDER, TRAINING,

AND GENETICS

A Thesis
Presented to
The Faculty o f Graduate Studies

of

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The University of Guelph

by

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UTA ULRIKE VON BORSTEL

In partial fulfillment o f requirements

for the degree of
Doctor o f Philosophy
August, 2007

Uta Ulrike von Borstel, 2007

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ABSTRACT

FEAR IN HORSES AND HOW IT IS AFFECTED BY THE RIDER,

TRAINING AND GENETICS
Uta Ulrike von Borstel
University o f Guelph, 2007

Advisor:
Prof. Ian J.H. Duncan
Co-advisors:
Prof. Linda J. Keeling
Prof. Suzanne T. Millman

The fear reactions o f riding horses can lead to problems such as accidents which
result in injuries to both horse and rider. The objective of this thesis was to identify

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factors influencing fear in riding horses. Particular attention was paid to the riders role
and how their emotional state, behaviour and riding style can influence horses fear,
Furthermore, horses from distinct breeding lines for show-

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nervousness and welfare.

jumping and dressage were compared for fear reactions and these were contrasted with

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the effects of long-term training regimens for the two disciplines. Results revealed that
riders could induce nervousness in the horse by unconsciously communicating their own
nervousness (p<0.05). Since other mechanisms could be excluded, this communication
was presumed to be a result o f the horses ability to sense changes in the riders muscle
tension. In some cases, the reverse effect could be observed, in that riders became more
nervous in response to the horses nervousness. Ultimately, this exchange o f nervousness
might escalate into dangerous fear reactions in the horse. Riding style also appeared to
have immediate consequences for fear reactivity in horses. When horses were ridden in
the more coercive, and to the horses aversive, Rollkiir riding style, they tended to show
stronger fear (p<0.1) at the encounter with fear stimuli than when they were ridden in a
regular, and to the horses, preferred riding style. However, differences in fear reactions

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could not be attributed to differences in long-term training in either show-jumping or

dressage, but were more likely due to genetic differences. Horses of show-jumping lines
exhibited weaker fear reactions than horses of dressage lines (p<0.05) regardless of
whether they were trained or untrained in their respective discipline. These findings lead
to the conclusion that fear reactivity in horses could be reduced: 1) by genetically
selecting against fear reactivity in horses, 2) by employing less coercive riding
techniques, and 3) potentially by developing and training specific techniques, such as
muscle relaxation, that allow riders to interrupt the exchange of nervousness between
rider and horse. Ultimately these approaches could aid to improve safety and welfare of

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both horses and riders.

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To

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Jolnir fra Trestodum

Depiction of Odin and Sleipnir

on a Vendel period (7th century)
helmet plate, found in Uppland,
Sweden

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For what the horse does under compulsion, as Simon also observes, is done
without understanding; and there is no beauty in it either, any more than if
one should whip and spur a dancer

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Xenophon (ca. 400 BC)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dr. Ian J.H. Duncan for inspiring me, for
affording me all the freedom to choose the topic o f this research, making this a truly
rewarding experience I am honoured to consider him my academic father.
Equally, I am grateful to my co-advisors Dr. Linda J. Keeling, and Dr. Suzanne T.
Millman, for their support, advice and encouragement throughout this study. It was a truly
unique experience to be not only Ians last PhD student, but also to be the first PhD

student o f Suzanne who was one of Ians many PhD students, as well as to be one of the
many PhD students of Linda who was Ians first PhD student!! Thanks as well to my

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committee member Dr. Anna Kate Shoveller, for putting up with the four of us from the
Ian dynasty and for bringing in some fresh thought! Thanks to all o f you for putting up

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with me through the years, and thanks for helping me along my carrier, and for providing
me with all-important networks, mentoring and guidance!

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The additional guidance and mentoring o f Dr. Georgia Mason and Dr. T.
Widowski is gratefully appreciated. I am grateful to my colleagues and friends from the
Department for Animal Environment and Health, SLU Sweden, and the Department of
Animal and Poultry Science who provided me with many hours of volunteer work,
assistance and useful discussions with different aspects of this research.
I would like to thank my family for all the support and love. Very special thanks to
my fiance Sven Konig for making life in the department a lot nicer! Thank you for
scientific help and above all for wonderful time we shared! Thanks for coming to Canada!
Last but not least, I would like to thank the horses for being so patient and
tolerant!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1: Introduction................................................................................................. 1
1.1

Horseback riding...........................................................................................................1
1.1.1 Welfare implicationsof horseback riding........................................................ 2
1.1.2 Accidents............................................................................................................. 5
1.2 Fear and Nervousness..................................................................................................6
1.2.1 factors influencing fear in horses......................................................................7
1.2.1.1 Genetic effects on fear..................................................................................8
1.2.1.2 Previous experience and environmental impact on fear.........................10
1.2.2 Assessment o f fear............................................................................................ 11
1.2.2.1 Physiological responses to fear..................................................................12
1.2.2.2 Behavioural responses to fear....................................................................16

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Introduction..................................................................................................................... 21
Materials and Methods..................................................................................................23
Results.......................................................................................
30
Discussion
........................................................................................................32
Acknowledgements....................................................................................................... 39

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2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5

Chapter 2: Exchange of nervousness between rider and horse..................................20

Chapter 3: Exchange of nervousness between competition rider and horse............. 47

3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5

Introduction....................................................................................................................48
Materials and Methods..................................................................................................50
Results.............................................................................................................................57
Discussion...................................................................................................................... 61
Acknowledgements....................................................................................................... 67

Chapter 4: Impact of riding in a coercively obtained Rollkiir-posture

on welfare and fear of performance horses................................................77
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5

Introduction...............................
78
Materials and Methods..................................................................................................82
Results.............................................................................................................................90
Discussion...................................................................................................................... 94
Acknowledgements..................................................................................................... 101

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Chapter 5: Fear reactions in trained and untrained horses from dressage and
show-jumping breeding lines........................................................................... I l l
5.1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 112
5.2 Materials and Methods................................................................................................117
5.3 Results............................................................................................................................123
5.4 Discussion..................................................................................................................... 126
5.5 Acknowledgements...................................................................................................... 132

Chapter 6: General discussion and conclusions.........................................................137

6.1 Transfer of nervousness from rider to horse............................................................. 137

6.1.1 Mechanism of nervousness transfer..................................................................142
6.1.2 Alternative explanations.................................................................................... 144
6.1.3 Implications.........................................................................................................145
6.2 Influence of short-term riding style on fear.............................................................. 146
6.3 Influence of training and genetics on fear in dressage and show-jumping
horses.......................................................................................................................150
6.4 Conclusions................................................................................................................... 151

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References.............................................................................................................

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152

LIST OF TABLES

Chapter 2
Table 2.1

Stimuli and mode of application used for fear conditioning of the

horses (presented in order o f occurrence)..................................................... 40

Table 2.2

Reaction vigour scores and their description................................................. 41

Table 2.3

Categories of observed behaviour and their description............................... 42

Table 2.4

Average scores for the different categories of behaviour during

the experimental situations C, RN, HN, BN,TR.......................................... 43

Chapter 3
Rider and horse specific information assessed by questionnaire.................68

Table 3.2

Horse specific questions assessed following each ride in the fear

test on a scale from 1 (very much/perfectly) - 10 (not at all).....................69

Table 3.3

Categories of observed behaviour and their description............................... 70

Table 3.4

Pearson correlations between variables from the questionnaire................. 71

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Table 3.5

Table 3.1

Average behaviour scores by treatment and category o f behaviour............73

Chapter 4
Table 4.1

Table 4.2

Horses and their discipline, age, breed, housing location,

and o w n er.........................................................................................................102
Description of categories of behaviour observed during the
conditioning phase, and their reference to literature suggesting
these types of behaviour to be signs of discomfort or conflict.................. 103

Table 4.3

Description of reaction vigour.........................................................................104

Table 4.4

Mean frequencies (n) SE o f occurrence o f different categories

of behaviour per conditioning round by treatment, and
significance of difference...............................................................................105

Chapter 5
Table 5.1.

Overview o f horses discipline, training status, and breeding

values............................................................................................................... 133

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LIST OF FIGURES
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1

Layout o f the tr a il....................................................................................... 44

Figure 2.2

Horses heart rates during the experimental situations

Figure 2.3

Riders heart rates during the experimental situations..............................46

....................45

Chapter 3
Set up of the experimental course...............................................................74

Figure 3.2a

Mean heart rates by experimental situation for all horses.........................75

Figure 3.2b

Horses mean heart rate by stimulus and discipline................................... 76

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Figure 3.1

Chapter 4

Horse in Rollkur............................................................................................ 106

Figure 4.1b

Horse in regular poll flexion........................................................................ 106

Figure 4.2

Aerial view of the Y-maze............................................................................107

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Figure 4.1a

Figure 4.3a

Profile of a horse choosing regular poll flexion consistently....................108

Figure 4.3b

Profile of the horse choosing regular poll flexion 25 times

and Rollkur 10 tim e s...................................................................................109

Figure 4.3c

Profile of the horse choosing regular poll flexion 23 times

and Rollkur 9 tim e s ..................................................................................... 109

Figure 4.3d

Profile of the horse showing a tendency to prefer Rollkur.......................109

Figure 4.4

Overview of the fear test showing the position of the

fear stimulus, observer, visual barrier, trotting poles,
camera and the path ridden by the rider (dotted line)
relative to each other.................................................................................... 109

Figure 4.5

Horses heart rates during the encounter with the fear stimulus
when ridden in Rollkur (R) and normal poll flexion (N).........................110

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Chapter 5
Mean (+ se) reaction vigour by discipline over trials.............................134

Figure 5.2

Mean (+ se) time to resume chewing by discipline over trials..............135

Figure 5.3

Mean (+ se) time to resume feeding by discipline and

training status......................................................................................... 136

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Figure 5.1

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CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
1.1. Horseback riding
Horses have been part o f the human culture for more than 15,000 years
(Goodwin, 1999), and the earliest evidence o f riding dates back to approximately 4,000
BC (Anthony and Brown, 1991).

Horseback riding has brought about substantial

cultural and economic shifts (Anthony and Waller, 1985; Anthony and Brown, 1991).
Originally used with the purpose of transportation and warfare (Levine, 1999), today,

riding is mostly undertaken as sport or recreational activity. In 2003, there were more
than 55 million horses worldwide (calculated from FAO, 2003) establishing that horses

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have become a significant economic sector o f the animal industries (e.g. Graham

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Suggett, 1999; Corbally et al., 1999). Today, the disciplines o f dressage and showjumping are the two main sport disciplines in English riding (cp. Koenen et al., 2004)
along with eventing that incorporates the two and adds a cross-country ride.

Both

dressage and show-jumping are popular with leisure as well as competition riders.
As Olympic disciplines, equestrian sports were initiated in Stockholm in 1912
(Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) 2007a). The roots o f dressage date back to
ancient Greece. Xenophon (430 - 354 BC), the author o f the first known, completely
preserved treatises on equitation is considered the founder of dressage (FEI, 2007a).
After falling into oblivion during the dark ages, dressage was revived in the 16th century
during the Renaissance when it was considered an art.

Since dressage embodies

fundamental riding horse training, it is used as groundwork for all equestrian

disciplines. In modem competitions, horse and rider are required to perform a series of
prescribed movements and gaits. The performance is judged based on the harmonious

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interaction between rider and horse, and the regularity, lightness and ease o f the
movements (FEI, 2006b).
Show-jumping, on the other hand, is a relatively new equestrian discipline that
evolved from fox hunts in England when jumping became an important skill after the
Enclosures Act in the eighteenth century led to the instalment o f fences across the
country (FEI, 2007b).

Modem show-jumping competitions require the horse to

complete a course o f jumps as fast and/or as error-free as possible, and style is not
evaluated, unlike in dressage (FEI, 2007b).

1.1.1 Welfare implications of horseback riding

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Traditional training and riding techniques rely heavily on ancient Greek

doctrines. Ahead of his time, Xenophon (ca. 400 BC) emphasized the importance o f the

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appropriate use o f reward and punishment, lightness with the reins, and a gradual
training or schooling o f the horse. However, time pressure imposed particularly by the
shortage o f horses during wars, led to the development o f more rapid training methods
based on the idea that the horse has to be forced into submission to human beings, using
pain to force horses into performing the desired behaviour. Negative reinforcement and
punishment still dominate most present-day horse training, although they are less
forceful than in the past. The bit, seat and leg pressure (often amplified by spurs) and a
whip are the primary aids utilized. If used judiciously and properly, these aids can be
very effective (Odberg and Bouissou, 1999) and welfare-friendly in horse training.
However, often force and various devices are added to speed up the achievement of
desired posture and movements, and therefore, these practices can quickly evolve into
rather coercive riding methods. These coercive methods give rise to welfare concerns
as these may lead to physical and psychological discomfort that may ultimately lead to

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learned helplessness (McGreevy, in press) and even wastage o f horses that develop
behaviour problems in response to the discomfort (Odberg and Bouissou, 1999;
McLean and McGreevy, 2006).
Recently, more sympathetic training methods have gained popularity (e.g.
Miller, 1991; Parelli, 1993; Roberts, 1997; Lyons and Gallatin, 1998; Tellington-Jones,
1999; Hempfling, 2001; Irwin, 2004). These so-called natural horsemanship methods
claim to base the training on communication with the horse using its natural behaviour
and body language rather than basing it on pure human-centred teaching and learning

methods. However, while physical harm to the horse is usually discouraged with these
training methods, many o f them nevertheless use negative reinforcement. For example,

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applying psychological pressure (e.g. eliciting fear by staring at the horse and chasing
it) to the horse that is removed when the horse gives the desired response is common in

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these methods. It remains questionable whether this psychological pressure, or fear in

some cases, is less aversive to the horse than the physical aids used in many traditional
horse training methods. For instance, Dantzer and Mormede (1983) noted that exposure
to fear-eliciting stimuli results in behavioural arousal similar to that seen with
nociceptive stimuli, indicating that the emotion o f fear is similar to pain. Also, fear has
been shown to inhibit learning (Fiske and Potter, 1979; Heird et al., 1986a) and is thus
counterproductive in a training setting where learning is an indispensable requirement.
Most traditional, as well as natural training methods often do not acknowledge
or apply the principles o f learning theory, such as giving consideration to speciesspecific abilities and constraints on learning, and using consistency and clarity. As a
result it may be difficult for the horse to leam which responses are desired as the correct
response is not always reinforced. Hence, it will take longer for the horse to leam and it
will experience more stress, and possibly frustration, during the training process.

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However, horses are very sensitive to tactile stimuli (Saslow, 2002), and subtle signals
as well as positive reinforcement can be very effective in horse training, as famously
revealed by Pfungsts (1983) studies of Clever Hans. A stronger emphasis on this when
training the horse for riding could improve the riding horses welfare (Hockenhull and
Creighton, 2006; Warren-Smith and McGreevy, 2006; McGreevy, in press).
Several studies showed that human beings can have both positive (Lynch et al.,
1974; McGee and Smith 2004) and negative (Henry et al., 2005) effects on emotional
states o f the horse, depending on the type and quality o f the interaction. Moreover,

Hausberger and Muller (2002) showed that horses can also generalize their experience
with humans, such that their previous experience with their caretaker carries over to

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reactions to strangers.

Riding and the horse-human relationship can also have both positive and

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negative impact on the human beings welfare and health. For example, horses and
riding are used as a therapy for mentally or physically handicapped people (e.g. Allen
and Porter, 1998; Bizub et al., 2003). Whether people are healthy or handicapped,
horses can further improve health and well-being through the formation o f an emotional
bond with the horse (Endenburg, 1991; Endenburg, 1999) or by improving physical
health (Devienne and Guezennec, 2000; Hakanson et al., in press).

Benefits for

physical health are also confirmed by the fact that many riders compete into an
advanced age (Bixby-Hammett, 1987). Sometimes, horses are even used in teaching
leadership skills to managers by learning from communication techniques from horses
(Ridding, 2005).

On the other hand, however, horseback riding is one o f the most

dangerous pastimes.

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1.1.2 Accidents
Due to the hazardous nature o f horseback riding, it can have detrimental effects
not only on the horse but also the rider. Riding is a risky activity with a higher accident
rate per hour than, for example, motor-cycling (0.49 (Sorli, 2005) versus 0.14 (BixbyHammett and Brooks, 1989) hospital admissions per 1000 hours o f riding). In human
beings, riding contributes 25% to all fatal sport-injuries (Heitkamp et al., 1998), and a
high number o f deaths in riding horses (9% compared to only 2% in Cavalry horses),
Furthermore, horse-related accidents

are due to accidents (Wallin et a l, 2000).

contribute 2.6 % to all causes o f injuries in tourists during recreational activities while

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visiting New Zealand (Bentley et al., 2001).

Approximately 70% o f all horse-related injuries in humans are caused by falling

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from, or together with, the horse (Gierup et al., 1979; Nelson and Bixby-Hammett,
1992; Giebel et al., 1993; Blomberg, 2000). A study conducted among experienced
competition riders in Germany revealed that 69 % o f all participants had contracted at
least one injury during riding, while the show-jumping riders had only a slightly higher
rate (36%) o f injuries as compared to dressage (33%) and eventing (32%) riders
(Heitkamp et al., 1998). Although a study by Chitnavis (1996) showed a significant
decrease in equine related accidents over the period from 1971 to 1991 in the UK, there
is still a strong need for better prevention o f these accidents, because the major reason
for the reduction in the total number is thought to be due to a more widespread use of
safer equipment. While the use of safety-equipment is a good method to reduce the
severity o f any given accident, it would be even better to prevent situations leading to
accidents in the first place.

Heitkamp et al. (1998) found that o f the injured,

experienced riders in their study, 52% were very, 23% fairly, 17% little, and 8% poorly

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familiar with the specific horse at time o f the accident. However, these authors do not
mention how the familiarity with the horse is distributed among all (injured and non
injured) riders. Together, these observations suggest that a better understanding, which
would result in an improvement in the communication between rider and horse, will
help in reducing the number of riding accidents. It is also important to note that more
than a quarter (Keeling et al., 1999) o f horse-related accidents are the result o f horses
that were frightened.

Other categories o f accident causes in their study were pure

accidents, misunderstanding between horse and rider, and disobedience. There is also

the possibility with a number o f those accidents, that some, classified by the victims to

1.2 Fear and Nervousness

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be due to a misunderstanding, were in fact due to fear.

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Fear and anxiety are unpleasant emotional states closely related to each other,
and they are caused by the (perceived) threat o f danger, pain, or harm. Fear and anxiety
are stressors to the organism that can trigger typical mammalian stress responses
(Squires, 2003), and both emotions probably evolved to increase chances o f survival
(cp. Ohman and Mineka, 2001). Fear and anxiety can be distinguished based on time
and specificity attributes. For example, Davis (1998) argues that fear is the emotional
response to an actual, immediate danger caused by a specific object, while anxiety can
be objectless and does not require a specific threat. This distinction has been verified
using substances such as estrogen (Hiroi and Neumaier, 2006) that have differential
effects in fear- and anxiety-inducing situations. Nevertheless, in some cases, authors
use fear and anxiety interchangeably (Geer, 1965), and particularly in the literature on
farm animals, fear, anxiety, and related terms are often used without proper definition.
However, Basowitz (1955) explains that differentiation between the fear responses to

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actual danger and the objectless anxiety would not always be possible. For example, in
order to be able to distinguish between fear and anxiety, it needs to be known whether
an individual perceives a certain object or situation as a specific or an unspecific threat.
Since this perception depends to the individuals previous experience with it, a clear
distinction between fear and anxiety is only possible if the individuals previous
experience with that object or situation, as well as similar objects or situations is known.

1.2.1 Factors influencing fear in horses

As a prey species, horses are easily frightened (Boissy, 1998) and fear reactions
in horses most commonly involve flight (Grzimek, 1944; Goodwin, 1999). However,

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individual horses vary markedly in their reaction to frightening stimuli (Budzynski,

1984; Le Scolan et al., 1997; W olff et al., 1997; Vierin et al., 1999; Christensen et al.,

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2005). The explanation given above is a phylogenetic explanation, but scientists such
as Tinbergen (1963) have suggested that behaviour can also be explained according to
ontogeny, causation, and function. For example, horses may have learned during their
early development that a fear reaction can have beneficial consequences (ontogeny), the
underlying physiological systems can be used to explain the behaviour (causation), or
the purpose o f flight, i.e. the avoidance of potential danger (function) can also be used
to describe why a horse behaves in a particular way when experiencing fear.
A number o f studies have been carried out to assess horses fear reactions and
identify factors influencing them (Vierin et al., 1999; Seaman et al., 2002; Momozawa
et al., 2003; Visser et al., 2003; Gorecka et al., 2006). Findings from these studies
indicate that the horses genetic make up (phylogeny in a broad sense) as well as its
prior experience (ontogeny) are the two key factors that have an impact on its startle and
fear reaction (Boissy, 1995). However, another important causal factor may be the rider

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her/himself, as the rider is in direct contact and interacts with the horse, but none o f the
above studies investigated the riders role in the horses fear reaction.

1.2.1.1 Genetic effects on fear

Domestication is an evolutionary process during which an animal species is
transformed from its regular life in the wild to a life, which is to some degree under the
control o f humans (Jensen, 2002).

Given that most animals are naturally afraid of

human beings, this permanent proximity to human beings implies that the animals had

to cope with their fear of human beings, and human beings likely actively selected the
less fearful individuals for husbandry and breeding. There is evidence that, indeed,

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selection for tameness is the driving force in domestication (Trut et al., 2004).
However, domestication generally changed behaviour only quantitatively by modifying

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stimulus thresholds and not qualitatively (Jensen, 2002). Therefore, all types o f
behaviour typical for the wild ancestors are still present to some degree in the
domesticated individuals o f that species. Horses have been naturally and artificially
selected for the great majority o f their evolutionary time for physical characteristics
such as speed, strength and agility, which enable them to survive in the wild or to
perform their designated work. However, with the possible exception o f some recent
attempts, they have not been bred for the role as a companion animal. Consequently,
traits o f the behavioural repertoire such as fearfulness other than towards human beings
probably changed little over the process o f domestication (Goodwin, 1999).

For

example, Christensen et al. (2002) observed only slightly reduced levels of

aggressiveness in domesticated stallions compared to Przewalski stallions kept under
similar conditions, and these levels were in agreement with other studies (Tyler, 1972;
Feist and McCullough, 1976; Keiper and Receveur, 1992). It can therefore be expected,

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that most present day horses still react to fear stimuli in a similar manner to their wild
ancestors.
Traits related to fear can also be changed over relatively short periods o f time by
intentionally (Reese, 1979; Plomin, 1990) or unintentionally (Heamshaw and Morris,
1984; Boissy et al., 2005) genetically selecting either fearful or calm individuals. In
horses, breed differences in fearfulness or anxiety were found in a few studies
concerned with topics related to fear.

Mader and Price (1980) found that Quarter

Horses tended to be less reactive than Thoroughbreds. In addition, Hausberger et al.

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(2004b) compared 16 different breeds o f horses and found that those o f hot-blooded
breeds such as Arabs tended to take the longest time in a bridge test (a test for anxiety),
horses o f more cold-blooded breeds such as Haflinger were the least anxious animals,
and warm-blooded breeds ranked in the middle. Several studies found breed differences

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in learning (Fiske and Potter, 1979; Heird et al., 1986b), and the authors attribute these
to differences in ease of distractedness and emotionality (but see Martin et al. (2006) for
a contrasting opinion). Furthermore, W olff et al. (1996; 1997) found sire effects on fear
reactivity and anxiety in French Saddlebreds, and Gorecka et al. (2007) found
correlations between hairwhorl patterns and horses latency to approach a novel object,
all o f which indicate that fear and anxiety are heritable traits. In spite o f the reasonable
heritabilities of behavioural traits such as anxiety and fear, the majority o f warmbloodhorse breeders do not consider these traits in their breeding. Most warmblood breeders
aim to breed horses for the high competition riders with emphasis placed on spectacular
gaits and/or jumping skills. Breeding horses for this level of competitiveness may not
be applicable to an industry that is largely made up o f leisure riders that do not require
these high performance traits. These riders are more interested in qualities such as the
horses ability to handle fear and anxiety, which adds a level o f safety for these

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prospective buyers. Given that behaviour could be viewed as one o f the most important
products of riding horses, it is surprising that only eleven o f 19 surveyed breeding
associations (Koenen et al., 2004) include behaviour in their breeding goal, and these
behaviour traits are usually defined only in vague terms and are often not appropriately
tested. A first step to improve this situation has been taken, for example, by the French
institution Haras Nationaux, that is one of the few to assess fearfulness in their breeding
evaluation. However, presumably these type of tests are mainly used as a marketing tool
rather than that they are geared towards the consumer demands as validation o f these

tests are often absent.

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1.2.1.2 Previous experience and environmental impact on fear

The nature (e.g. colour: Hall and Cassaday, 2006), presentation (e.g. sudden versus

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slow: Christensen et al., 2006a) and the position (e.g. on the ground versus above the
ground: Hall et al., 2003; Hall and Cassaday, 2006) o f a stimulus influence how the
horse reacts to it. Equally as important in the fear reaction is the horses previous
experience with the stimulus itself (novel versus familiar, if familiar the quality o f the
context), as well as the horses general previous experience. For example, a number of
studies showed that horses fear-related behaviour can be altered by previous
experiences such as husbandry conditions and handling (Jezierski et al., 1999;
Sondergaard and Halekoh, 2003), early handling (Mai et al., 1994; Simpson, 2002;
Williams et a l, 2002; Spier et al., 2004; Henry et al., 2005), housing (Rivera and
Elissette, 1999; Rivera et al., 2002; Sondergaard and Ladewig, 2004) and training
(Baragli et al., 2006; Christensen et al., 2006b).

Habituation, desensitisation, and

counter-conditioning are the main approaches that are used to reduce fear, and
Christensen et al. (2006a) showed that desensitization, i.e. a gradually increasing

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strength o f exposure to a fear stimulus, may be the best method to reduce fear reactivity.
The presence of other horses may potentially also influence a horses fear-related
behaviour (Pauri et a l, 2006), for example, through social facilitation of the reaction to
the fear stimulus.
Fear and the behavioural fear response can also be classically conditioned. The
behavioural and physiological fear reaction exhibited in response to a fear-conditioned
stimulus is equal to the unconditioned fear response (Fendt and Fanselow, 1999).
Marshall (1996) suggested that it may also be possible that a horse leams that shying

during riding will cause the rider to become more timid, thus demanding less from the
horse, which is likely to be more comfortable for the horse. McGreevy et al. (2005)

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suggested that conflict or unresolved problems in negative reinforcement, such as too

strong pressure may also cause shying in horses.

This is likely because negative

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emotions are built up, and an individuals affective state influences how it reacts to fear
stimuli (Brown et al., 1951). For this reason remedies, like giving Tryptophan, have
been popular when attempting to calm animals. However, they appear to have little or
none o f the desired calming effect on horses (Bagshaw et al., 1994; Grimmett and
Sillence, 2005; Malmkvist and Christensen, in press), and moreover, the reduction of
fearfulness and reactivity using drugs is for ethical and health-related reasons not a
desirable long-term solution.

1.2.2 Assessment of fear

The perception of sudden and novel stimuli leads to activation of the
hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal cortex axis causing the horse to take flight (McGreevy
et al., 2005). However, fear does not always lead to both an obvious behavioural and
physiological expression (Manteca and Deag, 1993) and therefore, measures o f both

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systems should be used simultaneously to assess states o f fear. There are a wide range
o f physiological, metabolic, and behavioural indicators that have the potential to serve
as indicators o f stress.
Physiological measures o f stress include cardiovascular and endocrine measures
such as heart rate and heart rate variability, blood pressure and catecholamines, which
are indicators o f immediate stress responses to fear. Indicators o f medium and long
term stress, such as anxiety include: adenocorticotropic hormone/corticotropin-releasing
hormone, glucocorticoids, gonadotrophin/sex steroids, cytokines, B-endorphin, renin
Measures o f health such as immune function, disease state, growth

and prolactin.

performance and reproductive performance can also be used to assess stress but, since

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changes in these systems result from long-term physiological changes, they are not
sensitive indicators for short-term stressors like fear. Behavioural measures o f stress

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can include activity/sleep patterns, feed and water intake, stereotypies, abnormal
posture/behaviour, locomotion, defaecation, and vocalization.

1.2.2.1 Physiological responses to fear

Physiological responses to fear in mammals involve activation o f the two main

physiological pathways: the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal cortex axis, and the

sympathetic-adrenal medulla axis. This has been described in detail by, for example
Squires (2003), and only a brief description is given here. The sympathetic-adrenal
medulla axis is responsible for the immediate responses involving activation o f the
sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system, which leads to increased heart
rate, increased blood pressure, reduced gastrointestinal activity, and increased secretion
o f the catecholamines, namely adrenaline and noradrenaline.

Adrenaline stimulates

glycogenolysis providing glucose and energy immediately to the organism. Longer-

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