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Unhandled horses classified with broken/unbroken test (BUT) exhibit longer avoidance, flight reactions, and displacement behaviors when approached by humans

Horses with a low level of tameness are at higher risk for transport-related disease and injury; hence, European regulations for the protection of animals during transport (EC 1/2005) are stricter for unhandled (unbroken) horses. However, the regulation does not provide adequate tools for unhandled...

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Autores principales: Riva, Maria Giorgia, Sobrero, Lucia, Menchetti, Laura, Minero, Michela, Padalino, Barbara, Dalla Costa, Emanuela
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9548601/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36225797
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.1022255
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author Riva, Maria Giorgia
Sobrero, Lucia
Menchetti, Laura
Minero, Michela
Padalino, Barbara
Dalla Costa, Emanuela
author_facet Riva, Maria Giorgia
Sobrero, Lucia
Menchetti, Laura
Minero, Michela
Padalino, Barbara
Dalla Costa, Emanuela
author_sort Riva, Maria Giorgia
collection PubMed
description Horses with a low level of tameness are at higher risk for transport-related disease and injury; hence, European regulations for the protection of animals during transport (EC 1/2005) are stricter for unhandled (unbroken) horses. However, the regulation does not provide adequate tools for unhandled horse identification. The Broken/Unbroken Test (BUT) was developed and validated to easily identify whether a horse is broken (handled) or not. As a further validation step, the aim of this study was to assess whether there is any correspondence between the BUT classification and the behavioral response of the horse. A total of 100 healthy Italian Heavy Draft horses were video recorded when assessed with the BUT. In total, 90 videos (48 handled and 42 unhandled horses) matched the inclusion criteria and were assessed. The behavior of each horse was evaluated by three observers blinded as to the horses' experience with a focal animal continuous recording method. Behaviors were classified in four categories: stress, avoidance, displacement, and aggression. A Mann–Whitney test was used to identify differences in behavioral patterns between horses classified as handled or unhandled with the BUT. Unhandled horses showed not only a significantly longer time to be approached by the handler but also more avoidance and flight reactions (p < 0.001). Unhandled horses showed significantly longer displacement behaviors, such as sniffing (p < 0.001). These findings further validate the BUT classification and confirm that horses classified as unhandled are more prone to show avoidance and flight reactions when approached by humans. For this reason, the adoption of the BUT could be helpful to minimize humans' horse-related injuries and, if applied regularly before loading, to contribute to safeguard the welfare of horses during transport.
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spelling pubmed-95486012022-10-11 Unhandled horses classified with broken/unbroken test (BUT) exhibit longer avoidance, flight reactions, and displacement behaviors when approached by humans Riva, Maria Giorgia Sobrero, Lucia Menchetti, Laura Minero, Michela Padalino, Barbara Dalla Costa, Emanuela Front Vet Sci Veterinary Science Horses with a low level of tameness are at higher risk for transport-related disease and injury; hence, European regulations for the protection of animals during transport (EC 1/2005) are stricter for unhandled (unbroken) horses. However, the regulation does not provide adequate tools for unhandled horse identification. The Broken/Unbroken Test (BUT) was developed and validated to easily identify whether a horse is broken (handled) or not. As a further validation step, the aim of this study was to assess whether there is any correspondence between the BUT classification and the behavioral response of the horse. A total of 100 healthy Italian Heavy Draft horses were video recorded when assessed with the BUT. In total, 90 videos (48 handled and 42 unhandled horses) matched the inclusion criteria and were assessed. The behavior of each horse was evaluated by three observers blinded as to the horses' experience with a focal animal continuous recording method. Behaviors were classified in four categories: stress, avoidance, displacement, and aggression. A Mann–Whitney test was used to identify differences in behavioral patterns between horses classified as handled or unhandled with the BUT. Unhandled horses showed not only a significantly longer time to be approached by the handler but also more avoidance and flight reactions (p < 0.001). Unhandled horses showed significantly longer displacement behaviors, such as sniffing (p < 0.001). These findings further validate the BUT classification and confirm that horses classified as unhandled are more prone to show avoidance and flight reactions when approached by humans. For this reason, the adoption of the BUT could be helpful to minimize humans' horse-related injuries and, if applied regularly before loading, to contribute to safeguard the welfare of horses during transport. Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-09-26 /pmc/articles/PMC9548601/ /pubmed/36225797 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.1022255 Text en Copyright © 2022 Riva, Sobrero, Menchetti, Minero, Padalino and Dalla Costa. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Veterinary Science
Riva, Maria Giorgia
Sobrero, Lucia
Menchetti, Laura
Minero, Michela
Padalino, Barbara
Dalla Costa, Emanuela
Unhandled horses classified with broken/unbroken test (BUT) exhibit longer avoidance, flight reactions, and displacement behaviors when approached by humans
title Unhandled horses classified with broken/unbroken test (BUT) exhibit longer avoidance, flight reactions, and displacement behaviors when approached by humans
title_full Unhandled horses classified with broken/unbroken test (BUT) exhibit longer avoidance, flight reactions, and displacement behaviors when approached by humans
title_fullStr Unhandled horses classified with broken/unbroken test (BUT) exhibit longer avoidance, flight reactions, and displacement behaviors when approached by humans
title_full_unstemmed Unhandled horses classified with broken/unbroken test (BUT) exhibit longer avoidance, flight reactions, and displacement behaviors when approached by humans
title_short Unhandled horses classified with broken/unbroken test (BUT) exhibit longer avoidance, flight reactions, and displacement behaviors when approached by humans
title_sort unhandled horses classified with broken/unbroken test (but) exhibit longer avoidance, flight reactions, and displacement behaviors when approached by humans
topic Veterinary Science
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9548601/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36225797
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.1022255
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