Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research
Volume 5, Issue 4 , Pages 177-179, July 2010

The use of pedometers to estimate motor laterality in grazing horses

  • Amanda Warren-Smith

      Affiliations

    • Millthorpe Equine Research Centre, 426 Forest Reefs Rd, Millthorpe, New South Wales 2798, Australia
    • Faculty of Veterinary Science (B19), University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress for reprint requests and correspondence: Amanda Warren-Smith, Millthorpe Equine Research Centre, 426 Forest Reefs Rd, Millthorpe, NSW 2798, Australia; Phone: 0419 235 785.
    • ,
  • Paul McGreevy

      Affiliations

    • Faculty of Veterinary Science (B19), University of Sydney, New South Wales 2006, Australia

Abstract 

The current study used pedometers (designed for the study of human exercise) to record the activity of both forelegs of domestic horses (N = 6) maintained in small groups at pasture. Readings were taken over an 8-hour period daily for 5 days. Over the 5 days, 2 horses were shown to make significantly more movements with the left leg than the right (P = 0.018 and 0.034, respectively). The same 2 horses showed a significant left leg preference every day of the study. For the other horses, less consistent preferences were found. The use of pedometers has potential for scoring motor laterality in large numbers of horses and may overcome the logistical challenges of direct observation. Avoidance of single-day anomalies can be achieved by recording data over several days.

Keywords: horse, motor laterality, lateralization, pedometer

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PII: S1558-7878(10)00005-5

doi:10.1016/j.jveb.2009.12.023

Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research
Volume 5, Issue 4 , Pages 177-179, July 2010

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