Elsevier

Journal of Veterinary Behavior

Volume 29, January–February 2019, Pages 18-24
Journal of Veterinary Behavior

Equine Research
Exploring horse owners' and caretakers' perceptions of emotions and associated behaviors in horses

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2018.10.002Get rights and content

Abstract

Attribution of emotions to horses, as well as understanding how environmental factors may influence such states, may influence owners' and caretakers' attitudes toward horse welfare. This, in turn, may influence how they manage and treat their animals. The aim of this study was to explore the views of Brazilian horse owners and caretakers regarding horse sentience, the contexts or events that may elicit different emotions, and the behaviors they believed to be an expression of these emotions. Survey participants were recruited and invited to participate online through vehicles with national coverage. The questionnaire obtained demographic information of the participants, a closed question asking participants to state their belief in horses' emotions, and two open questions requesting, respectively, a situation in which participants believed their horse had expressed pain and other emotions quoted in the questionnaire. Participants (412 men and 275 women) identified themselves as owners (81%), horse riding instructors (8%), horse centers' administrators (5%), veterinarians, or animal scientists, including students and professionals (6%) and most (63%) as experienced in the equestrian world. Most participants believed that horses have full capacity to feel pain (94%), fear (92%), and joy (77%), and some that horses have full capacity to feel boredom (65%) and jealousy (41%). More women than men believed that horses express pain, jealousy, sadness, anxiety, and boredom. More participants who identified themselves as "horse owners" believed that horses are able to feel jealousy than did non-horse owners. Analysis of the open responses suggests that participants' attribution of emotional capacity to horses is in large part based on their experience with horses. Some of the behaviors described as examples of expression of pain, joy, and jealously suggest that many believed that horses are aware of their emotions. Some accounts suggested anthropomorphic projections, but others have support in scientific research. The lay understanding of horses’ emotional states and the associated contexts that elicit them may be used to educate horse owners and caretakers regarding environmental restrictions and negative human-animal interactions to which they expose horses in daily management. Our findings suggest that there is a lay knowledge base to educate those involved in the daily management of horses to change behaviors, for example, avoiding or minimizing events involving pain, fear, and boredom, and facilitating those that cause positive affective states.

Introduction

Brazil has an estimated population of 5 million horses that contribute approximately 5 billion US dollars to the economy, including 600,000 direct and 2.4 million indirect jobs. An estimated 1.1 million horses are used in recreation, sports, and as companion animals (Lima and Cintra, 2016). Horses used for these purposes often present a high frequency of abnormal and stereotypic behaviors, varying from 12% to over 50% of the horses in different studies (McGreevy et al., 1995, Leme et al., 2014, Luescher et al., 1998, Waters et al., 2002), which indicates poor welfare. These behaviors are related to inappropriate management, such as individual housing in stables for up to 24 h/day, a high proportion of concentrate feeding, and inadequate exercise regimens (Leme et al., 2014, Visser and Van Wijk-Jansen, 2012).

A clear and strong relationship between humans' beliefs and attitudes toward animals and the way they treat these animals has been confirmed in several species, including horses (Hausberger et al., 2008, Hemsworth and Coleman, 2012, Hemsworth et al., 2015). Beliefs are antecedents of attitudes, which in turn influence people's behaviors (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). Belief in animal mind—defined as attribution of mental capacities such as intellect, the ability to reason, and feelings of emotion—is strongly associated with attitudes regarding the use of animals (Knight et al., 2004). Attitudes toward animal use and animal sentience are also influenced by a myriad of factors, including gender (Cornish et al., 2016, Knight et al., 2004, Walker et al., 2014b), familiarity with animals and animal ownership (Morris et al., 2012, Walker et al., 2014a, Wilkins et al., 2015), and prior contact with animals (Hecht et al., 2012, Morris et al., 2012, Walker et al., 2014a). Attribution of emotions to horses and the understanding of how environmental factors may influence such states may influence owners' and caretakers' attitudes toward horse welfare. This, in turn, may influence how they manage and treat their animals (Bradshaw and Casey, 2007, Edgar and Mullan, 2011). For example, recognition of pain in animals is positively related to the use of methods to prevent or minimize it (Hewson et al., 2007, Huxley and Whay, 2006, Fajt et al., 2011, Hötzel and Sneddon, 2013). In contrast, considering animals jealous, guilty, or fearful may lead owners or caregivers to treat them in different ways according to how they understand these behaviors or characteristics of the animals (Bradshaw and Casey, 2007, Hecht et al., 2012).

Emotions have been described as states elicited by rewards (i.e., stimuli the animal will work to get) and punishers (i.e., stimuli the animal will work to escape or avoid) (Rolls, 2014). Emotional experiences can be positive (pleasant) or negative (unpleasant) and of high or low activation or arousal (Mendl et al., 2010b, Scherer, 2005). Emotions evolved as adaptations in various species and are regulators of social interactions; recognizing emotions in animals is also fundamental to bond individuals of different species (Bekoff, 2008) as is the case of the human-horse relationships. Considering a concept of animal welfare based on science and social ethics (Fraser et al., 1997), understanding "folk animal psychology," or the way lay people perceive animal emotions, may be an important aspect of animal welfare (Watanabe, 2007).

The aim of this study was to explore the views of Brazilian horse owners and caretakers regarding horse sentience, the contexts, or events that may elicit different emotions, and the behaviors that may express these emotions.

Section snippets

Materials and methods

Survey participants were recruited and invited to participate through Facebook, websites, and newsletters dedicated to horse enthusiasts’ interest. Invitations were also distributed to the mailing list of a horse magazine with national coverage. The questionnaire was available between December 2014 and March 2015. Participation was voluntary, and the identity of all participants was anonymous. Research involving humans in Brazil is regulated by Regulations n. 466/2012 and 510/2016 from CNS, the

Results

Demographic data of the survey participants (n = 687) are presented in Table 1. Participants identified themselves as owners (81%), horse riding instructors (8%), horse centers’ administrators (5%), veterinarians, or animal scientists, including students and professionals (6%). The majority (63%) identified themselves as experienced in the equestrian world, 39% as intermediate, and 15% as beginners.

The proportion of participants that attributed different emotions to horses is presented in

Discussion

Horse owners and caretakers participating in this survey in general attributed high ability to experience emotions to horses. Most participants believed that horses can experience primary emotions such as pain, fear, and joy, and many also believed that horses are capable of jealousy, a secondary emotion (i.e., an emotion that involves some degree of self-consciousness or self-evaluation, Morris et al., 2008). As in this survey, other studies assessing human attribution of emotions to horses (

Acknowledgments

We thank Revista Horse and Universidade do Cavalo for advertising the survey in their publications. We thank Dr. Cibele Longo for comments on the final version of the article. The three authors conceived the idea for the article, designed the experiments, and analyzed the data. Maria J. Hötzel received support from CNPq (National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Brazil) though grants n. 304123/2012-9 and 311509/2015-0. Michele C. Vieira received a scholarship from CAPES

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