Enough Horsin' Around -- Time for Research!

Source #1: Social Interaction and Aggression between Unfamiliar Horses

Hartmann, Elke, et al. “Social Interactions of Unfamiliar Horses during Paired Encounters: Effect of Pre-Exposure on Aggression Level and so Risk of Injury.” Applied Animal Behaviour Science, vol. 121, no. 3/4, Dec. 2009, pp. 214–21. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2009.10.004.

I found this article using three primary keywords: “horse OR equine,” “social behavior,” and “socialization.” Hartmann’s research involves testing the levels of “contact aggression” and “overall aggression” of horses when attempting to keep them in the same enclosure.

Their overall conclusion was that contact aggression (such as biting, kicking, striking, and pushing) was lowered by keeping young horses in neighboring boxes. The researchers’ feelings are involved in their guess that a reduction in aggression occurred because of prior aggression in a previous test.

This study helps us understand that horses, just as humans might, get more comfortable (less aggressive) with others by spending more time with one another.

Two horses being friendly -- mutually grooming one another

Source #2: Parameters for the Analysis of Social Bonds in Horses

Wolter, Riccarda, et al. “Parameters for the Analysis of Social Bonds in Horses.” Animals (2076-2615), vol. 8, no. 11, Nov. 2018, p. 191. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.3390/ani8110191.

I found this article using similar keywords to the previous source: “horse OR equine,” “social behavior OR social bond,” and “analysis.” Wolter’s research involves observing feral horses and counting the instances of friendly behavior between different members of the team of horses.

The overall conclusion of this research is that horses show the strength of their social bonds through the use of friendly actions. Some of these friendly actions include mutual grooming and spatial proximity. The researchers’ personal feelings are involved in their conclusion that around fifteen hours of observation is enough for analysis.

This study helps us understand that horses aren’t so hard to read. The strength of their social bonds (i.e. friendships) can be measured through the frequency of subtly or obviously friendly interactions with their fellow teammates.

Conclusions:

Through using the library databases, I learned that there is a wealth of information to be discovered on any animal rights topic that I am interested in pursuing. Using Mendeley was helpful in making the process of transferring the article and its information into a library that was easily accessible and helpful. I learned that the research accessible through the University on horse intelligence is relatively limited, so I should focus on another topic of interest for equines. I also did a little bit of research on my own, and discovered that there is a good deal of information on the activism project topic that I’m interested in. The University’s database is a great tool to have in my pocket, and once I have enough helpful keywords, I will put them to use with it.