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Is That You? Study Shows Horses Can Learn To Identify Photos Of Other Horses, Sheep

An Italian study has shown that horses can identify images of other horses and sheep when incentivized with food. Drs. Giulia Ragonese, Paolo Baragli, Chiara Mariti, Angelo Gazzano, Antonio Lanatà, Adriana Ferlazzo, Esterina Fazio and Cristina Cravana created an experiment that tested a horse's ability to discriminate between images of horse faces and headshots of other domestic species.

They used 10 Franches-Montagnes horses, six females and four males, that lived in Palermo. The team created a wooden testing frame with two trap doors that could hold printed images. The horses could push either side with their nose, revealing a treat on a shelf.

The research team used 20 life-sized, color images. Ten were of head-on views of horses and 10 were head-on views of cows, donkeys, sheep or a pig. All of the animals were unknown to the study horses. The horses were trained to use the boxes and the food reward (oat flakes) was placed on both sides so as not to influence the horse by smell. Only one side of the door was unlocked.

One session consisted of 10 different images and the horses completed three sessions for each phase of the experiment. Eight of the horses were able to distinguish between images of horses and other animals. In the next phase, the horses were asked to identify the sheep instead of the horse; results were the same. The horse was deemed “successful” if he picked the correct image eight out of 10 times in two consecutive sessions.

Though the horses got better at detecting the animal with each session, the time needed to make the decision increased as the trial proceeded. The team determined that the horses in the study were able to tell the difference between two-dimensional images of horses and other domestic animals. However, they were unable to identify individual horses or sheep within the images. The team concluded that the shape of the face most likely drove the recognition.

Read the full study here.

Study: Does Light Therapy Assist With Wound Healing?

Different forms of light therapy have been touted to have many benefits for equine health, including assisting with healing soft tissue injuries and infections, as well as addressing sprains, strains, arthritis and swellings. But can it assist in healing wounds?

Drs. Peter Michanek, Tamás Toth, Evelina Bergström, Helena Treffenberg‐Pettersson and Anna Bergh used eight Standardbreds to test the effects of pulsating visible red light and near infrared light on skin wounds.

The research team made small, circular wounds on each side of the study horse's neck. The wound on one side was given one light treatment; the wound on the other side was left untreated. The light therapy was given by the same operator throughout the study and followed a standardized protocol: treatment was given five days a week for four weeks.

Healing was monitored by someone who was unaware of which treatment, if any, the wounds had been given. The research team found little difference in the treated and control wounds in any phase of the study. The treated wounds took longer to completely heal than the untreated wounds.

The team concludes that in this study, pulsating visible red light and near infrared light do not speed healing of experimental skin wounds.

Read the study here.

‘By Showing Compassion For One Life, We Can Mend Many More’: Merck Research Horses Find A New Job

Merck Animal Health's equine division periodically conducts research on their product's efficacy. But what happens to the study horses when the research is complete? Click below to find out how Merck made sure the horses used in an EPM study had a soft place to land—specifically one where they would still be helping.

Watch below to see where they ended up.

The post ‘By Showing Compassion For One Life, We Can Mend Many More’: Merck Research Horses Find A New Job appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Like Humans, Exercise Reduces Stress In Horses

Exercise has been shown to lower stress levels in humans and research has shown that horses are no different: horses that are regularly exercised have lower levels of stress hormones than those who are not worked.

Drs. Ok-Deuk Kang and Wang-Shik Lee of the Jeju National University used 61 horses in a study to test stress levels of horses in various endeavors. Each of the horses fell into one of three groups: horses that weren't ridden at all, horses ridden in lessons and horses that gave rides to tourists.

Salivary samples were collected from each horse four times a day, including before and after an exercise session for the horses that were worked. The saliva samples were tested for cortisol levels; cortisol is a hormone produced when an animal is stressed.

The cortisol levels of all three groups of horses were lowest in the samples taken on the third day. The lesson horses had the greatest decrease in cortisol throughout the day. The horses ridden by tourists had the next most-significant drop, followed by the unridden horses.

The research team also tracked spikes in cortisol levels, which correspond with periods of increased stress. The highest spikes were found in the horses that were not ridden and the lowest spikes were found in the lesson horses.

The researchers concluded that consistent exercise reduces stress levels in horses even when the horses are ridden by beginner riders.