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A Danish study sought to decode behavior in foals that might indicate which ones may become fearful adults. Fearful horses can be dangerous if placed in uneducated hands; if bred, they can pass the trait on to their offspring.

Drs. Janne Winther Christensen, Carina Beblein and Jens Malmkvist note that horses will always face situations that can scare them, but through habituation and breeding for a calm demeanor, they can be trained to not flee.

Horses that are scared cause accidents; the researchers note that everyone involved with horses, from those who breed to those who play sports and teach others how to ride, have a responsibility to try to reduce accidents. They also report that it is unethical to breed fearful animals as it has a negative impact on animal welfare.

However, to study equine fearfulness, the same group of horses need to be kept in the identical management situations for the first three or four years of their lives, which is unusual. Winther Christensen and her team followed 25 Warmblood stallions from five months to 3.5 years of age; they were kept as a group with limited human handling.

The researchers reported that foals on their dams' side showed distinct differences in how they approached novel items. Some foals hurried back to their mothers when they saw a scary object while others approached and investigated it. Heart rate monitors showed that the foals that hurried back to their mothers had higher heart rates than the more-inquisitive foals.

Tested again as 3-year-olds, the same horses had similar reactions; overall, the horses that were more alert to the object had more pronounced fear reactions. The team determined that a foal's expression of alertness can help predict later behavior. Fearfulness is consistent across ages, which is helpful to know to ensure proper training and handling of the most-fearful horses. Additionally, if breeders were to breed only calm horses, after a few generations the population would generally become less fearful.

Read more at Horses and People.

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A new study X-rayed the heads of 144 horses and found many showed bony changes where the noseband typically sits. Though the scientists stress that their study doesn't provide evidence of a link between the noseband, its tightness and the lesions, they do feel that the lesions warrant further investigation on welfare grounds.

The use of too-tight nosebands is concerning to veterinarians, scientists and other equine welfare advocates who worry that the device, if used too tightly, causes distress and applies too much pressure to the tissues in the horse's head, potentially injuring both the tissue and the bone beneath it.

The study used 144 mature Warmblood horses, all used in the Mexican Army and based in Mexico City. Each horse began his career in training for dressage, showjumping and eventing. Noseband tightness is not routinely checked with any type of gauge. The horses were evaluated both physically and with an X-ray. The physical exam looked for lesions, pain on palpation or white hairs where the noseband or curb chain rest.

A week later, X-rays were taken and assessed by veterinarian diagnostic imaging specialists who knew nothing about the horses they were studying. The X-rays were examined for bone remodeling, radiographic opacity and soft tissue thickness in the areas where the noseband meets the lower jaw and nasal bones. They reported bone thickening in the nasal bones of 6.9 percent and 8.3 percent of the horses, and bone thinning in 33.3 percent and 56.9 percent of horses. The radiologists found increased bone deposition in 18.8 percent and 32.6 percent of the lower jaws of horses.

The scientists conclude that these results are the first evidence of bone lesions in the areas typically subjected to pressure from restricted nosebands. They note that this deformation of bone for competitive advantage is difficult to justify on ethical grounds.

Read the full study here.

Tag: Warmblood

Study: Fearful Foals Make Fearful Horses

Study: Too-Tight Nosebands Can Lead To Nasal Bone Damage In Horses