Young horses' reactions to humans in relation to handling and social environment (2003)

Sondergaard, E., Halekohb, U.

Abstract

Forty Danish warmblood colts in two replicates were used to investigate the effect of housing and handling in the rearing period on the reactions to humans. .. Half of the horses from each housing group were handled three times per week for a period of 10 min. .. In the home environment, single-housed horses approached sooner and were more easily approached by a human than group-housed horses where no effect of handling was observed. .. Handled horses showed lower increase in heart rate during the test than non-handled horses. .. It is concluded that the social environment affected the way horses reacted to humans when tested in the home environment but not in a novel environment. In contrast, handling affected the reactions to humans when tested in the novel environment but not in the home environment. However, handled horses also reacted less to the novel environment in general.