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Detour behaviour in horses (Equus caballus)

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the ability of horses (Equus caballus) to detour around symmetric and asymmetric obstacles. Ten female Italian saddle horses were each used in three detour tasks. In the first task, the ability to detour around a symmetrical obstacle was evaluated; in the second and third tasks subjects were required to perform a detour around an asymmetrical obstacle with two different degrees of asymmetry. The direction chosen to move around the obstacle and time required to make the detour were recorded. The results suggest that horses have the spatial abilities required to perform detour tasks with both symmetric and asymmetric obstacles. The strategy used to perform the task varied between subjects. For five horses, lateralized behaviour was observed when detouring the obstacle; this was consistently in one direction (three on the left and two on the right). For these horses, no evidence of spatial learning or reasoning was found. The other five horses did not solve this task in a lateralized manner, and a trend towards decreasing lateralization was observed as asymmetry, and hence task difficulty, increased. These non-lateralized horses may have higher spatial reasoning abilities.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Professor Francesco Camillo (University of Pisa) for making the horses and structures available, and Ms Giulia Ragonese for assisting with data collection. Adam R. Reddon is supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) Canada Graduate Scholarship (Doctoral). All activities involving horses were regulated by the “Italian Animal Care” law (D.L. 116/92).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. EtoVet Research Group, Department of Physiological Sciences, University of Pisa, Viale delle Piagge 2, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    Paolo Baragli, Valentina Vitale, Elisa Paoletti & Claudio Sighieri

  2. Animal Behaviour Group, Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, 1280 Main St West, Hamilton, ON, L8S 4L8, Canada

    Adam R. Reddon

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  1. Paolo Baragli
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  2. Valentina Vitale
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  3. Elisa Paoletti
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  4. Claudio Sighieri
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  5. Adam R. Reddon
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Correspondence to Paolo Baragli.

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Baragli, P., Vitale, V., Paoletti, E. et al. Detour behaviour in horses (Equus caballus). J Ethol 29, 227–234 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-010-0246-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-010-0246-9

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