Jung Youngwook, Yoon Minjung
Department of Animal Science and Biotechnology, Kyungpook National University, Sangju 37224, Republic of Korea.
Department of Horse, Companion and Wild Animal Science, Kyungpook National University, Sangju 37224, Republic of Korea.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Mar 21;15(7):905. doi: 10.3390/ani15070905.
Therapeutic programs involving human-horse interactions are gaining popularity as a means of enhancing human well-being. Understanding the physiological responses of both humans and horses during these interactions is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of such programs. This study examined the effects of specific interactive activities on both humans and horses by monitoring changes in oxytocin and cortisol levels. Six participants and six horses took part in the study. The participants engaged in three distinct activities, each lasting 15 min: (1) resting alone without the horse (resting), (2) standing near the horse without physical contact (standing), and (3) gently rubbing the horse's neck and withers (rubbing). Saliva samples from the participants and blood samples from the horses were collected at three time points for each activity: T0 (before the activity), T1 (at the end of the activity), and T2 (15 min after the activity ended). The results indicated that oxytocin levels significantly increased in horses at T2 following both the standing and rubbing activities, while cortisol levels remained unchanged in both humans and horses across all activities. These findings suggest that human-horse interactions, particularly standing and rubbing, may foster social bonding in horses without eliciting a stress response in either species.
涉及人与马互动的治疗项目作为增进人类福祉的一种方式正日益受到欢迎。了解人与马在这些互动过程中的生理反应对于评估此类项目的有效性至关重要。本研究通过监测催产素和皮质醇水平的变化，考察了特定互动活动对人和马的影响。六名参与者和六匹马参与了该研究。参与者进行了三项不同的活动，每项活动持续15分钟：（1）独自休息且没有马陪伴（休息），（2）站在马附近但没有身体接触（站立），以及（3）轻轻抚摸马的颈部和肩胛（抚摸）。在每项活动的三个时间点采集参与者的唾液样本和马的血液样本：T0（活动前）、T1（活动结束时）和T2（活动结束后15分钟）。结果表明，站立和抚摸活动后，马在T2时的催产素水平显著升高，而在所有活动中，人类和马的皮质醇水平均保持不变。这些发现表明，人与马的互动，尤其是站立和抚摸，可能会促进马之间的社会联系，而不会在任何一个物种中引发应激反应。
