Faithfull Rifka, Lewis Kate, Drury Emily, McBride Sebastian
Department of Life Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth SY23 3FG, UK.
Centre for Comparative and Evolutionary Psychology, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth PO1 2DY, UK.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Jun 17;15(12):1782. doi: 10.3390/ani15121782.
Despite welfare concerns, conflict behaviours (indicative of momentary states of acute stress) are common in horses during dressage competitions. Identifying factors that affect conflict behaviours during competition therefore has the potential to improve equine welfare. The aim of this exploratory study was to assess the effect of bridle type (double versus snaffle) in relation to other potential affecting factors (e.g., average head angle, competition level and type, tack variation) on conflict behaviours during dressage competition. An ethogram was created to analyse the conflict behaviour of horses ( = 135) at dressage competitions. Behaviours were reduced into nine components using principal component analysis. The effects of bridle type and its interaction with other additional factors (competition level, competition type, average head angle) on component scores were analysed using multilevel Bayesian regression models. The results demonstrated a multifaceted interaction between bridle type, inferred rider skill level, and ridden head angle. The results also demonstrated that during dressage tests, 100% of horses performed the conflict behaviours of mouth opening and 86.7% of horses performed tail swishing. The ethological and welfare implications of these findings are discussed.
尽管存在福利方面的担忧，但在盛装舞步比赛中，冲突行为（表明瞬间急性应激状态）在马匹中很常见。因此，识别影响比赛期间冲突行为的因素有可能改善马匹福利。这项探索性研究的目的是评估缰绳类型（双缰与单缰）与其他潜在影响因素（如平均头部角度、比赛水平和类型、马具变化）对盛装舞步比赛中冲突行为的影响。创建了一个行为图谱来分析盛装舞步比赛中马匹（(n = 135)）的冲突行为。使用主成分分析将行为减少为九个组成部分。使用多级贝叶斯回归模型分析缰绳类型及其与其他附加因素（比赛水平、比赛类型、平均头部角度）对组成部分得分的影响。结果表明缰绳类型、推断的骑手技能水平和骑行时的头部角度之间存在多方面的相互作用。结果还表明，在盛装舞步测试中，100%的马匹表现出张口的冲突行为，86.7%的马匹表现出摆尾行为。讨论了这些发现的行为学和福利意义。
