Heterospecific Fear and Avoidance Behaviour in Domestic Horses (Equus caballus)

Simple Summary: Horses lacking exposure to cattle often show a fearful response when confronted with cows. In controlled conditions, we tested the responses towards two cows and a novel moving object in twenty horses in arena and hand-leading tests. The horses avoided the proximity of all stimuli, but of one of the cows the most. However, both cows provoked a stronger cardiac response than an inanimate object. We hypothesise that this response may be due to both neophobia and heterospecific interactions.Ridden horses have been reported to be fearful of cows. We tested whether cows could provoke behavioural and cardiac fear responses in horses, and whether these responses differ in magnitude to those shown to other potential dangers. Twenty horses were exposed to cow, a mobile object or no object. The time spent at different distances from the stimulus was measured. In a separate test, heart rate (HR), root mean square of successive differences between heartbeats (RMSSD) and the horses' perceived fear were assessed at various distances from the stimuli. The horses avoided the area nearest to all stimuli. During hand-leading, the cow elicited the highest HR and lowest RMSSD. Led horses' responses to the cow and box were rated as more fearful as the distance to the stimulus decreased. Mares had a higher HR than geldings across all tests. HR positively correlated with the fearfulness rating at the furthest distance from the cow and box, and RMSSD negatively correlated with this rating in cow and control conditions. Our results show that these horses' avoidance response to cows was similar or higher to that shown towards a novel moving object, demonstrating that potentially, both neophobia and heterospecific communication play a role in this reaction.

Automated summary

This study found that horses lacking exposure to cattle show fearful responses when confronted with cows, potentially due to neophobia and heterospecific interactions. The horses avoided the proximity of all stimuli, with one cow provoking the strongest response. The cows also elicited stronger cardiac responses than an inanimate object, indicating a potential role of fear and communication in the horses' reactions.