Can horses discriminate human body odors from joy and fear contexts?

Animals are commonly believed to detect human emotions through smell, in link with the primitive and ubiquitous characteristics of chemoreception. Indeed, the brain areas dedicated to odor processing are among the oldest structures in mammalian evolution, and chemosignals may play a role in interspecific communication. However, few studies have conclusively demonstrated that animals can perceive human emotions through smell. To determine whether horses can discriminate between human odors of fear and joy, a habituation-discrimination protocol was used. Horses were exposed to sweat odors from humans who declared they had experienced fear or joy while viewing a comedy or a horror film, respec…

Des souris et des vaches capables de percevoir des émotions humaines grâce aux odeurs

Des souris, des vaches, des odeurs et des hommes

Les animaux, dotés d’organes sensoriels différents des nôtres, ne perçoivent pas le monde de la même façon que nous. Si notre sensorialité est à dominante audiovisuelle, l’olfaction prévaut autant que la vision et l’audition chez la plupart des autres mammifères. Afin de vivre au mieux avec les animaux qui nous entourent, que ce soit nos animaux de compagnie ou ceux d’élevage, il est nécessaire de comprendre les bases sensorielles de la relation homme-animal. Pour cela se pose la question de la contagion des émotions de l’homme vers l’animal, mais également de l’animal vers l’homme, afin de respecter voire d’améliorer leur bien-être, mais également le nôtre...

Relationship between dietary-induced alteration of the hindgut microbiota and horse behavior during acute stressful events

International audience

Les impacts du campagnol terrestre sur les systèmes fourragers : le cas de l’élevage bovin allaitant en Bourgogne

EAAgroSupECOLDUR; Do vole outbreaks have the same effects on suckler beef farms in Burgundy as they do on daily farms in Auvergne and Franche-Comte? Semi-structured interviews were carried out with 19 farmers from Burgundy who had been affected by a water vole outbreak in 2011. The results indicate that, just like farmers in Auvergne and Franche-Comte, farmers in Burgundy witnessed a decrease in forage quantity and quality. Farmers used diverse measures to deal with the outbreak (e.g., avoidance strategies or the use of bromadiolone). Farmers that described water voles as pests were more likely to have used bromadiolone, while those who described water voles in morphological terms or in ter…

Développement social et alimentaire du jeune mammifère

Changes of the hindgut microbiota due to high-starch diet can be associated with behavioral stress response in horses.

6 pages; International audience; The digestive system of horses is adapted to a high-fiber diet consumed in small amounts over a long time. However, during training, high-starch and low-fiber diets are usually fed which may induce hindgut microbial disturbances and intestinal pain. These diets can be described as alimentary stress. The aim of the present study was to investigate to what extent changes in behavior are associated with alimentary stress and microbial composition changes of the cecal or colonic ecosystem. Six fistulated horses were used. The alimentary stress was a modification of diet from a high-fiber diet (100% hay) to a progressive low-fiber and high-starch diet (from 90% h…

Bien-être animal. Chap VIII

Behavioral cues and personality as non-invasive indicators of alimentary stress in horses

International audience

Horses Could Perceive Riding Differently Depending on the Way They Express Poor Welfare in the Stable

International audience; This study investigated the relationships between four behavioral and postural indicators of a compromised welfare state in loose boxes (stereotypies, aggressive behaviors toward humans, withdrawn posture reflecting unresponsiveness to the environment, and alert posture indicating hypervigilance) and the way horses perceived riding. This perception was inferred using a survey completed by the usual riding instructor and during a standardized riding session (assessment of behaviors and postures, qualitative behavior assessment (QBA) and characterization of the horses' locomotion using an inertial measurement unit). In accordance with ear and tail positions and the QBA…