Equine Discomfort Ethogram.

Catherine Torcivia,Sue Mcdonnell

doi:10.3390/ani11020580

Catherine Torcivia, Sue Mcdonnell

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11020580

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Abstract

Simple SummaryPain and discomfort behavior in horses tends to be especially subtle, and not readily or widely appreciated even by equine professionals, including many long-time horse keepers, trainers, and even by veterinarians, veterinary technicians, and care staff. Based on decades of evaluating the behavior of normal and physically uncomfortable horses in a referral hospital, as well as research context, we describe and illustrate a catalog of behaviors (ethogram) associated with equine physical discomfort. Our objective is to promote an unambiguous universal understanding of equine discomfort behaviors associated with various body systems and anatomic sources.In recent years, there has been a growing interest in and need for a comprehensive ethogram of discomfort behavior of horses, particularly for use in recognizing physical discomfort in domestically managed horses. A clear understanding of the physical discomfort behavior of horses among caretakers, trainers, and professional health care personnel is important to animal welfare and caretaker safety. This is particularly relevant to pain management for hospitalized equine patients. Various pain scale rubrics have been published, typically incorporating only a few classically cited pain behaviors that, in many cases, are specific to a particular body system, anatomic location, or disease condition. A consistent challenge in using these rubrics in practice, and especially in research, is difficulty interpreting behaviors listed in various rubrics. The objective of this equine discomfort ethogram is to describe a relatively comprehensive catalog of behaviors associated with discomfort of various degrees and sources, with the goal of improving understanding and clarity of communication regarding equine discomfort and pain. An inventory of discomfort-related behaviors observed in horses has been compiled over 35 years of equine behavior research and clinical consulting to medical and surgical services at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s equine hospital. This research and clinical work included systematic evaluation of thousands of hours of video-recordings, including many hundreds of normal, healthy horses, as well as hospitalized patients with various complaints and/or known medical, neurologic, or orthopedic conditions. Each of 73 ethogram entries is named, defined, and accompanied by a line drawing illustration. Links to online video recorded examples are provided, illustrating each behavior in one or more hospitalized equine patients. This ethogram, unambiguously describing equine discomfort behaviors, should advance welfare of horses by improving recognition of physical discomfort, whether for pain management of hospitalized horses or in routine husbandry.

Highlights

The recognition of physical discomfort in horses is important to ensuring adequate welfare, both for general husbandry and for veterinary care procedures
In an effort to more accurately evaluate pain in horses, in recent decades, multiple composite pain scales have been designed to take into account both objective physical measures and classically cited, observable behaviors associated with discomfort [3,4,5]
One exception is the Horse Grimace Scale (HGS) designed by Dalla Costa et al [6], which includes detailed descriptions and photographs to illustrate various components of facial expressions associated with discomfort

Summary

Introduction

The recognition of physical discomfort in horses is important to ensuring adequate welfare, both for general husbandry and for veterinary care procedures. In an effort to more accurately evaluate pain in horses, in recent decades, multiple composite pain scales have been designed to take into account both objective physical measures and classically cited, observable behaviors associated with discomfort [3,4,5]. Despite this progress, a recent review of these equine pain scoring systems emphasizes that there are still important shortcomings with the existing equine pain scales, recognizing mild pain states [1]. The objectives of this report were to (1) unambiguously describe a relatively comprehensive list of behaviors that in decades of clinical experience we have observed to be associated with the physical discomfort of various degrees and sources in horses, providing both line drawing illustrations and video examples, and (2) for various clinical conditions, describe clusters of those behaviors we have commonly observed

Background

Behavior Inventory from the Literature

Ethogram

Findings

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