The effect of physiotherapy on rider asymmetry through the seat and upper torso

Abstract

s / Journal of Veterinary Behavior 8 (2013) e1ee25 e17 Although horses tended to habituate during the first two weeks, after a four week interval the outcome was comparable with the first week. There were no significant differences in any of the four tests between the HR, HRV, SR and BS between experienced and inexperienced horses. This indicates that experience is not the key factor in how police horses handle stress. It was interesting to find that there were no significant differences in BS of the individual horses undergoing these tests. It was speculated that horses preselected to become mounted police horses were already habituated to frightening stimuli to some extent and hence showed fewer adverse behavioral responses. HR of horses was not correlatedwith their observed behavioral responses. This study suggests that stress and therefore the physiological and psychological state of a horse is not always reflected in its behavior. HR and HRV seemed to be the more valuable parameters to assess stress in a horse.