LES ÉMOTIONS RESSENTIES PAR LES CHEVAUX PEUVENT-ELLES  IMPACTER LEUR LOCOMOTION ?

CAN THE EMOTIONS EXPERIENCED BY HORSES AFFECT THEIR MOVEMENT?

Emotions, whether positive or negative, play a key role in animal behavior. But do they also influence how animals move?
This is the question a study conducted by IFCE (Camille Betting, Alice Ruet, and Sophie Biau) sought to answer.

Study Objective

The aim of the study was to determine whether horses’ emotional states (pleasure or discomfort) could alter certain parameters of their locomotion at walk and trot when lunged.
The idea: to identify new visible indicators of emotional experience through movement analysis.

Methodology

  • Subjects: 11 sport horses (9 geldings, 2 mares) free from locomotor disorders.
  • Three test conditions:
    • Positive (IDC+): scratching in preferred areas.
    • Negative (IDC−): exposure to unfamiliar sounds.
    • Neutral (IDCt): no stimulation.

Each horse experienced all three conditions in a randomized order over three consecutive days.

Measurements taken:

  • Heart rate (Polar® H10)
  • Locomotion (Equimérix®): cadence, propulsion, dorsoventral power, rebound.

Key Findings

  • Heart rate and speed: No significant differences between the three conditions, likely because movement helped refocus the horse’s attention.

  • Locomotion:

    • At walk: After negative induction, horses showed increased cadence, propulsion, and dorsoventral power.
    • At trot: An increase in dorsoventral power and rebound was observed in the negative condition.
    • Positive vs. neutral: No significant differences.

Interpretation

These results suggest that negative emotions influence the horse’s locomotor mechanics, prompting more “dynamic” movements—a phenomenon already described in humans under fear (Halovic & Kroos, 2018).

On the other hand, positive emotions do not appear to alter locomotion compared to a neutral state—possibly due to the constraints of lunging or a subtler effect that is harder to measure.

Study Limitations

  • Small sample size (11 horses), without accounting for age, sex, or breed.
  • Constrained context (lunging), which may limit locomotor expression.
  • Results not generalizable to ridden horses, where rider influence remains to be evaluated.

Conclusion and Future Directions

The study highlights that certain locomotor parameters (cadence, propulsion, dorsoventral power, rebound) may serve as new indicators of negative emotional states in unmounted horses.

To go further, the researchers suggest expanding the analysis:

  • Studying freer locomotion
  • Considering posture and body segments
  • Integrating new technologies (inertial sensors, 3D kinematics)

These findings pave the way for a better understanding of the link between emotion and movement in horses, with potential applications for assessing equine welfare.

Source: equidee-emotions-ressenties-par-les-equides-mai-2025.pdf

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