Measuring a Horses Need for Physical Contact

There is an interesting article in the horse magazine the importance of physical contact amongst horses. Obviously they are very social creatures with strong herd instincts but this article also talks about a study that involved the horses pressing a button in order to earn interaction with another horse so that they could measure how hard they were willing to work for it. Sounds kinda mean but it was pretty interesting … To read the entire article visit the faculty of agriculture

Pressing the right buttons

“The work for the horses involves pressing a button with the nose. The reward is contact with another horse in a certain way. By counting how many times the horses press the buttons, it is possible to measure the form of contact they are prepared to work the hardest for.

Denmark has the highest number of horses per capita in Europe. It is therefore natural that we carry out research into horse behaviour. DJF has a very important role to play in providing policy advice, for example in relation to the preparation of new regulations and notifications for horse owners. This means that the research results can be directly applied.

- A draft bill by the Ministry of Justice, which will be presented by the government at some point in the future, specifies that keepers of horses should have at least two horses. This means that they will recommend that all horses have social contact.”