In most of the mammalian species the courtship is a very important event preceding the reproduction itself. In some species specific courtship strategies are well described, however, in horses they are not, although courtship may have a major impact on the reproductive success of the individual. In horses (Equus caballus), polygynous mammals with harem type of social organization, courtship naturally involved wide spectrum of behaviour, by contrast, under domestic conditions they almost do not occur. This diploma thesis addresses the courtship and reproduction in semi-feral and domestic horses, specifically Exmoor pony and Merens horse breed, and individual reactions of mares to the stallion in the breeding season. A total of 45 individuals were observed for 240 hours from February to June 2018. We assumed the similarity of courtship within particular couples, but the result of the statistical analysis was the opposite, a high variability in the behavioural pattern repeatability (ICC 0,235-0,832), which, however, did not correlate with individual mare characteristics, i.e. age (ρ=-0,194, p=0,472), parity (t=0,569, p=0,578) or postpartum estrus (t=-0,070, p=0,945). We also assumed that the mare, which would show aggressive behaviour to the stallion during the courtship, would end the courtship by leaving or...

Le premier objectif de ce travail de thèse était de développer la méthodologie d’étude des postures basée sur la morphométrie géométrique. Cela nécessitait un perfectionnement de la méthodologie déjà existante sur la ligne du dos du cheval afin d’obtenir une méthode précise, quantifiable, objective et reproductible, permettant de discriminer des populations. Pour cela, plusieurs améliorations méthodologiques (ajout de marqueurs pour dessiner le contour de laligne du dos du cheval, analyse de contour, annulation de la rotation de l’encolure) ont été testées sur un important jeu de données et finalement retenues. Cette méthodologie retenue a ensuite été utilisée afin de valider sa pertinence, et de rechercher des postures associées à des états de mal-être et à des conditions de travail différentes. Nos résultats ont tout d’abord mis en évidence l’existence d’une posture atypique, dans l’ensemble plate, voire creuse, associée à des marqueurs de mal-être parmi les chevaux de centre équestre. D’une part des chevaux issus de différentes disciplines équestres, et d’autre part des individus entrainés pour les courses de galop par plusieurs entraineurs, aux pratiques distinctes, ont permis d’observer un effet du type de travail sur la ligne du dessus notamment sur la forme de la croupe, del’encolure et du garrot. La méthodologie ainsi validée, il était possible de proposer un protocole de mesure de la posture par morphométrie géométrique chez l’humain, pour une application à l’étude de la communication non verbale, à la constitution d’un répertoire de postures « normales », ou encore pour le diagnostic de pathologies physiques (e.g. contextesportif) ou psychologiques. / The first goal of this thesis work was to develop the study methodology of the posture based on geometric morphometrics. This required an upgrading of the already existing methodology using the upper line of the horse in order to obtain a precise, quantifiable, unbiased and reproducible method which allows to discriminate populations. To achieve this, manymethodological improvements (addition of markers for the modelling of the contour of horse upper line, contour analyses, cancellation of the neck rotation) has been tested on a very large dataset and retained. Then this adopted methodology has been used to validate its relevance, and searching for postures associated with poor welfare and different working conditions. Our results has first brought to light the existence of an atypical posture, globally flat, even hollow, related to poor welfare indicators among the population of riding school horses. On one side horses from different equestrian disciplines, and on the other side individuals trained for horseracing by several trainers with distinct practices, has allowed to observe an impact of the type of work on the upper line, notably on the shape of the croup, neck and withers. This methodology thereby validated, it was possible to propose a protocol for the measure of the posture through geometric morphometrics on humans, for an application in the non-verbal communication research, the creation of a repertoire of « normal » postures, or for the diagnosis of psychological or physical pathologies (e.g. in the sport context).

Ce travail porte sur l'attention chez le cheval domestique. Il vise, dans un premier temps, à évaluer les capacités d'attention des chevaux grâce au développement d'outils de mesure. Nous avons ainsi développé deux tests comportementaux permettant d'évaluer respectivement l'attention visuelle (e.g. test d'attention visuelle, VAT) et auditive (e.g. test de diffusion de sons inhabituels, AAT). Les résultats montrent que ces tests comportementaux permettent la mesure de caractéristiques attentionnelles stables au cours du temps et prédictives de l'attention (i.e. VAT) et de la distractibilité (i.e. AAT) du cheval dans d'autres contextes, à savoir lors d'un test d'attention communément utilisé chez d'autres espèces (the ''5-choice serial reaction time task''), mais aussi en contexte non expérimental comme lors du travail (e.g. exercice à la longe, en reprise). Nos résultats montrent, par ailleurs, des variations individuelles d'attention d'ordre qualitatif (structuration et niveau de l'attention) et quantitatif (durée d'attention). Dans un second temps, nous avons examiné certains facteurs de modulation (intrinsèques et extrinsèques) de l'attention du cheval. Les tests développés ont alors été appliqués dans différents sites équestres. Les résultats montrent que l'attention des chevaux est modulée : i) par des facteurs intrinsèques tels que la race, le sexe des individus ou encore leur état de bien-être; et ii) par des facteurs extrinsèques tels que les conditions de vie offertes aux chevaux, le travail et particulièrement la discipline d'équitation. Enfin, nous nous sommes interrogés sur la possibilité de promouvoir l'attention du cheval au travail via des actions humaines spécifiques. Nous avons ainsi montré que l'utilisation d'une récompense alimentaire augmente rapidement l'attention du cheval sur la tâche à réaliser, et en conséquence améliore ses performances d'apprentissage, tandis que de tels effets n'ont pas été obtenus avec une « récompense » tactile. L'ensemble de ce travail permet des avancées méthodologiques novatrices pour appréhender les capacités cognitives du cheval et ses facteurs de variation. Ces résultats permettront de conseiller les utilisateurs de chevaux en termes de choix d'animaux, de gestion des séances de travail et des conditions de vie. / This study investigated attention in domestic horse. It aims, firstly, to evaluate horses’ attentional abilities by developing experimental tests. To this end, we developed behavioural visual attention (VAT) and auditory attention (AAT) tests. The results show that these behavioural tests give accurate measures of horses’ attentional characteristics. These measures are stable over time and can predict an individual’s attention (VAT) and distractibility (AAT) during another attention-testing paradigm frequently used in other species (the ‘5-choice serial reaction time task’) and in a non-experimental context: work (e.g. lunge or riding lessons). Furthermore, our results show qualitative (structure and level of attention) and quantitative (duration of attention) variations of attention between individuals. Secondly, we studied both intrinsic and extrinsic factors modulating attention in horses. The tests developed have been used across several equestrian sites. Horses’ attention appears to be modulated by: i) intrinsic factors such as an individual’s breed, gender or welfare state and ii) by extrinsic factors such as an individual’s living condition, work and especially the riding discipline. We finally investigated the possibility of promoting horses’ attention while working via dedicated human actions. We showed that using food rewards rapidly increases horses’ attention on the task and, as a consequence, improves their learning performances. These effects were not found with tactile ‘reward’. In summary, this work has led to innovative methodological improvements to assess horses’ cognitive abilities and the factors influencing them. These results have useful applications to guide horse-handlers through animal selection, work session management and choosing optimised living conditions.

Equidae belong to a group of large herbivores, which survival in natural environment depends beside others on their capability of fast predator recognition and detection. They can sensually recognise a possible threat in advance and react by immediate escape, which increases their survival. Also domestic horses still show very sensitive reaction to sudden (unexpected) stimuli. So we assume, that the ability to detect predator immediately is conserved despite of the long domestication process. The supportive indirect evidence is given by the successful breeding of the feral herds all over the world. However, studies showing the direct reaction of domestic horse toward the canids (as the most common predators), are still absent. Aim of the work was to find, if the horses (Equus caballus) could recognize acoustic sign of dogs like predators and if they could recognize the level of potential threat according to the number of predators, similarly as their wild ancestors. The recordings of barking of big dog breeds were obtained and modified. The final recording contained the set of barking coming from one individual or three different. The recording was played to the experimental horses, under controled conditions, together with white sound as a control. The reactions were recorded. Altogether 12 horses out of...

Equidae belong to a group of large herbivores, which survival in natural environment depends beside others on their capability of fast predator recognition and detection. They can sensually recognise a possible threat in advance and react by immediate escape, which increases their survival. Also domestic horses still show very sensitive reaction to sudden (unexpected) stimuli. So we assume, that the ability to detect predator immediately is conserved despite of the long domestication process. The supportive indirect evidence is given by the successful breeding of the feral herds all over the world. However, studies showing the direct reaction of domestic horse toward the canids (as the most common predators), are still absent. Aim of the work was to find, if the horses (Equus caballus) could recognize acoustic sign of dogs like predators and if they could recognize the level of potential threat according to the number of predators, similarly as their wild ancestors. The recordings of barking of big dog breeds were obtained and modified. The final recording contained the set of barking coming from one individual or three different. The recording was played to the experimental horses, under controlled conditions, together with white sound as a control. The reactions were recorded. Altogether 12...

Lateralized behaviour is the most conspicuous manifestation of hemispheric specialization of the brain and has been reported in a variety of taxa. Only a few studies have so far assessed lateralized behaviours in horses. Therefore, I observed ten domestic horses for 16 weeks for an array of spontaneously occurring motor behaviours as well as stimulus-induced behavioural responses to determine if they display side preferences at the individual or population level and to assess possible correlations between lateralized behaviours. Significant side preferences were found for certain behaviours at the individual level, ranging from standing and flexing, to auditory stimuli, and olfactory stimuli. All horses showed task-dependent changes in their side preferences and no significant side preferences were found at the population level for any behaviours. Similarly, no significant correlations were found between behaviours. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that horses, like all other species studied so far except humans and some great apes, only display lateralized behaviour at the individual, but not at the population level.

L’évaluation des émotions positives chez l’animal est encore délicate. Pourtant, de nombreuses évidences démontrent l’intérêt de favoriser l’expression de ces émotions, notamment dans le but d’améliorer le bien-être des individus. Cette recherche vise à valider et identifier des indicateurs d’émotions positives chez le cheval. Dans un premier temps, une étude expérimentale basée sur l’utilisation d’accéléromètres, tout comme l’observation d’épisodes d’anticipation alimentaire quotidiens en centre équestre, ont permis d’identifier le déclenchement de l’anticipation et de mieux caractériser les comportements exprimés dans ce cadre. Nos résultats dévoilent que les comportements d’anticipation reflètent davantage un état de frustration. Ils ne constituent donc pas un indicateur fiable d’émotions positives. En revanche, une augmentation d’intensité de ces comportements semble indiquer un état de mal-être. Puis, en nous appuyant sur l’utilisation d’un casque permettant la mesure de l’activité électroencéphalographique chez des chevaux éveillés et libres de leurs mouvements, nous avons pu (i) confirmer l’importance de l’hémisphère gauche dans le traitement des émotions positives et de l’hémisphère droit dans le traitement attentionnel, (ii) mettre en évidence le rôle majeur des ondes thêta lors d’un traitement cognitif attentionnel, (iii) souligner l’interaction des processus émotionnels et attentionnels chez le cheval. Par ailleurs, si le test classique d’attention visuelle (VAT) constitue un bon outil de mesure des capacités attentionnelles d’un cheval au travail, ce même test réalisé sans humain apparait être un outil novateur de mesure de l’état de bien-être. Enfin, l’étude de la production de sons non-vocaux, basée sur une approche comparative combinant l’observation de chevaux de centre équestre et des chevaux vivant en condition semi-naturelle (favorable au bien-être), a révélé que l’ébrouement (hors contrainte respiratoire liée à une maladie ou à un équipement mal ajusté) serait un marqueur fiable d’émotions positives d’intensité modérée chez le cheval, puisqu’il exprimerait que ce dernier perçoit de façon positive son environnement. L’ensemble des recherches menées dans ce travail ouvrent vers des perspectives d’applications intéressantes dans le milieu équin, mais aussi d’un point de vue fondamental et méthodologique. / Indicators of positive emotions in animals are still scarce. However, many studies showed that favour these emotions is a promising way to improve individual welfare state. This study aims to validate and identify some indicators of positive emotions in horses. First, based both on an experimental study using accelerometers and the observation of riding school horses during their regular feeding time, we characterized anticipatory behaviours in this specie and showed that they were triggered by an environmental cue. Moreover, anticipatory behaviours were associated with frustration and thus were not reliable indicators of positive emotions. However, an increase of their intensity may reflect a poor welfare state. Then, the use of an EEG helmet designed for awake horses free from their movements, allowed us to (i) confirm the left-hemisphere bias for positive emotions processes and the right hemisphere bias for attentional processes, (ii) highlight the implication of theta waves in cognitive attentional processes, (iii) underline interactions between attentional and emotional processes in horses. Moreover, we showed that the measures of attentional characteristics thanks to a visual attention test (VAT) was useful to define attentional capacities at work. The same test conducted without a human was rather useful to evaluate the horses’ welfare state. Finally, a comparative approach based on the observation of horses living either in restricted or in naturalistic conditions revealed that snort (out of breathing difficulties due to illness or poorly fitting equipment) could be a reliable indicator of positive emotions of low intensity as it would be the expression of the horses’ positive appraisal of a situation. This works opens up promising fundamental and applied perspectives and applications.