Can Repeated Exposure to Music Mitigate Horses' Reactions to Sudden and Unexpected Stimuli?
Keywords:
Stress, behavior, heart rate, habituation, equitation science, welfareAbstract
The living conditions imposed on horses mean that they are inevitably confronted with situations that can induce stress. Music is a promising tool for managing such situations, but its benefits could be attenuated by repeated exposure. In this study, we aim to determine whether music can mitigate horses' reactions to unexpected stimuli and if playing the same music daily leads to a loss of its efficiency. We compared three groups of 12 horses that were led on a route punctuated by potentially stressful stimuli for 10 consecutive days. Each group of individuals wore headphones and was consistently subjected to one of the three experimental conditions: a "music" test condition during which the same music track was played, a "noise" condition during which pink noise was played, and a "no-music" control condition. We found that music has a relaxing effect on horse behavior and heart rate. Interestingly, parameters with the pink noise were intermediate between the music and no-music conditions. Regarding the music's loss of efficiency through repeated playing, our results show that this tool continues to effectively mitigate the behavioral expression of stress after seven consecutive exposures, but this effect was not found every day. Music can therefore help make human-horse interactions safer by limiting the stress of horses faced with unexpected events, but further investigation is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms and ensure a safe and consistently efficient use in the field.
References
Alworth LC, Buerkle SC. The effects of music on animal physiology, behavior and welfare. Lab Animal 2013;42:54–61. https://doi.org/10.1038/laban.162.
Campo JL, Gil MG, Dávila SG. Effects of specific noise and music stimuli on stress and fear levels of laying hens of several breeds. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2005;91:75–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2004.08.028.
Akiyama K, Sutoo D. Effect of different frequencies of music on blood pressure regulation in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Neuroscience Letters 2011;487:58–60. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neulet.2010.09.073.
Uetake K, Hurnik JF, Johnson L. Effect of music on voluntary approach of dairy cows to an automatic milking system. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 1997;53:175–82. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0168-1591(96)01159-8.
Kogan LR, Schoenfeld-Tacher R, Simon AA. Behavioral effects of auditory stimulation on kenneled dogs. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 2012;7:268–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2011.11.002.
de Jonge FH, Boleij H, Baars AM, Dudink S, Spruijt BM. Music during play-time: Using context conditioning as a tool to improve welfare in piglets. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2008;115:138–48. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2008.04.009.
Kühlmann AYR, de Rooij A, Hunink MGM, De Zeeuw CI, Jeekel J. Music affects rodents: A systematic review of experimental research. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 2018;12:301–301. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00301.
Carter C, Greening L. Auditory stimulation of the stabled equine; the effect of different music genres on behav-iour. Proceedings of the 8th International Equitation Science Conference, vol. 18th, Edinburgh: Royal (Dick) Veterinary School; 2012, p. 167.
Stachurska A, Janczarek I, Wilk I, Kędzierski W. Does music influence emotional state in race horses? Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 2015;35:650–6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2015.06.008.
Wilson ME, Phillips CJC, Lisle AT, Anderson ST, Bryden WL, Cawdell-Smith AJ. Effect of music on the behavioural and physiological responses of stabled weanlings. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 2011;31:321–2. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2011.03.157.
Wiśniewska M, Janczarek I, Wilk I, Wnuk-Pawlak E. Use of music therapy in aiding the relaxation of geriatric horses. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 2019;78:89–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2018.12.011.
Andronie L, Andronie V, Pârvu M. The effects of short duration transport on sport horse. Lucrări Științifice - Zootehnie Și Biotehnologii, Universitatea de Științe Agricole Și Medicină Veterinară a Banatului 2009;42:279–384.
Schmidt A, Möstl E, Wehnert C, Aurich J, Müller J, Aurich C. Cortisol release and heart rate variability in horses during road transport. Hormones and Behavior 2010;57:209–15. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yhbeh.2009.11.003.
Waran NK, Cuddeford D. Effects of loading and transport on the heart rate and behaviour of horses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 1995;43:71–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-1591(95)00555-7.
Khalfa S, Bella SD, Roy M, Peretz I, Lupien SJ. Effects of relaxing music on salivary cortisol level after psychological stress. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 2003;999:374–6. https://doi.org/10.1196/annals.1284.045.
Eyraud C, Neveux C, Petit O, Valenchon M. Effet de différentes intensités de musique chez le cheval (Equus Caballus) en situation de stress aigu. Institut Français du Cheval et de l'Equitation, Paris 2018:144–7.
Houpt K, Marrow M, Seeliger M. A preliminary study of the effect of music on equine behavior. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 2000;20:691–737. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0737-0806(00)80155-0.
Neveux C, Ferard M, Dickel L, Bouet V, Petit O, Valenchon M. Classical music reduces acute stress of domestic horses. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 2016;15:81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2016.08.019.
Lansade L, Valenchon M, Foury A, Neveux C, Cole SW, Layé S, et al. Behavioral and transcriptomic fingerprints of an enriched environment in horses (Equus caballus). PLoS ONE 2014;9:e114384. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0114384.
Rault J-L, Waiblinger S, Boivin X, Hemsworth P. The power of a positive human-animal relationship for animal welfare. Frontiers in Veterinary Science 2020;7:590867–590867. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2020.590867.
Lansade L, Philippon P, Hervé L, Vidament M. Development of personality tests to use in the field, stable over time and across situations, and linked to horses' show jumping performance. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 2016;176:43–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2016.01.005.
Sardin J. Bruitages & Sons, gratuits et libres de droits. LaSonotheque n.d. https://lasonotheque.org/ (accessed February 17, 2024).
Altmann J. Observational study of behavior: sampling methods. Behaviour 1974;49:227–67. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853974x00534.
R Core Team. R Software, Version 4.2.1, 2021.
Downloads
Additional Files
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Camille Eyraud, Mathilde Valenchon, Milena Cairo, Olivier Adam, Odile Petit
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain the copyright of their manuscripts, and all Open Access articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
