Effects of period, type and duration of handling on manageability, reactivity and learning ability of horses

TL;DRAbstract

Manageability, reactivity and learning ability of horses are three essential characteristics for the riderhorse relationship. In comparison to routine handling, extra handling may reduce fear of humans and general reactivity and thereby improve manageability and learning ability in a variety of farm animal species, including horses. The purpose of this paper is to review the experiments which have studied the effects of handling on manageability, reactivity and learning ability of foals. Many authors have studied the period during which the handling is performed, and particularly the periods following birth and weaning. Even if it has become fashionable to handle foals immediately after birth, experiments which tested the effects of neonatal handling found either short-term effects or no effect. On the other hand, the time of weaning appears to be a favourable period to handle foals, since handling performed at this time provides long term effects on manageability and reactivity. The t

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