Important new research in the equestrian field has shown links between "reduced learning ability" in horses with certain abnornal repetitive behaviours
The study set out to determine if learning in "normal" horses differed from learning ability in horses which displayed abnormal repetitive behaviours such as from "crib-biting" or "weaving".
The author of the study, Jack Murphy, of the school of agriculture, food science and veterinary medicine at University College Dublin, told the Agricultural Research Forum in Tullamore, Co Offaly, that crib-biting and weaving were undesirable oral and motor behaviours that may lead to physiological problems in a horse.
He said the former was associated with irregular tooth wear, flatulent colic and stomach ulcers, while the latter might compromise forelimb joint integrity and/or provoke back pain.
Mr Murphy carried out his research at an equestrian centre in Co Wexford using four normal horses, four crib-biters and four weavers.
It involved the ability of the horses to access food from feed bins in four stalls which had moveable barriers which only allowed access to the food from 1.1m.The research showed that "normal" horses accessed the feed bins in significantly more trials that weavers but not crib-biters.
The findings from the current study show for the first time that abnormal repetitive behavour and learning difficulties may be related
"The causative factors involved are not immediately clear, and may include aspects of motivation or attention difficulties, possible endorphin-related effects and/or cortisol-related effects," the report went on.
"These findings raise some important questions both in terms of the learning processes involved in dealing with simple discrimination learning and also perhaps in terms of horses' participation within training and competition," concluded Mr Murphy's paper.