Parameters for the Analysis of Social Bonds in Horses.
Authors: Wolter Riccarda, Stefanski Volker, Krueger Konstanze
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Parameters for the Analysis of Social Bonds in Horses Evaluating social relationships in group-housed horses requires consistent, reliable behavioural metrics, yet equine practitioners and researchers have historically applied different parameters—mutual grooming, affiliative approaches, and spatial proximity—without clear guidance on their validity or comparability. Wolter and colleagues observed 145 horses across feral and Przewalski's populations (15 hours per group across three days) to determine which parameters most accurately reflect social bond strength and whether individual or group characteristics confound these measures. Grooming, friendly approaches, and proximity all proved robust indicators, with their correlation influenced only by sex and group size; notably, mutual grooming and affiliative approaches showed strong correspondence (p < 0.001), whilst grooming and spatial proximity were only weakly related (p = 0.25). For practitioners assessing herd dynamics or welfare in limited observation windows—whether evaluating turnout groups, rehabilitation progress, or introducing new horses—this research supports using either combined behavioural counts (grooming plus affiliative approaches) or close spatial proximity measurements, recognising that these methods capture complementary rather than identical social information.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •When assessing social bonds in group-housed horses, use either mutual grooming + friendly approaches together, or close spatial proximity measurements—these are the most reliable indicators
- •Account for sex differences and group size when interpreting social bond observations, as these factors influence behavioral patterns
- •A 15-hour observation period across three days is sufficient to obtain robust data on social relationships in horse groups
Key Findings
- •Mutual grooming and friendly approaches show strong correspondence (p < 0.001) as indicators of social bonds in horses
- •Sex and group size significantly affect the correlation between social bond parameters (p = 0.008 and p < 0.001 respectively)
- •Mutual grooming and spatial proximity show weak correspondence (p = 0.25), suggesting they measure different aspects of social relationships
- •Horse breed, aggression ratio, social rank, and individual horses do not significantly influence the robustness of social bond parameters