Facial expression as an indicator of emotive states and welfare of horses

PEŠKOVÁ, Lucie and HOSTOVSKÝ, M. Facial expression as an indicator of emotive states and welfare of horses. Veterinářství, 2020, vol. 70(11), p. 674-677. ISSN 0506-8231.
Year2020
CathegoryPublication in specialized journals
Internal link20225.pdf
Abstract

The evaluation of equine welfare is largely focused on the evaluation of physiological changes but also on the behavioural changes in animal. However, for the evaluation of welfare, it is necessary to use an objective method of assessing the emotional state of the horse, with the possibility of early recognition of pain. Increasingly evolved methods are the evaluation of behaviour of the horse, but also the evalua­tion of facial expression, as much as humans, is an indicator of internal and mental state. The QBA pro­tocol focuses mainly on assessment of the horse’s body language and the possibility to cope with the situation thanks to internal state and previous experience. Horse Grimace Scale is a method based on the evaluation of facial expressions associated mainly with pain, that provide comprehensive evaluation and gives an overview of the facial expression of the horse. The EquiFACS method is based on a compre­hensive method for the evaluation of facial expressions in humans (HumanFACS) and it provides an overview of the movements of individual mimic muscles of the horse. The results are an objective evalu­ation that makes possible statistically analyse obtained data and evaluate internal state of horse, in the case of pain, negative emotions, but also positive emotional states. The application of these methods can significantly improve the living conditions of horses, but also help to interpret the behaviour of individual.