I say thee “neigh”: Rescued equids are optimistic in a judgment bias test

Changes in the affective state of neglected or abused animals can be difficult to quantify relative to physical improvements following rescue. Judgment bias as a measure of affective state was assessed in 8 horses and 2 donkeys that differed in their care history (abused/neglected or nonabused/non-neglected, hereafter described as rescued/nonrescued). On each training trial, a single bucket was presented at 1 of 2 locations; one that always contained food (reward) and another that never contained food (nonreward), and the latency to approach within 1 m of the bucket was recorded.

Source: Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research - April 9, 2018 Category: Veterinary Research Authors: Molly C. McGuire, Zoe Johnson-Ulrich, Audrey Robeson, Virgil Zeigler-Hill, Jennifer Vonk Tags: Equine Research Source Type: research