Online detection of an emotional response of a horse during physical activity

The objective of this research was to develop a non-invasive method to detect an emotional response of a horse to novelty during physical activity. Two horses performed 20 trials each, in which the horse's heart rate (HR) and physical activity were continuously measured. The relationship between the horse's physical activity and HR was described by a mathematical model allowing online decomposition of the horse's HR into a physical component and a component containing information about its emotional state. Exposure to the novel object resulted in an increase in the emotional component of HR, which allowed automatic detection of an emotional response of the horse in 33/40 trials. In the remaining seven trials no stable model could be built or data were missing. The results show that model-based decomposition of HR can be a useful tool for quantification of certain aspects of temperament.