Individual Responses in the Domestic Horse Regarding Human Behavior in Identical Settings

Although there has been research regarding the horses´ responses to human behavior, there is still a gap concerning the knowledge about the interaction of horses and humans in showing individual responses to different human behavior in the same situation. In this work, the horses´ individual responses to different humans were examined to close this research gap and to identify whether horses do really respond differently to different people. To this end, 29 horse and human interactions (including two identical exercises in each situation) were videoed and then transcribed in the style of HANOS. The qualitative content analysis was appropriated on the basis of Mayring. Both of the methods were adjusted to the special study conditions as the nonverbal interactions between each person and one horse were focused but no verbal expressions. In total, just under 600 interactions were analyzed (quantitative analyses). Based on these analyses, it can be assumed that each human individual received an individual, different feedback from the horses.