Applied Animal Behaviour Science 84 (2003) 127138

Assessment of equine temperament by a

questionnaire survey to caretakers and evaluation
of its reliability by simultaneous behavior test
Yukihide Momozawa a , Tomoko Ono b , Fumio Sato c ,
Takefumi Kikusui a , Yukari Takeuchi a , Yuji Mori a ,
Ryo Kusunose c,
a

Laboratory of Veterinary Ethology, The University of Tokyo, 1-1-1 Yayoi,

Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8657, Japan
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Utsunomiya University, 350 Mine-machi,
Utsunomiya-shi, Tochigi 321-8505, Japan
c Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, 321-4 Tokami-cho,
Utsunomiya-shi, Tochigi 320-0856, Japan
Accepted 5 August 2003

Abstract
We carried out a questionnaire survey of the caretakers, using 86 riding horses kept in the Equestrian Park, Tokyo (Japan Racing Association). The questionnaire survey used a 5-point scale and
a 3-point scale to assess several caretakers impressions of each horses temperament, on the basis
of the norm and the horses tendencies in ordinary care and daily training. Factor analysis of the
temperament scores obtained with the 5-point scale questionnaire revealed three mutually independent factors that we named anxiety, novelty seeking and understanding. In order to verify
the reliability of this questionnaire survey, a balloon reactivity test was conducted using the same
horses. Each horse was introduced into an unfamiliar indoor arena (7 m 12.5 m 3 m) in the
center of which two balloons slowly revolved. The horses responses were assessed by recording
changes in their behavior and heart rate (HR) during the 5 min experimental period. By comparing the questionnaire survey and the balloon reactivity test, it was found that the horses evaluated as highly anxious by the caretakers tended to show greater HR increases and defecate more
often during exposure to the balloon stimuli than did the other horses. Additionally, the horses
assessed by caretakers to have problems with ordinary care and/or training showed greater increases of HR and frequency of defecation in the balloon reactivity test, and the horses assessed

Corresponding author. Tel.: +81-28-647-0662; fax: +81-28-647-0686.

E-mail address: ryokusu@center.equinst.go.jp (R. Kusunose).
0168-1591/$ see front matter 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2003.08.001

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Y. Momozawa et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 84 (2003) 127138

as having a long adaptation time to unfamiliar objects were found to be unwilling to touch the
balloons. Thus, the horses behavior during the balloon reactivity test was highly consistent with
their temperament as determined by the questionnaire. These results suggest that the questionnaire
survey would be an effective means to assess equine temperamental traits, especially those related to
anxiety.
2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Anxiety; Heart rate; Horse; Questionnaire; Temperament

1. Introduction
Although it is very important from various viewpoints (welfare, training, performance,
breeding, etc.) to accurately assess equine temperament, there is no assessment method currently considered standard. To date, studies on equine temperament have generally made
use of two different methods. The first involves analyzing a horses behavior by scoring the animals responses to certain stimuli (McCann et al., 1988; Jezierski et al., 1999;
Hausberger and Muller, 2002), recording autonomic functions such as heart rate (HR) and
respiration (McCann et al., 1988; Jezierski et al., 1999; Hada et al., 2001; Visser et al.,
2002), determining endocrine function by measuring plasma concentrations of hormones
or monoamines (Alexander and Irvine, 1998; Anderson et al., 1999; Hada et al., 2001) or
examining behavioral parameters (Le Scolan et al., 1997; Wolff et al., 1997; Visser et al.,
2001). The second method of studying equine temperament uses a questionnaire survey
completed by caretakers or handlers who are familiar with the target animals (Le Scolan
et al., 1997; Anderson et al., 1999). Although a clear advantage of analyzing horse behavior
is that even an unknown animal can be examined objectively, it might be difficult to relate
animals behavioral responses in a specific circumstance to its temperament and problems
arising in ordinary care. Indeed, Seaman et al. (2002) question whether the results of a
behavior test show the subjects character. On the other hand, a questionnaire survey may
reflect a respondents personal impressions and thus could be subjective, but nevertheless it
might more accurately assess equine temperament because the assessment would be based
on long observation, and would include several temperamental traits. In addition, more
horses can be evaluated by a questionnaire survey than by a behavior test. Questionnaire
surveys have been successful in evaluating other animals. A puppy walkers assessment of
a young dogs temperament and behavioral traits, as obtained through a 40-question survey,
was found to be an effective predictor of the dogs suitability as a guide (Serpell and Hsu,
2001).
In the present study, we conducted both a questionnaire survey and a behavior test (the
balloon reactivity test) simultaneously in order to verify the reliability of the questionnaire
survey by comparing its evaluation of each horses temperament with the results of the behavior test. The balloon reactivity test was modified from the original one that we developed
for assessing responsiveness to a novel stimulus (Hada et al., 2001). The test was conducted
only once for each horse (one-off test), because the test was intended to examine behavioral
and autonomic responses to a novel environment, and repeating the test therefore might
compromise the outcome.

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129

2. Materials and methods

2.1. Animals
Experiments were carried out from 15 to 18 August 2001, in the Equestrian Park, Tokyo
(Japan Racing Association), where the healthy subject horses (n = 86) were cared for in
four stables. The primary breed was Thoroughbred (n = 31), with other breeds including
Arabian, Anglo-Arabian, Kiso, Misaki, Shire, Breton, Friesian, Rheinland Heavy Draft,
Appaloosa, Westphalian, Oldenburg, Quarter Horse, Connemara, Saddle bred, Selle Francais, Dutch Warmblood, Half-Bred Horse, Tennessee Walking Horse, Trotter, Hanoverian,
Holsteiner, Mecklenburg, New Forest Pony, and Pony (mixed breed). The group consisted of
8 males, 59 geldings and 19 females; the age range was 216 years (mean S.E.: 9.20.4).
Most horses had been kept for more than an year and were used mainly for riding.
2.2. Questionnaire survey
2.2.1. Respondents
Several caretakers (n = 38, 7 in most cases) who belonged to the same stable as the
subject horse were respondents. They had long experience in handling horses and were
considered to understand the horse sufficiently through ordinary care and daily training.
2.2.2. Temperament
For each horse, several caretakers were asked to provide their impressions of its temperament by answering the questionnaire (Table 1). Each response was given based on a scale
of 15, with 1 being the lowest match with a given temperamental trait, 5 being the highest
match, and 3 being normal or average in that trait. The averaged scores were adopted for
further analysis.
2.2.3. Ordinary behaviors
Along with the questionnaire on temperament, the caretakers were also asked about ordinary behavioral responses (Table 2). The scores were defined as follows: a score of 1 indicated that the horse had never or rarely troubled the caretaker during training, 2 occasionally,
and 3 usually. The most frequent score for each question was adopted for further analysis.
Table 1
Questionnaire items about temperament
Questions

Playfulness
Curiosity
Friendliness
Nervousness
Excitability
Stubbornness
Attachment to
Understanding

Not playful
Not curious
Not friendly
Not nervous
Not excitable
Docile
Any persons
Poor

Playful
Curious
Friendly
Nervous
Excitable
Stubborn
A particular person
Excellent

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Table 2
Questionnaire items about ordinary behaviors
Questions

Curious watching
Adaptation time to unfamiliar objects
When left alone
Body brushing
Loading into the vehicle
Panic attack
At equestrian meets
Threatening toward other horses
Threatening toward unknown persons

Never
Short
As usual
Willingly
Easy
Never
Composed
Never
Never

Sometimes
Normal
Slightly agitated
Slightly restless
Slightly resistant
Sometimes
Slightly excited
Sometimes
Sometimes

Frequently
Long
Greatly agitated
Restless
Resistant
Frequently
Excited
Frequently
Frequently

2.3. The balloon reactivity test

2.3.1. Test apparatus
The balloon reactivity test was conducted in an indoor arena (7 m 12.5 m 3 m)
with many small windows high up in the walls, a green mat on the floor and an entrance
(2 m 2 m). Two gray balloons (50 cm in diameter) were attached to both ends of a stick
(1.5 m in length) that revolved every 7.5 s. The rotation equipment was suspended from the
ceiling and held the balloons at 1 m above the ground, as shown in Fig. 1. This test was
carried out once to investigate the horses responses to novel stimuli.
2.3.2. Test procedure
Before the test, each subject was tethered in a familiar place near its home stable and
equipped with an HR monitor. The horse was kept there quietly for 23 min before it was

Fig. 1. Diagram of room used for balloon reactivity test. See text for details.

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131

led by its familiar caretaker into the indoor arena. Inside the arena the horse was placed
facing the balloons at a distance of about 2 m. The caretaker then released the reins, quickly
left the arena and closed the door. The subject was allowed to move freely during a 5 min
observation period, during which its behaviors were recorded using four cameras mounted
on the walls of the arena.
2.3.3. Data collection
2.3.3.1. HR. HR was recorded by an HR monitor (Vantage XL New, POLAR, Kempele,
Finland). The HR was sampled every 5 s, and the lowest HR during the resting period
of 23 min was defined as the control. The lowest HR, rather than the average HR, was
designated as the control value to minimize possible interference by accidental HR responses
to environmental stimuli such as unexpected noise. The average of HR (HR: difference
from control HR) during the 5 min observation period was adopted for further analysis.
2.3.3.2. Behavior observation. The frequency of defecation, urination, whinnying and
snorting were recorded by the outside video monitor during the experiment. The distance
of movement, frequency of intentional touching of the balloons, and duration of standing
still in the arena and near the entrance were measured on the playback video. The duration
of and latency to the intentional touching of the balloons were also recorded.
2.4. Statistical analysis
2.4.1. Temperament score
Factor analysis was performed on eight temperamental traits using the principle factor
method for factor extraction and Varimax rotation for orthogonal transformation. Associations between factors and temperamental traits, the percentage of cumulative variance, and
the eigenvalue for the last extracted factor were considered in order to determine how many
factors should be incorporated in explaining temperament most effectively. Where there
were factors that belonged to more than two temperamental traits, Cronbachs reliability
coefficient was calculated to assess the internal consistency of the extracted factors.
2.4.2. Relationship between the results of the questionnaire survey and the balloon
reactivity test
Correlation coefficients or Spearmans rank correlation coefficients were calculated to
determine whether or not any relationship existed between the results of the questionnaire
survey and the balloon reactivity test. The significant level is set at 0.05.

3. Results
3.1. Questionnaire survey
3.1.1. Temperament
Factor analysis with orthogonal transformation was performed on the survey scores. Three
factors were extracted because each temperamental trait belonged to one of the three factors,

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Fig. 2. Results of factor analysis on the questionnaire about temperament (upper: Factor 1 versus Factor 2, lower:
Factor 1 versus Factor 3). Factor 1 versus Factor 2 and Factor 1 versus Factor 3 in two-dimensional graphs in
which each temperament is arranged according to its factor loadings.

and the three together accounted for 84% of the common variance. The eigenvalues for Factors 3 and 4 were 1.118 and 0.434. Fig. 2 shows the distribution of each temperament based
on its factor loadings in two-dimensional graphs of Factor 1 versus Factor 2 and Factor 1 versus Factor 3. Factor loadings for each question item were playfulness (Factor 1: 0.001,
Factor 2: 0.954, Factor 3: 0.062), curiosity (0.180, 0.928, 0.146), friendliness (0.827,
0.083, 0.159), nervousness (0.883, 0.129, 0.068), excitability (0.926, 0.127, 0.017),

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133

stubbornness (0.819, 0.242, 0.264), attachment to a particular person (0.826, 0.001,

0.272) and understanding (0.033, 0.062, 0.970). Cronbachs reliability coefficient for
Factor 1 was 0.912 based on friendliness, nervousness, excitability, stubbornness
and attachment to a particular person, and 0.887 for Factor 2 based on playfulness
and curiosity. These values indicated sufficient internal consistency for both Factors 1
and 2. The scores of these factors for each horse were calculated and used for further
analysis.
3.1.2. Ordinary behaviors
Out of nine questions about ordinary behaviors (Table 2), one questionloading into
the vehiclewas excluded from the following analysis, because 83 (97%) horses were
assessed as being easy loaded into vehicle.
3.2. The balloon reactivity test
3.2.1. HR
Of the 86 horses, 5 were excluded from analysis due to unsuccessful recording. For
most horses, the highest HR was recorded immediately after they were introduced into the
arena. The HR during the 5 min experimental period was 44.6 2.6 beats/min (range
11.191.6 beats/min). After the peak, HR gradually decreased in most horses. There was
a significant relationship between HR in the first minute and that in the last minute of the
experimental period (r = 0.671, P < 0.005).
3.2.2. Behavior observation
After being introduced into the novel environment, most horses walked and stopped
repeatedly. Some stayed near the entrance, while others showed an interest in the balloons
and approached them. The total distance of movement during the 5 min averaged 17211 m
(range 12525 m). The shortest average distance (30 3 m) was seen in the first minute,
and the longest (38 3 m) at 23 min. There was a significant relationship (r = 0.532,
P < 0.005) between the distance walked in the first minute and that in the last, as seen for
HR in the first and last minutes of the experimental period.
The total time of standing still averaged 146 6 s (range 44259 s). The time for the first
minute was also significantly related (r = 0.448, P < 0.005) to that for the last.
The frequency of defecation averaged 0.98 0.10 times (range 04 times), that of urination 0.02 0.02 times (range 02 times), that of whinnying 0.43 0.13 times (range 07
times), and that of snorting 0.47 0.25 times (range 019 times). Urination, whinnying
and snorting were excluded from the following analysis because of the rare occurrence of
these behaviors during the observation period.
3.3. Relationship between temperament and the balloon reactivity test
Correlation coefficients or Spearmans rank correlation coefficients were calculated to
investigate associations between the temperamental factors reported on questionnaires and
observed items in the balloon reactivity test (Table 3). Factor 1 was significantly related to
both the HR and the frequency of defecation.

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Table 3
Correlations between the questionnaire about temperament and the balloon reactivity testa
Age

HR

Factor 1
0.057
0.318
Factor 2 0.193
0.107
Factor 3 0.031 0.006

Defecation Distance Standstill Latency Duration Frequency Entrance

0.257
0.012
0.044

0.115
0.118
0.005

0.010
0.104
0.034

0.090
0.101
0.106

0.055
0.063
0.040

0.098
0.052
0.113

0.003
0.014
0.031

Distance: the total distance of movement; Standstill: the duration of standing still in the arena; Latency:
the latency to the intentional touching of the balloons; Duration: the duration of the intentional touching of the
balloons; Frequency: the frequency of intentional touching of the balloons; Entrance: the duration of standing still
near the entrance.
P < 0.05.
P < 0.01.

3.4. Relationship between ordinary behaviors and the balloon reactivity test
We also investigated correlations between the caretakers responses to questions about
ordinary behaviors and observed items in the balloon reactivity test. Table 4 shows that
the HR was significantly related to frequent curious watching, long adaptation time
to unfamiliar objects, agitation when left alone, unwillingness to body brushing and
excitability at equestrian meet. The frequency of defecation was also significantly related
with frequent curious watching, unwillingness to body brushing and excitability at
equestrian meet. Significant relations were also found between excitability at equestrian
meet and the distance of movement; between long adaptation time to unfamiliar objects
and threatening toward unknown persons and latency to touch the balloons; between
long adaptation time to unfamiliar objects and threatening toward unknown persons
and the duration of touching the balloons; and finally between long adaptation time to
unfamiliar objects and threatening toward unknown persons and the frequency of touching
the balloons.

4. Discussion
The questionnaire survey has been a popular method for examining the temperament
of animals (Le Scolan et al., 1997; Anderson et al., 1999; Serpell and Hsu, 2001) despite the fact that in general, answers to questionnaires are considered to be rather unreliable, since the results reflect the subjectivity of the human respondents. Researchers
have taken various approaches to increase the reliability of questionnaires, adopting objective questions and scoring methods, increasing the number of questions, and applying
more effective methods of statistical analysis. In the present study we surveyed several
caretakers for each target horse in order to minimize subjectivity, and used a method of
statistical analysis that is commonly used in the field of human psychiatry. Three independent factors were revealed regarding equine temperament. Factor 1 indicated anxiety as
it included nervousness, stubbornness, excitability, attachment to a particular person
and friendliness. The reason why friendliness was found to be opposed to attachment to
a particular person is probably because caretakers consider that friendly horses can develop

Questions

Age

HR

Defecation

Distance

Standstill

Latency

Duration

Frequency

Entrance

Curious watching
Adaptation time to unfamiliar objects
When left alone
Body brushing
Panic attack
At equestrian meets
Threatening toward other horses
Threatening toward unknown persons

0.074
0.070
0.210
0.183
0.173
0.036
0.139
0.123

0.297
0.357
0.226
0.232
0.220
0.346
0.176
0.235

0.296
0.119
0.075
0.288
0.179
0.373
0.106
0.014

0.059
0.060
0.059
0.026
0.118
0.329
0.055
0.091

0.026
0.006
0.044
0.050
0.052
0.204
0.072
0.064

0.153
0.236
0.052
0.130
0.019
0.159
0.046
0.229

0.141
0.224
0.043
0.114
0.026
0.222
0.112
0.268

0.122
0.220
0.022
0.078
0.003
0.206
0.147
0.234

0.022
0.029
0.069
0.023
0.098
0.131
0.081
0.061

a Distance: the total distance of movement; Standstill: the duration of standing still in the arena; Latency: the latency to the intentional touching of the balloons;
Duration: the duration of the intentional touching of the balloons; Frequency: the frequency of intentional touching of the balloons; Entrance: the duration of standing
still near the entrance.
P < 0.05.
P < 0.01.

Y. Momozawa et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 84 (2003) 127138

Table 4
Correlations between the questionnaire about ordinary behaviors and the balloon reactivity testa

135

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Y. Momozawa et al. / Applied Animal Behaviour Science 84 (2003) 127138

some degree of attachment to any person rather than developing an exclusive attachment
to only one particular individual. Factor 2, which included playfulness and curiosity,
indicated novelty seeking, and Factor 3 indicated understanding as it was associated
only with understanding. Cronbachs reliability coefficient for both anxiety (Factor 1)
and novelty seeking (Factor 2) were both greater than 0.8, suggesting that these factors
have sufficient internal consistencies.
Of the four temperamental traits that are presumed to be hereditary in Cloningers
seven-dimensional model, which is well-established in the field of psychiatry, two traits
harm avoidance and novelty seeking (Cloninger et al., 1993)may correspond to our
studys anxiety and novelty seeking traits. These traits are considered to be affected
by the brain serotonin and dopamine systems, respectively. Reward dependence and
persistence, the other two temperamental traits in the Cloningers model, were not extracted in the present study because none of the questions in the survey were directly
related to these temperamental traits. Our analysis suggests that the caretakers distinguish at least three components of equine temperamentanxiety, novelty seeking and
understanding. In the present study, our questionnaire listed only brief terms such as
curiosity and understanding to identify the trait in question, but we recommend that
more detailed explanation of each item (e.g. Does this horse tend to be interested in novel
objects and approach them? or Was this horse trained easily and promptly?) should be
provided to minimize variation among caretakers due to linguistic misinterpretation.
The relationship between the results of the questionnaire survey and those of the balloon
reactivity test can be summarized as follows: Factor 1 (anxiety) had a positive relationship to
HR and the frequency of defecation. This increase of HR was caused by the excitement
of the sympathetic nervous system in what is probably related to a novel stress response, although not one caused by exercise, since the distance moved was not related to the anxiety
trait at all. These results are consistent with those found in previous reports on rodents (Stam
et al., 1997; van den Buuse et al., 2001). Visser et al. (2002) showed that HR in a novel
environment might quantify certain aspects of a horses temperament by repeated measure
study. McCann et al. (1988) found a significant relationship between the anxious score based
on equine response during behavioral experiments and the extent of the increase in HR. Le
Scolan et al. (1997) conducted a questionnaire survey about equine temperamental traits
(i.e. fearfulness, nervousness, etc.) to riding teachers on a 3-point scale, and demonstrated
the effectiveness of examining the relationship of these traits with the results of behavioral
experiments. These studies also support our findings. The respondents in the present study
had sufficient experience in handling horses for many years, and our results substantiate the
reliability of the caretakers impressions based on their daily observation.
In this study, only HR and defecation were significantly related to the temperament
factors. One possible reason is that the subject horses consisted of various breeds (Mader
and Price, 1980; Hausberger and Muller, 2002), ages (Mader and Price, 1980), stages of
training (Visser et al., 2002) and sexual states, which may have caused a certain ambiguity
in the results. Controlling the above variables would almost certainly have produced clearer
results, however, in this study we placed priority on selecting horses that had been cared
for by several caretakers, in order to maximize the reliability of the questionnaire survey.
An alternative explanation is that the behaviors of an animal are the result of the complex
influences of many temperamental traits; therefore, those behaviors that were not related

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137

to any of the temperamental traits measured in this study may be affected by several temperamental traits including some not tested in this study. For example, an equine behavior
such as intentional touching of the balloons might be a complex behavior influenced by an
interaction between the anxiety and novelty seeking traits. This idea is supported by
the fact that most previous studies on temperament using behavioral experiments have dealt
primarily with anxiety, which is considered to be reflected directly in behavior (Reale et al.,
2000; Gauly et al., 2001).
Regarding the relationship between the results of the survey on ordinary behaviors and the
behavior experiment, we found that horses that showed problems during ordinary care and
training, such as frequent curious watching, long adaptation time to unfamiliar objects,
great agitation when left alone, unwillingness to body brush and excitability at equestrian meets, tended to have greater increases in HR and more defecation during the behavioral experiment (Table 4). It was also found that horses that were assessed as having a long
adaptation time to unfamiliar objects were indeed unwilling to touch the balloons (Table 4).
These results indicate significant consistency between the results of the questionnaire survey
and the behavior test.
In conclusion, we conducted a questionnaire survey and a balloon reactivity test simultaneously in order to identify the temperament of individual horses. Based on the results of
the questionnaire survey, we identified the presence of three independent factors: anxiety,
novelty seeking and understanding. Horses evaluated as highly anxious by the caretakers tended to show greater HR increases and defecate more often during exposure to the
balloon stimuli. Consistency between the questionnaire and the behavior test also found
with the survey on ordinary behaviors. These results demonstrate the reliability of the impressions of experienced caretakers. This kind of integrated approach will allow us to gain
further insight into the genetic background of temperament, an issue which has recently
enjoyed considerable attention in psychiatry (Lesch and Merschdorf, 2000; Lusher et al.,
2001). Furthermore, the outcomes of this type of research are also likely to be useful for
establishing new programs for ordinary care and training according to the temperament of
each individual horse.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the staff of the Equestrian Park, Tokyo (Japan Racing Association) for their kind help in this study. This work was supported in part by a
Grant-in-Aid for scientific research from the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, Culture and Technology of Japan (13460131).

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