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Horses 'can communicate their preferences with humans'
Horses preferred to remain without a blanket in nice weather, but to have a blanket on in wet, windy or cold weather.
Study finds horses can indicate whether they want a blanket on or off

A new study suggests horses can learn to communicate with humans by touching different symbols to indicate whether they want a blanket on or off.

Reward based operant conditioning was used to teach a group of horses to approach and touch a board, and to understand symbols on three boards, which indicated either 'no change', 'blanket off' or 'blanket on'.

Scientists from the Norwegian Veterinary Institute found that horses preferred to remain without a blanket in nice weather, but to have a blanket on in wet, windy or cold weather.

When 22 horses were tested on one of two sunny days (20-23ºC) all 10 wearing the blanket touched the 'blanket off' board. The remaining 12 who did not have a blanket on touched the board meaning 'no change'.

The same 22 horses were tested again in colder weather (5-9ºC). In these conditions, all 10 wearing the blanket indicated 'no change' while 10 that were not wearing a blanket touched the 'blanket on' board and the remaining two without a blanket indicated 'no change'. However, the same two gave the 'blanket on' signal on two different test days when temperatures were -12ºC and 1ºC with sleet respectively.

Writing in the journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science, researchers summarised the findings: 'Horses chose to stay without a blanket in nice weather, and they chose to have a blanket on when the weather was wet, windy and cold. This indicates that horses both had an understanding of the consequence of their choice on their own thermal comfort, and that they successfully had learned to communicate their preference by using the symbols.'

The team believe their novel method could pave the way for further research on horse preferences regarding management and training routines.

Read the full study here: http://www.appliedanimalbehaviour.com/article/S0168-1591(16)30219-2/fulltext

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Vets to run marathon for World Animal Protection

News Story 1
 Two recently graduated veterinary surgeons will be running the London Marathon in April to raise money for the charity World Animal Protection.

Alex Bartlett and Maeve O'Neill plan to run the race together if they are given the same start times.

Dr O'Neill said: "You're always limited in what you can do to help animals, so it is nice to raise money for a charity that helps animals around the world."

Dr Bartlett added: "I have never run a marathon before and am excited to run my first one for such a good cause!"

Both Dr Bartlett and Dr O'Neill have fundraising pages online. 

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News Shorts
BSAVA releases new Guide to Procedures

The British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) has published a new edition of its Guide to Procedures for Small Animal Practice.

It has added four new procedures; cystostomy tube placement, endotracheal intubation, point-of-care ultrasound and wet-to-dry dressings.

BSAVA says that it is an essential step-by-step guide to diagnostic and therapeutic procedures performed in practice. The textbook includes new images and illustrations, as well as high-definition videos for use prior to procedures.

Nick Bexfield and Julia Riggs, editors of the new edition, said: "We have built upon the success of the previous editions by responding to the feedback received from the BSAVA readership, and hope this new guide helps to further increase the confidence and accuracy with which these procedures are performed."

Print copies are available in the BSAVA store, with a digital version in the BSAVA library.