DOMESTIC A N I M A L BEHAVIOR FOR VETERIN- A R A N S AND A N I M A L SCIENTISTS by Katherine A. Houpt and Thomas R. Wolski; published by The Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA (1982); 356 pages: $

The authors of this book state that a new period of animal ethology is just beginning. They set out to define the scope and report what is known about domestic animal behavior. The book deserves careful study, as it forms the basis for a discipline new to most veterinarians and animal scientists.

"Within the past two decades domestic animal behavior has begun to be studied for the sake of the animals themselves rather than as models for humans," the authors write. "One might justify studies of domestic animal behavior simply on the basis that pet and farm animals are the mos t n u m e r o u s m a m m a l s in ou r i m m e d i a t e environment and we should, therefore, make every effort to understand them. Perhaps more important from an ethical standpoint is the fact that through studies of animal behav io r in bo th natura l i s t ic and highly art if icial environments we can determine what types of housing and management may increase production."

The II chapters of the book center around various aspects of behavior with some mention of each species in every chapter. The book is well illustrated and each chapter contains many references.

The chapter on communication sets the stage for the rest of the book. It emphasizes how the senses affect how an animal reacts to its environment. Horses have a surprising range in their communications. Vocal means are neighs, nickers, snorts, squeals, and roars. The variations between these are described and possible significance explained. "The horse's ears are probably the best indication of its emotions," the authors say. Other equine postures and actions are described and pictured with explanations of their meaning.

The chapter on aggression and social structure mostly covers wild horses in the equine area. The authors note that "the determinants of dominance in horses appear to be more closely related to the animal's temperament and the position of its mother in the herd than to physical characteristics." The book makes some important points on aggression that can be helpful in managing horses. "Horses that have been stalled separately for a few months may

show much more aggression than when they have been together on a daily basis."

There is a chapter on biological rhythms and sleep. "During the day the horse is awake 88% of the time and most of this time the animal is alert. Even at night the horse is awake 71% of the time, but it drowses for 19% of the night," it reports.

The book contains several pages of description of sexual behavior in the mare and stallion. On one of the most perplexing problems of how a stallion determines a mare is ready to be bred, the authors write, "The visual stimuli of the mare's posture with raised tail are important for attraction and penile erection. This reaction may be generalized so that a dummy in the general shape of a mare will be mounted by a sexually experienced stallion. Inexperienced stallions will not mount the dummy. Experienced males will also mount a mare or dummy while blindfolded."

Some interesting information on the maternal behavior of the horse is to be found in the book. "The roles of the three senses, vision, hearing, and smell, in the mare-foal bond is complex," the authors admit. Nevertheless they do an excellent job of describing the mechanisms of mutual recognition in mare and foal.

The chapter on development of behavior should be of interest to everyone raising competition horses. However, little space is devoted to horses here. What equine information there is describes the distance between mare and foal and how it increases with age.

The book contains a good chapter on learning. Much of it applies directly to the horse. One interesting point made is, "When negative reinforcement must be given it should be applied as soon as possible after the misdeed. A slap on a pony's muzzle 30 seconds after it has nipped will only serve to make it head shy; a blow 10 seconds after the nip may inhibit further aggression."

Other chapters in the book are The Human-animal Relationship, Ingestive Behavior and Miscellaneous Behavioral Disorders. While the book adequately covers the topic suggested by the title, it seems to leave many gaps in the subject concerning horses in particular. This is not a criticism of the book since the author 's goal was to produce a text introducing the subject of domestic animal behavior. Evidently it has been successful if it stimulates the desire for a complete treatise devoted exclusively to the horse.WEJ

September/October 1982 173