Assessment of Equine Temperament by a Questionnaire Survey

Kim, N.Y., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea; Park, Y.S., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea; Ko, M.S., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea; Chae, H.S., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea; Cho, W.M., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea; Cho, I.C., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea; Hong, H.J., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea; Park, J.Y., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea; Chung, K.Y., Samsung Equestrian Team, Gunpo, Republic of Korea; Cho, S.R., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea

Assessment of Equine Temperament by a Questionnaire Survey

2013

Kim, N.Y., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea | Park, Y.S., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea | Ko, M.S., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea | Chae, H.S., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea | Cho, W.M., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea | Cho, I.C., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea | Hong, H.J., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea | Park, J.Y., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea | Chung, K.Y., Samsung Equestrian Team, Gunpo, Republic of Korea | Cho, S.R., National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Jeju, Republic of korea

The objective of the study is to assess temperament of a horse based on general temperament test by a questionnaire survey. Five test criteria were identified: gentleness, patience, aggressiveness, sensitivity, and friendliness, each on a 5-point scale. 114 horses bred at the National Institute of Animal Science (NIAS) in 2010, 2011 and 2012. The horses recorded scores of 3.6∼3.9 for gentleness, 3.1∼3.6 for patience, 3.4∼4.0 for aggressiveness, 2.8∼3.2 for sensitivity, and 3.4∼3.8 for friendliness, the overall score for sensitivity the lowest. Horses born in 2012 scored lower than the rest in all five areas at a statistically significant level (P0.05). By gender, the colts scored higher than the fillies in all five areas, but the discrepancy was not statistically significant. Factor analysis yielded only one factor, and the Cronbach α value was 0.980 for standardization of Factor 1, indicating a high reliability of internal consistency. The correlation coefficients among the test criteria ranged between 0.85 and 0.91 (P0.01). The assessment criteria used in this study are expected to provide a useful basis designing a temperament test horses.

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