A novel test for evaluating horses’ spontaneous visual attention

International audienceAttention is described as the ability to process selectively one aspect of the environment over others. In the present study, we chose to characterize horses’ attention by designing a novel visual attention test (VAT) that is easy to apply in the animal’s home environment. This test was based on spontaneous attention behaviour. Twelve mares aged from 5 to 17 year old (± SE=8.9±1.1) were tested. During the test a light from a laser pointer was projected for 5 minutes. The test was repeated over three consecutive days and repeated again 6 months later in order to assess inter-individual variations and intra-individual stability. By measuring all horses’ gazes towards the stimulus, our VAT revealed different patterns of attention: ‘overall’ attention (i.e. the horse merely gazed at the stimulus), and ‘fixed’ attention (i.e. fixity and orientation of at least the visual and auditory organs). The individual attention characteristics remained consistent over time (after 6 months, Spearman correlation test P