Several previous studies have shown that working conditions (including riding) can induce stress in horses. Riders' actions and postures, when inappropriate, induce stress and conflict behaviours during riding and welfare impairment and negative emotional states outside work. Optimistic biases have been found in leisure horses, which, amongst positive management factors, were ridden with loose reins and low hands. Thus, one can wonder whether horses may positively perceive work or parts of it. Indicators of positive emotions are poorly known yet but we recently found that, out of the working context, a non-vocal acoustic signal, snorts, could reflect mild positive emotions in horses. We hypothesized that snorts could help identifying the working phases and actions appreciated by horses. An overview of snort production in 127 horses spread over 16 riding schools was first conducted to highlight a potential site effect. Results show a great difference in snorts frequency between facilities which may be due to different riding techniques. In order to test this hypothesis, we then focused on 37 horse-rider dyads by scoring horses' postures (neck) and riders' positions (hand, reins) during, but also out of the context of snort production. Results show that snorts were particularly associated with phases when the rider technique, i.e. long and loose reins, allowed more comfort for the horse, especially while walking. Results were more mitigated for higher paces since the association of snorts with signs of comfort was less clear-cut. Snorts could therefore be useful tools for identifying better practices, especially at slower gaits. However, care has to be taken at higher paces.

中文翻译：

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哼哼能告诉我们马对骑马的看法吗？

之前的几项研究表明，工作条件（包括骑马）会导致马的压力。骑手的不当行为和姿势会在骑行和福利受损以及工作之外的负面情绪状态下引发压力和冲突行为。在休闲马中发现了乐观的偏见，在积极的管理因素中，它们的缰绳松散和手低。因此，人们可能想知道马是否会积极地感知工作或其中的一部分。积极情绪的指标尚知之甚少，但我们最近发现，在工作环境之外，非声音声音信号，即鼻息，可以反映马的温和积极情绪。我们假设打鼾可以帮助识别马喜欢的工作阶段和动作。首先对分布在 16 所骑术学校的 127 匹马的打鼾进行了概述，以突出潜在的场地效应。结果显示，不同设施之间的鼾声频率存在很大差异，这可能是由于骑行技术不同所致。为了验证这一假设，我们随后通过对马的姿势（颈部）和骑手的位置（手、缰绳）进行评分，重点关注 37 名骑马者二人组，但也排除了鼻息产生的背景。结果表明，当骑手的技术（即长而松的缰绳）使马更舒适时，特别是在行走时，哼哼与阶段特别相关。由于打鼾与舒适迹象之间的关联不那么明确，因此对于更高的步伐，结果会更加缓和。因此，Snort 可以成为识别更好实践的有用工具，尤其是在较慢的步态下。但是，必须以更高的速度小心谨慎。