Konstanze Krüger

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Konstanze Krüger (2012)

Konstanze Krüger (* 22. January 1968 in Cologne as Konstanze Deubner ) is a German zoologist and ethologist . She is professor for horse husbandry at the Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Economics and Environment . Among other things, she researches the horse's social system .

Konstanze Krüger is one of the most renowned experts in horse behavior .

Scientific career

Konstanze Krüger studied veterinary medicine at the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich . After completing her doctorate in 1996, she was employed as a research assistant at the Institute for Animal Anatomy and Histology at LMU Munich. From 1997 to 1999 she took parental leave. From April 1999 to February 2006 she ran the Einthal riding park in Obertraubling together with her husband Knut Krüger. From June 2004 she conducted research at the Department of Biology 1, Zoology, at the University of Regensburg. Research area "Social learning and social cognition of horses". In October 2008 she organized the 1st International Equine Science Meeting (IESM) at the University of Regensburg. Since March 1, 2012, she has been the first female professor for horse keeping in Germany at the Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Economics and Environment . In March 2012 she organized the 2nd International Equine Science Meeting at the University of Regensburg, funded by the DFG . In June 2012 she completed her habilitation in zoology at the University of Regensburg. Since November 1st, 2012 she has been a lecturer and private lecturer at the University of Regensburg.

Research priorities

The main research areas from 2005 to today are social cognition and the social ecology of horses. Since 2009, research on sensory laterality has been another focus. In July 2013, a new project was started at the HFWU that aims to collect reports on innovative horse behavior from around the world.

Methods

Among other things, long-term field studies were carried out with Pony di Esperia in Abruzzo, Italy, and with Przewalski horses in Germany. The behavioral experiments were mainly carried out with domestic horses from Germany. For the evaluations, social network analyzes and hierarchy calculations (ADI) were used , among other things .

Practical application of research in equestrian sports and horse keeping

The behavior of horses in the join-up method was examined in the study Behavior of horses in the "round pen technique" . It is a learning behavior and not a natural "language" as written by Monty Roberts in his book, it is location-bound. The research explains why and how this training can be transferred to other people and other places through generalization and is thus an important tool for training horses.

The research Horse sense: social status of horses (Equus caballus) affects their likelihood of copying other horses confirms the opinion of horse experts that it makes sense to involve an experienced horse for training in order to demonstrate the learning content with this experienced horse. She also explains that this is only possible with horses from a social group and which horses are suitable as demonstrators.

Horse connoisseurs know that horses are one-sided. The cause of this was investigated with the research Visual laterality in the domestic horse (Equus caballus) interacting with humans . Depending on the situation, horses want to observe things sometimes with the left and sometimes with the right eye. For daily training this means that it makes sense that the horse z. B. can only look at dangerous things with the left eye until it is calm again.

The study Third-party interventions keep social partners from exchanging affiliative interactions with others shows that it is important for group keeping of horses that this group should be composed of animals of all age groups.

The study Social learning across species: horses (Equus caballus) learn from humans by observation showed that horses can also learn socially from other species (here humans). This can be important when dealing with horses, as horses can learn undesirable as well as desired things by watching people.

Scientific importance of the research

Social learning in horses has been described as unrepresentable for the past 30 years because the social complexity of horses was underestimated and the experimental design was not designed accordingly. In several researches this was taken into account and for the first time social learning was presented in horses. This has implications for other species in which social learning could not be represented either. The experimental design in these species now needs to be reconsidered and new experiments should be carried out that take into account the social aspects of this species.

Publications

Publications in peer-reviewed journals

  • A. Schuetz, K. Farmer, K. Krueger: Social learning across species: horses (Equus caballus) learn from humans by observation. In: Anim Cogn. 20, 2017, pp. 567-573. doi: 10.1007 / s10071-016-1060-8 , ( full text , PDF)
  • K. Krueger, B. Flauger, K. Farmer, C. Hemelrijk: Movement initiation in groups of feral horses. In: Behav. Process. 103, 2014, pp. 91-101. doi: 10.1016 / j.beproc.2013.10.007 , (full text)
  • K. Krueger, K. Farmer, J. Heinze: The effects of age, rank and neophobia on social learning in horses. In: Anim. Cogn. 17, 2014, pp. 645-655. doi: 10.1007 / s10071-013-0696-x , (full text)
  • G. Schneider, K. Krueger: Third-party interventions keep social partners from exchanging affiliative interactions with others. In: Anim. Behav. 83, 2012, pp. 377-387. doi: 10.1016 / j.anbehav.2011.11.007
  • K. Krueger, K. Farmer: Laterality in the Horse. In: mup. 4, 2011, pp. 160-167. doi: 10.2378 / mup2011.art11d
  • K. Krueger, B. Flauger, K. Farmer, K. Maros: Horses (Equus caballus) use human local enhancement cues and adjust to human attention. In: Anim. Cogn. 14, 2011, pp. 187-201. doi: 10.1007 / s10071-010-0352-7 .
  • K. Farmer, K. Krueger, R. Byrne: Visual laterality in the domestic horse (Equus caballus) interacting with humans. In: Anim. Cogn. 13, 2010, pp. 229-238. doi: 10.1007 / s10071-009-0260-x , ( full text , PDF; 283 kB)
  • K. Krueger, J. Heinze: Horse sense: social status of horses (Equus caballus) affects their likelihood of copying other horses` behavior. In: Anim. Cogn. 11, 2008, pp. 431-439. doi: 10.1007 / s10071-007-0133-0 , ( full text , PDF; 489 kB)
  • K. Krueger, B. Flauger: Social feeding decisions in horses (Equus caballus). In: Behav. Process. 78, 2008, pp. 76-83. ( Full text , PDF; 393 kB)
  • K. Krueger, B. Flauger: Social learning in horses from a novel perspective. In: Behav. Process. 76, 2007, pp. 37-39. doi: 10.1016 / j.beproc.2006.08.010 ( full text , PDF; 131 kB)
  • K. Krueger: Behavior of horses in the "round pen technique" Appl. In: Anim. Behav. Sci. 104, 2007, pp. 162-170. Full text (PDF; 274 kB)

Books

Articles in professional journals

  • The left twist: Sensory one-sidedness in horses. In: Bavaria's horses: Zucht + Sport. 10, 2008, pp. 66-68.
  • Horse behavior: This is how I integrate my horse into the herd. In: Bavaria's horses: Zucht + Sport. 12, 2008, pp. 64-69.
  • The horse's social system: the know-how for everyday use. In: Bavaria's horses: Zucht + Sport. 1, 2009, pp. 72-76.
  • The horse's social system. Part II: Leaders. In: Bavaria's horses: Zucht + Sport. 2, 2009, pp. 76-80.
  • Visual skills of horses. In: Bavaria's horses: Zucht + Sport. 2009.
  • The recognition of conspecifics and humans. In: Bavaria's horses: Zucht + Sport. 2009.
  • The horse's memory. In: Bavaria's horses: Zucht + Sport. 2009, 7.
  • The bad habits of the horse. In: Bavaria's horses: Zucht + Sport. 9, 2009, pp. 84-89.
  • Character horses. In: Bavaria's horses: Zucht + Sport. 2009, 12.

Lectures as invited speaker at conferences

  • Opening speaker at the 43rd International Conference on Applied Ethology:
Sensory laterality as an indicator for emotional and cognitive reactions to environmental stimuli in animals. (Overview presentation)

Web links

Commons : Konstanze Krüger  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ New study on the horse's sense of smell. ( Memento from January 31, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) on: pferdplus.com March 2, 2011.
  2. ↑ Behavioral scientist Prof. Dr. Konstanze Krüger teaches at the HfWU Nürtingen. ( Memento from March 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) on: cavallo.de
  3. ↑ Why do horses follow in the round pen? on: cavallo.de
  4. ↑ DFG supports congresses and conferences. on: dfg.de , January 25, 2012.
  5. ↑ position at the University of Regensburg lsf.uni-regensburg.de
  6. ↑ Innovative behavior of horses innovative-behaviour.org
  7. ↑ K. Krueger: Behavior of horses in the "round pen technique" Appl. In: Anim. Behav. Sci. 104, 2007, pp. 162-170. ( Full text , PDF; 274 kB)
  8. ↑ K. Krueger, J. Heinze: Horse sense: social status of horses (Equus caballus) affects their likelihood of copying other horses' behavior. In: Anim. Cogn. 11, 2008, pp. 431-439. doi: 10.1007 / s10071-007-0133-0 , ( full text , PDF; 489 kB)
  9. ↑ K. Farmer, K. Krueger, R. Byrne: Visual laterality in the domestic horse (Equus caballus) interacting with humans. In: Anim. Cogn. 13, 2010, pp. 229-238. doi: 10.1007 / s10071-009-0260-x , ( full text , PDF; 283 kB)
  10. ^ G. Schneider, K. Krueger: Third-party interventions keep social partners from exchanging affiliative interactions with others. In: Anim. Behav. 83, 2012, pp. 377-387. doi: 10.1016 / j.anbehav.2011.11.007
  11. ^ A. Schuetz, K. Farmer, K. Krueger: Social learning across species: horses (Equus caballus) learn from humans by observation. In: Anim Cogn. Vol. 20, No. 3, May 2017, pp. 567–573, doi: 10.1007 / s10071-016-1060-8 , ( full text , PDF)
  12. ↑ KL Baer, ​​GD Potter, TH Friend, BV Beaver: Observation effects on learning in horses. In: Applied Animal Ethology. 726, 11, 1983, pp. 123-129. doi: 10.1016 / 0304-3762 (83) 90121-9
  13. ^ AEM Baker, BH Crawford: Observational learning in horses. In: Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 15 (1), 1986, pp. 7-13. doi: 10.1016 / 0168-1591 (86) 90017-1
  14. ^ JV Clarke, CJ Nicol, R. Jones, PD McGreevy: Effects of observational learning on food selection in horses. In: Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 50 (2), 1996, pp. 177-184. doi: 10.1016 / 0168-1591 (96) 01071-4
  15. ^ AC Lindberg, A. Kelland, CJ Nicol: Effects of observational learning on acquisition of an operant response in horses. In: Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 61 (3), 1999, pp. 187-199. doi: 10.1016 / S0168-1591 (98) 00184-1
personal data
SURNAME Kruger, Konstanze
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Krueger, Constanze
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German zoologist and behavioral scientist
DATE OF BIRTH January 22, 1968
PLACE OF BIRTH Cologne