Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Behavioural Processes journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/behavproc Genetic parameter and breeding value estimation of donkeys' problem- focused coping styles Francisco Javier Navas González a,e, ⁎ , Jordi Jordana Vidal b , José Manuel León Jurado c , Ander Arando Arbulu a,e , Amy Katherine McLean d,e , Juan Vicente Delgado Bermejo a,e a Department of Genetics, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Córdoba, Spain b Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain c Centro Agropecuario Provincial de Córdoba, Diputación Provincial de Córdoba, Spain d Department of Animal Science, University of California Davis, USA e The Worldwide Donkey Breeds Project, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Equus asinus Heritability Genetic correlations Freeze Flight Selection index ABSTRACT Donkeys are recognized therapy or leisure-riding animals. Anecdotal evidence has suggested that more reactive donkeys or those more easily engaging flight mechanisms tend to be easier to train compared to those displaying the natural donkey behaviour of fight. This context brings together the need to quantify such traits and to genetically select donkeys displaying a neutral reaction during training, because of its implication with handler/ rider safety and trainability. We analysed the scores for coping style traits from 300 Andalusian donkeys from 2013 to 2015. Three scales were applied to describe donkeys’ response to 12 stimuli. Genetic parameters were estimated using multivariate models with year, sex, husbandry system and stimulus as fixed effects and age as a linear and quadratic covariable. Heritabilities were moderate, 0.18 ± 0.020 to 0.21 ± 0.021. Phenotypic correlations between intensity and mood/emotion or response type were negative and moderate (-0.21 and -0.25, respectively). Genetic correlations between the same variables were negative and moderately high (-0.46 and -0.53, respectively). Phenotypic and genetic correlations between mood/emotion and response type were positive and high (0.92 and 0.95, respectively). Breeding values enable selection methods that could lead to endangered breed preservation and genetically selecting donkeys for the uses that they may be most suitable. 1. Introduction In psychology, coping refers to the conscious efforts of an individual to solve personal and interpersonal problems in order to master, minimize or tolerate stress (Weiten and Lloyd 2008). Coping mechan- isms are commonly termed coping strategies, and they normally com- prise adaptive strategies or strategies which reduce stress (Lazarus and Folkman, 1984). Benus et al. (1991) rodent experiments concluded that the response to external stimuli could mainly be classified into two equally valuable strategy alternatives to face daily environmental de- mands, passive and active animals. Koolhaas et al. (1999), suggested updating these 'styles' to proactive and reactive, as the former confusing terms did not consider fundamental differences. One of such funda- mental differences is the degree in which behaviour is influenced by environmental stimuli. To sum up, the performance of routine rather intrinsically driven rigid types of behaviour found in proactive animals, contrasts the generally more flexible and reactive attitude to environ- mental stimuli of reactive animals. Thus, when we speak about coping, we generally refer to reactive coping or the coping response after the presentation of the stressor. This differs from proactive coping, in which a coping response aims to neutralize a future stressor. Rather sub- conscious or non-conscious strategies such as defence mechanisms are generally excluded from the field of coping (Kramer, 2010). The effectiveness of the coping effort depends on the type of stressful stimulus, the individual, and the circumstances. Coping re- sponses are partly controlled by personality and mood, but also partly by the stressful nature of the environment around (Carver and Connor- Smith, 2010). Among the four strategies that Weiten and Lloyd (2008) identified as coping styles in humans, problem-focused coping styles address those adaptive behavioral responses aimed at reducing, adapting or elim- inating stressors. Although equids’ reactiveness could clearly fit within https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2018.05.008 Received 16 January 2018; Received in revised form 5 May 2018; Accepted 9 May 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Genetics, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Córdoba, Ground Floor, Gregor Mendel C5 Building, Rabanales University Campus, 14071, Córdoba, Spain. E-mail address: v52nagof@uco.es (F.J. Navas González). Behavioural Processes 153 (2018) 66–76 Available online 12 May 2018 0376-6357/ © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. T