Horses are commonly housed in individual boxes. While this
may be convenient and prevent injuries from other horses, it may also be
detrimental to the horse’s welfare, especially if access to pasture is limited.
A paper by Alice Ruet and colleagues investigated the effect
of various management practices on the display of behavioural indicators of
compromised welfare in housed horses.
The study involved 187 sport horses housed in individual
boxes in four separate barns. They had no access to paddocks or pastures.
The study ran over a 9-month period. The research team recorded
various management factors:
- Individual (age; gender);
- Housing (window to outside; grill between boxes; bedding material);
- Feeding (number of concentrate feeds a day);
- Equitation (discipline; level of performance);
- Quantity of ration;
- Activity (number of events during the study; hours ridden a week; hours lunged or on horse walker.)
They assessed the presence or absence of stereotypic or
aggressive behaviour and whether the horse appeared alert or “withdrawn” (Neck
horizontal at same level as back, fixed stare, ears and head static).
They found that horses that had a window opening toward the
external environment for the total duration of the study and kept in straw
bedding were less aggressive compared to horses that never had this factor and
were kept on non-straw bedding.
They report: “Among the housing and management factors
commonly observed in individual boxes, most of them did not significantly
affect the welfare state of horses.”
“Only three factors (straw bedding, a window opening toward
the external environment, and reduced quantity of concentrated feed received
daily) seem to be beneficial, but with limited effects.”
Horses that had a window opening toward the external environment
for the total duration of the study and kept in straw bedding were less aggressive
compared to horses that never had this factor and were kept on non-straw
bedding. Horses kept on straw were more often recorded as showing “alertness” compared
to those kept on non-straw bedding.
A grilled window on the wall between two boxes did not have
a significant effect on the behavioural indicators.
Behaviour was not significantly affected by any of the
factors relating to discipline, regularity of training, or level of
performance.
The authors add: “Above all, the longer horses live in
individual boxes, the more likely they are to express persistent
unresponsiveness to the environment….The recurrent expression of this
posture could reflect an internal state that is likely to be similar to
depression in human beings.”
They conclude: “The main relevant result of this study
remains that most of the tested factors had no influence on the expression of
the behavioural indicators, in particular on unresponsiveness to the
environment and stress-related behaviours. This implies that drastic changes in
the living and management conditions should be required to improve the welfare
state of animals.”
“To preserve the welfare of horses, it seems necessary to
allow free exercise, interactions with conspecifics, and fibre consumption as
often as possible, to ensure the satisfaction of the species’ behavioural and
physiological needs.”
For more details, see:
Housing
Horses in Individual Boxes Is a Challenge with Regard to Welfare
Alice
Ruet, Julie Lemarchand, Céline Parias, Núria Mach, Marie-Pierre Moisan, Aline
Foury, Christine Briant and Léa Lansade
Animals
2019, 9(9), 621;
1 comment:
Susan McBane commented: "I am glad that scientists are paying so much attention to the downside of modern equine management methods and what can only be called 'usage'. Despite the terrific advances in veterinary knowledge in recent decades, the advent and development of equitation science and ISES, and the seemingly increasing number of people who specifically do not want to compete with their horses, horse management, wellbeing and welfare are not improving. It is particularly sad to see that the celebrity culture is doing its damage in the horse world as well, with Name riders' horse-unfriendly methods being followed slavishly by their fans to the detriment of their horses' and ponies' wellbeing. Because they are successful (after a fashion) and famous, the gullible and unknowledgeable follow their practices blindly, often on the advice of their instructors, and will not listen to anyone who tries to point out their disadvantages - such as Gerd Heuschman, Sylvia Loch and Andrew McLean.
The measure of a good horseman or woman and manager should be the level of overall contentment of the horses in their care, not how many competition successes they have achieved - often in spite of their riders. Riding standards and techniques have noticeably worsened over the past few decades, starting in the 60s with the increasing popularity of competition and the desire for short-cuts. Our teaching organisations and establishments are showing no signs of really adopting equine learning theory into their tuition and exam systems and the racing world is no better. When TV presenters and interviewees go to great pains to claim that elite competition and racehorses are given meticulous care and have the best of everything, they never add that, nevertheless, numbers of them in the 80s and 90s percent suffer from stress-induced gastric ulcers, learned helplessness, hyper-reactive and stereotypical behaviour, and do not experience the lifestyle recommended in the study you featured, usually because it is inconvenient or the horses are 'too valuable' to be allowed to be horses and run, play and socialise with other in a measure of freedom."
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