Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T15:02:11.332Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Influence of an active stable system on the behavior and body condition of Icelandic horses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2012

G. Hoffmann ,
A. Bentke ,
S. Rose-Meierhöfer ,
W. Berg ,
P. Mazetti  and
G. H. Hardarson
G. Hoffmann*
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering for Livestock Management, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
A. Bentke
Affiliation:
Faculty of Horticulture and Agriculture, Humboldt University of Berlin, Invalidenstraße 42, 10555 Berlin, Germany
S. Rose-Meierhöfer
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering for Livestock Management, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
W. Berg
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering for Livestock Management, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering, Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469 Potsdam, Germany
P. Mazetti
Affiliation:
Horse Farm Ölvisholt, 801 Selfoss, Iceland
G. H. Hardarson
Affiliation:
The Veterinary Centre, Dynskálum 30, 850 Hella, Iceland
*
†E-mail: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

Horses are often stabled in individual boxes, a method that does not meet their natural needs and may cause psychical and musculoskeletal diseases. This problem is particularly evident in Iceland, where horses often spend the long winter periods in cramped boxes. The aim of this study was to analyze the suitability of a group housing system in Iceland, but the results are also applicable to horses of other regions. Eight Icelandic horses were observed in an active stable system, and their behavior and time budget were recorded. Movement and lying behavior were studied with ALT (Activity, Lying, Temperature detection) pedometers. The effect of an automatic concentrate feeding station (CFS) on the horses’ behavior was examined. In the first period of investigation, the horses were fed concentrates manually, and in the second period, they were fed with the CFS. Additional behavioral observations and a determination of social hierarchy occurred directly or by video surveillance. The physical condition of the horses was recorded by body weight (BW) measurement and body condition scoring (BCS). The results showed a significant increase between the first and second trial periods in both the activity (P < 0.001) and the lying time (P = 0.003) of the horses with use of the CFS. However, there was no significant change in BW during the first period without the CFS (P = 0.884) or during the second period with the CFS (P = 0.540). The BCS of the horses was constant at a very good level during both trial periods, and the horses showed a low level of aggression, a firm social hierarchy and behavioral synchronization. This study concludes that group housing according to the active stable principle is a welfare-friendly option for keeping horses and is a suitable alternative to conventional individual boxes.

Keywords

activityautomatic feeding systembehaviorbody condition scoreIcelandic horse
Type
Full Paper
Information
animal , Volume 6 , Issue 10 , October 2012 , pp. 1684 - 1693
Copyright
Copyright © The Animal Consortium 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Benhajali, H, Richard-Yris, MA, Ezzaouia, M, Charfi, F, Hausberger, M 2009. Foraging opportunity: a crucial criterion for horse welfare? Animal 3, 1308–1312.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bertolucci, C, Giannetto, C, Fazio, F, Piccione, G 2008. Seasonal variations in daily rhythms of activity in athletic horses. Animal 2, 1055–1060.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bourjade, M, Moulinot, M, Henry, S, Richard-Yris, MA, Hausberger, M 2008. Could adults be used to improve social skills of young horses, Equus caballus? Developmental Psychobiology 50, 408–417.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boyd, LE 1988. Time budgets of adult Przewalski horses: Effects of sex, reproductive status and enclosure. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 21, 19–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyd, LE 1991. The behaviour of Przewalski's horses and its importance to their management. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 29, 301–318.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brehme, U, Stollberg, U, Strickler, B, von Niederhäuser, R, Zurkinden, H 2006. Investigations of daily biorhythm in different horse keeping systems for well-being measured with ALT pedometer. In World Congress “Agricultural Engineering for a Better World”, Book of Abstracts (VDI report no. 1958), pp. 503–504. VDI Publisher, Düsseldorf, Germany.Google Scholar
Caanitz, H, O'Leary, L, Houpt, K, Petersson, K, Hintz, H 1991. Effect of exercise on equine behavior. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 31, 1–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chaplin, SJ, Gretgrix, L 2010. Effect of housing conditions on activity and lying behaviour of horses. Animal 4, 792–795.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duncan, P 1980. Time-budgets of Camargue horses. Behaviour 72, 26–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edouard, N, Duncan, P, Dumont, B, Baumont, R, Fleurance, G 2010. Foraging in a heterogeneous environment – an experimental study of the trade-off between intake rate and diet quality. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 126, 27–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fader, C, Sambraus, HH 2004. The resting behaviour of horses in loose housing systems (Das Ruheverhalten von Pferden in Offenlaufställen). Tierärztliche Umschau 59, 320–327.Google Scholar
Freire, R, Buckley, P, Cooper, JJ 2009. Effects of different forms of exercise on post inhibitory rebound and unwanted behaviour in stabled horses. Equine Veterinary Journal 41, 487–492.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Frentzen, F 1994. The locomotion activity and behaviour of horses depending on the system of stabling and feeding rhythm, and taking various of loose runs into particular consideration (Bewegungsaktivitäten und -verhalten von Pferden in Abhängigkeit von Aufstallungsform und Fütterungsrhythmus unter besonderer Berücksichtigung unterschiedlich gestalteter Auslaufsysteme). Dissertation, University of Veterinary Medicine, Hannover, Germany.Google Scholar
Henneke, D 1985. A condition score system for horses. Equine Practice 7, 13–15.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, G 2008. Movement activity and stress exposure of horses in discharge husbandry systems with various movement offerings (Bewegungsaktivität und Stressbelastung bei Pferden in Auslaufhaltungssystemen mit verschiedenen Bewegungsangeboten). Dissertation, Justus Liebig University Giessen, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Germany.Google Scholar
Hoffmann, G, Bockisch, FJ, Kreimeier, P 2009. Influence of the husbandry system on the movement activity and stress exposure of horses in discharge husbandry systems (Einfluss des Haltungssystems auf die Bewegungsaktivität und Stressbelastung bei Pferden in Auslaufhaltungssystemen). Landbauforschung Völkenrode 59, 105–111.Google Scholar
Holmes, LN, Song, GK, Price, EO 1987. Head partitions facilitate feeding by subordinate horses in the presence of dominant pen-mates. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 19, 179–182.Google Scholar
Ingólfsdóttir, H, Sigurjónsdóttir, H 2008. The benefits of high rank in the wintertime – a study of the Icelandic horse. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 114, 485–491.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jørgensen, GHM, Bøe, KE 2007. A note on the effect of daily exercise and paddock size on the behaviour of domestic horses (Equus caballus). Applied Animal Behaviour Science 107, 166–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jørgensen, GHM, Borsheim, L, Mejdell, CM, Søndergaard, E, Bøe, KE 2009. Grouping horses according to gender – effects on aggression, spacing and injuries. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 120, 94–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kienzle, E, Schramme, SC 2004. Body condition scoring and prediction of body weight in adult warm blooded horses (Beurteilung des Ernährungszustandes mittels Body Condition Scores und Gewichtsschätzung bei adulten Warmblutpferden). Pferdeheilkunde 20, 517–524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiley-Worthington, M 1990. The behavior of horses in relation to management and training – towards ethologically sound environments. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 10, 62–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mills, DS, Nankervis, KJ 1999. Equine behaviour: principles & practice. Blackwell Science, Oxford, London, Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Rose-Meierhöfer, S, Klaer, S, Ammon, C, Brunsch, R, Hoffmann, G 2010a. Activity behavior of horses housed in different open barn systems. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 30, 624–634.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose-Meierhöfer, S, Standke, K, Hoffmann, G 2010b. Effect of different group sizes on activity, Body Condition Score, lying and social behaviour of young horses (Auswirkungen verschiedener Gruppengrößen auf Bewegungsaktivität, Body Condition Score, Liege- und Sozialverhalten bei Jungpferden). Züchtungskunde 82, 282–291.Google Scholar
Sambraus, HH 1975. Ethology of agricultural animals (Ethologie der landwirtschaftlichen Nutztiere). Schweiz Arch Tierheilkd 117, 193–218.Google Scholar
Sigurdsson, H 1994. Disease problems in Icelandic horses. Livestock Production Science 40, 84–85.Google Scholar
Soltysiak, T, Nogalski, Z 2010. The effects of social hierarchy in a dairy cattle herd on milk yield. Polish Journal of Natural Sciences 25, 22–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stefánsdóttir, GJ, Björnsdóttir, S 2001. Body condition scoring of horses (Mat á holdafari hrossa). Eiðfaxi-Ræktun, special issue, pp. 60–65.Google Scholar
Thorne, JB, Goodwin, D, Kennedy, MJ, Davidson, HPB, Harris, P 2005. Foraging enrichment for individually housed horses: practicality and effects on behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 94, 149–164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Dierendonck, MC, DeVries, H, Schilder, MBH 1995. An analysis of dominance, its behavioural parameters and possible determinants in a herd of Icelandic horses in captivity. Netherlands Journal of Zoology 45, 362–385.Google Scholar
Van Dierendonck, MC, Bandi, N, Batdorj, D, Dügerlham, S, Munkhtsog, B 1996. Behavioural observations of reintroduced Takhi or Przewalski horses (Equus ferus przewalskii) in Mongolia. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 50, 95–114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vervaecke, H, Stevens, JMG, Vandemoortele, H, Sigurjónsdóttir, H, De Vries, H 2007. Aggression and dominance in matched groups of subadult Icelandic horses (Equus caballus). Journal of Ethology 25, 239–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zeitler-Feicht, MH, Prantner, V 2000. Recumbence resting behaviour of horses in loose housing systems with open yards (Liegeverhalten von Pferden in Gruppenauslaufhaltung). Archiv für Tierzucht 43, 327–335.Google Scholar