A preliminary study of the effects of enrichment on stereotypic and non-stereotypic stabled horses

Xin Huo,Pongchan Na-Lampang,Sutida Yaemklang,Pakanit Kupittayanant,Pornnapa Pimmai

doi:10.12982/vis.2021.045

Abstract

Our preliminary study investigated: 1) differences of general behaviors between stereotypic (male, n=2, ST) and non-stereotypic (male, n=2, NST) stabled horses 2) the different reactions to enrichment items (hay nets, bedding straw and yoga ball) between ST and NST horses. The frequency of general behaviors, stereotypic behaviors and the reactions to enrichment items were recorded. The results showed that there was a significantly different frequency of ingestion, locomotion, standing alert, investigation and social interactions between ST and NST horses during 24 hours of observation (P<0.05). The ST horses performed weaving and wind sucking. There were significant differences in reactions, such as sniffing, watching and rolling when using enrichment items (P<0.05). The frequency of sniffing was the highest when bedding straw was used. The horses displayed watching behaviors when using yoga ball (P <0.05) and rolling (P <0.05) when using bedding straw. The frequency of sniffing straw bedding in NST horses was greater than that of ST horses (P=0.006). The NST horses preferred watching the ball (P<0.001). Only ST horses performed rolling when provided with straw bedding. In conclusion, the differences in general behaviors between ST and NST horses were established. Different reactions to enrichment items also occurred between ST and NST horses. A more extensive study with a larger sample size and a continuous recording of behavior for a longer period is recommended.

Highlights

The most common way of housing horses is still in individual tie-stalls or boxes inside barns (Cooper and McGreevy, 2002)
Some questions of interest are: What are the behavioral differences between stereotypic (ST) and non-stereotypic (NST) horses before using any enrichment items? Do ST horses and NST horse respond to the enrichment items in the same way? These questions are rarely answered in the literature
Three enrichment items were provided in this study: hay nets, bedding straw and yoga ball

Summary

Introduction

The most common way of housing horses is still in individual tie-stalls or boxes inside barns (Cooper and McGreevy, 2002). Some questions of interest are: What are the behavioral differences between stereotypic (ST) and non-stereotypic (NST) horses before using any enrichment items? The aims of this preliminary study were to investigate: 1) differences of general behaviors between stereotypic and non-stereotypic stabled horses 2) the different reactions to enrichment items (hay nets, bedding straw and yoga ball) between stereotypic and non-stereotypic stabled horses.

Results

Conclusion