Locomotor stereotypies and racing performance in thoroughbred horses

Abstract

Abstract Among the consequences credited to locomotor stereotypies in horses is the reduction of sport performance; however, there is a lack of studies on this topic. The objective of this study was to determine if racing performance was negatively affected by weaving and stall walking in thoroughbred racehorses. Three hundred eighty-nine animals were randomly chosen from those residing at the Club Hipico de Santiago, all of which had a handicap and had run at least 5 races. The horses were divided into 2 groups according to their handicap criteria: the low performance group, with handicap from 1 to 29 (n = 333) and the high performance group, with handicap from 30 to 56 (n = 56). Handicap is an index that is assigned to all thoroughbreds that participate in turf events, according to their performance (1 = poor to 56 = excellent performance). The presence or absence of weaving and/or stall walking was observed by visual inspection of each horse. Results were expressed as percentages. Fisher's exact test was used to analyze the data, with a significance level of P