Salivary analysis to unveil the paradigma of stress of domestic horses reared in the wild

Abstract

Horse welfare is the product of multiple factors, including behavioral and physiological adjustments to cope with stressful situation regarding environment and housing condition. Collectively, it is supposed that a horse kept in the wild has a lower level of stress than other housing system, and the aim of the present study was to investigate the level of stress in domestic horses reared in the wild and then moved to human controlled housing, through saliva analysis. Twelve clinically healthy Catria (Italian local breed) mares, usually reared in the wild, were moved into collective paddocks for a folkloric event. Saliva samples were obtained before and after the change of housing condition to evaluate stress biomarkers including salivary cortisol, salivary alpha-amylase, and butyrylcholinesterase (BChol). The mares were also scored using the Welfare Aggregation and Guidance (WAG) Tool to highlight the presence of abnormal behaviors. Despite the absence of differences in behavioral scores between wild and paddocks, salivary cortisol and BChol were found to be higher in the wild and lower when mares were moved to paddocks. The highest concentrations in stress biomarkers like salivary cortisol and BChol in the wild was unexpected, but the need for managing hierarchical relationships, and the exposure to feral animals, predators, and weather changes, might explain these findings. The overall results of the present study may provide further knowledge toward stress response in domesticated horses living in the wild moved to human controlled housing system.