Time-Budget and Welfare Indicators of Stabled Horses in Three Different Stall Architectures: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Keeping horses in single stalls can lead to the development of abnormal and stereotypic behaviors (ASB). Opportunities for social interactions and stall architecture can influence behavior. The current study aimed to identify how three different stall architectures influenced time-budget and physiological parameters in horses. Stall types included: (1) 3.2 × 3.7 m with tactile contact between horses (B1); (2) 2.6 × 3.5 m with visual contact between horses and outside view (B2); (3) 2.3 × 3.4 m with visual contact and outside view (B3). Ten horses from B1 and B3, and nine from B2 were randomly selected, filmed for 24 hours and the video was analyzed with continuous behavioral sampling. Nine horses from B1, 8 from B2 and 7 from B3 were randomly selected for blood sampling used to determine cortisol levels, cortisol circadian rhythm (CCR), white blood cells (WBC) and neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio. The effects of different stall architectures were analyzed by ANOVA and post hoc Tukey test. B1 had higher social interaction time (2.77% of the time-budget) (P = .020), with no other differences. Time spent eating represented a low proportion of horses’ time-budget (14.31%) and all horses demonstrated ASB behaviors (21.10% of the time-budget). Twenty-five percent of the horses presented low WBC, 38% of the horses had high cortisol levels, and 29% of the horses had an altered CCR. Those alterations along with high prevalence of ASB indicate that horses were in a state of chronic stress. The stalls’ architecture did not affect the presence of abnormal behaviors or indicators of stress.