Welfare assessment of Thoroughbred horses naturally infected with gastrointestinal parasites in Southern Brazil: Quantifying the host-parasite relationship

Abstract

Horse welfare assessment (HWA) does not account for individual or herd parasite infection. This study investigated the connection between HWA and individual parasite fecal egg count (FEC) in 90 Thoroughbred horses. All horses were naturally infected with gastrointestinal parasites and were evaluated for individual welfare indicators and FEC monthly, for 12 months. Horses were divided into three groups of 30 mares, 30 foals aged between 13 and 16 months (G2013), and 30 foals aged between two months and one year (G2014). A horse welfare protocol was developed and 1024 assessments were carried out by five trained assessors. FEC ranged from 0 to 5,760 with 98.8% showing small strongyle eggs. Body condition scores were ideal in 94.4% of the evaluations (n = 967), and 95.8% of all horses had good clinical and behavioral indicators. Despite the variation in FEC, the data found no significant association between FEC and the behavioral indicators. The study suggests that FEC alone should not be used as a determinant of welfare when animals are managed with good nutritional and health management practices.