Welfare of the Horse in the Stabled Environment

1. Welfare of the Horse in the Stabled Environment By: Larissa Cox

2. Farm Animal Welfare Council’s ‘Five Freedoms’ (FAWC, 1992) • Freedom from hunger, thirst, and malnutrition • By ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health and vigour • Freedom from physical and thermal discomfort • By providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area • Freedom from pain, injury, and disease • By prevention of rapid diagnosis and treatment • Freedom to express most normal behaviour • By providing space, proper facilities and company of the animal’s own kind • Freedom from fear and distress • By ensuring conditions and treatment which avoid mental suffering Mills and Clarke (2003) suggest assessing housing and management strategies based on the Five Freedoms which encompass not only physical, but social and emotional welfare.

3. Freedom from hunger, thirst, and malnutrition • Krzaket al. in 1991 found that wood chewing primarily happens at night as a probable consequence of an empty stomach from restricted feeding in stabled environments. • Changes in management can impact water intake. A study by Welford et al. in 1999 found up to a 7% drop in Thoroughbreds as a consequence of changes to care schedule. http://www.horsebabble.com/images/HorseChewing2.jpg

4. Freedom from physical and thermal discomfort • Morgan et al. in 1997 showed that horses could comfortably withstand temperatures from -3°C to 37.5°C • Morgan in 1998 found the horse’s thermoneutral zone (heat production = heat loss) was between 5°C and 25°C • Mills and Clarke (2003) emphasize that ventillation should not be compromised to keep a stable warmer in cold temperatures. They offer the solutions of rugging the horse more, or installing quartz heaters.

5. Freedom from pain, injury, and disease Respiratory diseases caused by bedding and poor ventilation • Feige et al. in 2002 showed a random population of Swiss horses 54% suffered from a subclinical to moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) caused by hypersensitivity of the respiratory tract to spores of fungi and thermophilactinomyces.  Causes (Webster et al. 1987; Vandenputet al. 2008): • Poorly maintained bedding • Poor ventilation in facility (American barns < individual stables) • Poor quality hay and straw bedding • Buechner-Maxwell et al. in 2007 examined six normal horses for evidence of airway mucosal inflammation after being stabled for a month, and found no signs of airway disorder.

6. Freedom to express most normal behaviour • Locomotory behaviour is key aspect of horse’s behaviour. If only exercised when ridden, horse may succumb to strain and related problems and diseases (Minero & Canali, 2008) • Restrained movement and social contact may increase likelihood for developing abnormal behaviours and stereotypies (McGreevy et al., 1995)

7. Freedom from fear and distress • Beerdaet al. in 1999 evaluated hormonal and immunological responses in dogs subjected to social and spatial restriction. • Increased response of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH)and cortisol to corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) • Increased responsiveness of pituitary–adrenal axis to a sudden sound blast  • To investigate: increased urinary catecholamines, increased lymphocyte proliferation. • Visseret al. in 2008 compared,over 12 weeks, invidual housing for horses (10.5 m2) vs paired housing (48 m2 for two horses) on young horses stabled for the first time. • Depression caused by desensitisation of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis • Increase in stress-related behaviours like neighing, pawing, nibbling and snorting • Sudden isolated stabling is stressful to young and naïve horses, resulting in a high prevalence of stereotypies and abnormal behaviours.

8. Behavioural Problems Caused by Stress Lesimpleet al. in 2011 looked at the emotional and cognitive abilities in riding school horses correlated with housing conditions. • Horses in boxed housing exhibited “high locomotary patterns” when turned out in an arena, which could correlate to nervousness or flightiness undersaddle. These horses are more likely to behave in an unpredictable and exaserbated manner. Odber and Bouissou in 1999 discovered that 66.4% of horses sent to slaughter in Italy were because of “behavioural problems”. http://www.theartofdressage.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/horse-bucking.jpg

9. Environmental Enrichment • Involves the practice of increasing the physical, social and temporal complexity of captive environments • Encourages normal behaviour • May help animals to cope by increasing sensory stimulation, muscular and skeletal activity and sense of control. • Usually try to increase complexity of stimuli available from environment

10. Turn horse out • Locomotory behaviour in horses has positive physical and mental effects and should be taken into consideration when managed. (Mills & Clarke, 2002; Minero & Canali, 2008) • Horses develop less abnormal behaviours and stereotypies when turned out (McGreevy et al., 1995). • Horses in group housing are easier to break in (Rivera et al., 1999).

11. Foraging enrichment • Enriching the stable environment through the provision of multiple forages to the horse decreased foraging on straw bedding and increased foraging motivation behaviour, which points to increased welfare (Goodwin et al. 2002) • Horses managed on enriched forage diets kept increased foraging behaviour for 7-day trial (Thorne et al. 2005) http://www.cowgirldiary.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/buckskinhorse.jpg

12. Visual Horizons • Cooper et al. (2000) found that stable design incorporating two or more visual horizons (eg: front and rear views to stable and fields) decreased stereotypic behaviour. It was hypothesized this could increase environmental monitoring or social interaction that are denied by the conventional stable that only has one panal open to the horse. • McAfee et al. (2002) found that the provision of a mirror significantly reduced the incidence of both stereotypic weaving (P<0.001) and nodding (P<0.05) for the 5 weeks of treatment. • Mills and Riezebos (2005) found that a life-size poster of a horse’s head in the stable decreased weaving and nodding. The horse also spent more time alert (p < 0.001), and looking at the poster (p < 0.05).

13. Stable toys Henderson and Warant (2001) investigated the foraging device/stable toy, 'The Equiball™’ on effects to abmormal behaviour. They found that the Equiball could contribute to an environment less likely to lead to stereotypic behaviours. http://www.link.vet.ed.ac.uk/equinescience/images/equiball.jpg

14. Conclusions The stabled environment can have potential to be detrimental to a horse’s welfare. • Expose animal to a wide variety of stressors • Reduces behaviour diversity • May increase diseases associated with strain or respiratory function • Animals may use only a limited amount of space in poorly designed environments • Causes increase in abnormal behaviours To help alleviate stress associated with stabled environment, • Turn horses out, or stable in paired or group housing • Provide multiple forages • Provide several visual horizons, or mirrors/pictures of conspecifics • Provide stable toys

15. Bibliography Beerda, B., Schilder, M., Bernadina, W., Van Hooff, J., De Vries, H., & Mol, J. (1999). Chronic stress in dogs subjected to social and spatial restriction. II Hormonal and immunological responses. Physiology & Behavior, 66 (2), 243-254. Clements, J., & Pirie, R. (2007). Respirable dust concentrations in equine stables. Part 2: The benefits of soaking hay and optimising the environment in a neghbouring stable. Research in Veterinary Science, 83 (2), 263-268. Cooper, J., McDonald, L., & Mills, D. (2000). The effect of increasing visual horizons on stereotypic weaving: implications for the social housing of stabled horses. Appl. AnimBehavSci, 69 (1), 67-83. Goodwin, D., Davidson, H., & Harris, P. (2002). Foraging enrichment for stabled horses: effects on behaviour and selection. Equine Vet. J., 34 (7), 686-691. Heleski, C., Shelle, A., Nielsen, B., & Zanella, A. (2002). Influence of housing on weanling horse behavior and subsequent welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 78 (2), 291-302. Henderson, J., & Warant, N. (2001). Reducing equine stereotypies using an Equiball. Animal Welfare, 10 (1), 73-80. Krzak, W., Gonyou, H., & Lawrence, L. (1991). Wood chewing by stabled horses: diurnal patter and effects of exercise. Journal of Animal Science, 69 (3), 1053-1058. Lesimple, C., Fureix, C., LeScolan, N., Richard-Yris, M., & Hausberger, M. (2011). Housing conditions and breed are associated with emotionality and cognitive abilities in riding school horses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 129 (2-4), 92-99. McAfee, L., Mills, D., & Cooper, J. (2002). The use of mirrors for the control of stereotypic weaving behaviour in the stabled horse. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 78 (2-4), 159-173. Mcgreevy, P., Cripps, P., French, N., Green, L., & Nicol, C. (1995). Management factors associated with stereotypic and redirected behaviour in the Thoroughbred horse. Equine Veterinary Journal, 27, 86-91.

16. Mills, D., & A., C. (2002). The Welfare of Horses - Chapter 4 Housing, Management and Welfare. Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Mills, D., & Clarke, A. (2003). Housing, Management and Welfare. Animal Welfare, 1, 77-97. Mills, D., & Riezebos, M. (2005). The role of the image of a conspecific in the regulation of stereotypic head movements in the horse. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 91 (1-2), 155-165. Minero, M., & Canali, E. (2009). Welfare issues of horses: an overview and practical recommendations. Ital. J. Anim. Sci., 8 (Supplementary 1), 219-230. Morgan, K. (1998). Thermoneutral zone and critical temperatures of horses. Journal of Thermal Biology, 23 (1), 59-61. Morgan, K., Ehrlemark, A., & Sallvik, K. (1997). Dissispation of heat from standing horses exposed to ambient temerpatures between -3C and 37C. Journal of Thermal Biology, 22 (3), 177-186. Rivera, E., Nielsen, B., Shelle, J., & Zanella, A. (1999). The effect of housing environment on responses of horses to initial training. 33rd Int. Congr. ISAE, (p. 84). Lillehammer, Norway. Stolba, A., & Wood-Gush, D. (1984). The identification of behavioural key features and their incoroproation into a housing design for pigs. Ann Rech Vet, 15 (2), 287-299. Thorne, J., Goodwin, D., Kennedy, M., Davidson, H., & Harris, P. (2005). Foraging enrichment for individually housed horses: practicality and effects on behaviour. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 94 (1-2), 149-164. Vandenput, S., Duvivier, D., Votion, D., Art, T., & Lekeux, P. (1998). Environmental control to maintain stabled COPD horses in clinical remission: effects on pulmonary function. Equine Veterinary Journal, 30 (2), 93-96. Visser, E., Ellis, A., & C.G., V. R. (2008). The effect of two different housing conditions on the welfare of young horses stabled for the first time. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 114 (3-4), 521-533. Webster, A., Clarke, A., Madelin, T., & Wathes, C. (1987). Air hygiene in stables 1: Effects of stable design, ventilation and management on the concentration of respirable dust. Equine Veterinary Journal, 19 (5), 448-453. Welford, D., Mills, D., & Murphy, K. (1999). The effect of changes in management scheduling on water intake by the Thoroughbred horse. Equine Veterinary J. Suppl.