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Overview:
Overview:
To best understand a horse's needs, we must look at how they live in their natural habitat. Horses in the wild may travel up to 28.3km/day (17.5miles/day) in search of food (1). Their digestive systems are designed to be constantly grazing, with wild and feral herds spending roughly half of the 24hr day grazing, while stalled horses may spend significantly less time eating due to feeding large amounts at meal times (2, 3, 4). Horses are social animals that travel in units and make up a larger herd, forming complex family-like structures (5). Any horse in a herd can initiate movement, and others will likely follow, suggesting a shared responsibility of movement (6). Stall-housed animals may acquire more injuries compared to group housed, have increased rates of colic, increased respiratory issues, and increased lameness (7). Individual housing can also increase aggression when social contact is limited (8, 9). Housing with limited access to forage can create an imbalance in the gut bacteria, which causes various abnormal behaviors (10).
That seems like a lot, so how do we help them?
Sources
Sources
- Hampson, B. A., de Laat, M. A., Mills, P. C., & Pollitt, C. C. (2010). Distances travelled by feral horses in 'outback' Australia. Equine veterinary journal. Supplement, (38), 582–586. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2042-3306.2010.00203.x
- Duncan, P. (1980). Time-Budgets of Camargue Horses Ii. Time-Budgets of Adult Horses and Weaned Sub-Adults. Behaviour, 72(1-2), 26-48. https://doi.org/10.1163/156853980X00023
- Boyd, L. E., Carbonaro, D. A., & Houpt, K. A. (2003, October 2). The 24-hour time budget of Przewalski Horses. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0168159188900986
- Elia, J. B., Erb, H. N., & Houpt, K. A. (2010, September 24). Motivation for hay: Effects of a pelleted diet on behavior and physiology of horses. Physiology & Behavior. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0031938410003380
- Maeda, T., Ochi, S., Ringhofer, M., Sosa, S., Sueur, C., Hirata, S., & Yamamoto, S. (2021, January 8). Aerial drone observations identified a multilevel society in feral horses. Nature News. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-79790-1#Abs1
- Krueger, K., Flauger, B., Farmer, K., & Hemelrijk, C. (2013, November 9). Movement initiation in groups of feral horses. Behavioural Processes. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635713002222
- Yngvesson, J., Rey Torres, J. C., Lindholm, J., Pättiniemi, A., Andersson, P., & Sassner, H. (2019). Health and Body Conditions of Riding School Horses Housed in Groups or Kept in Conventional Tie-Stall/Box Housing. Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 9(3), 73. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani9030073
- Christensen, J. W., Ladewig, J., Sandergaard, E., & Malmkvist, J. (2001, November 20). Effects of individual versus group stabling on social behaviour in domestic stallions. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159101001964
- Dierendonck, M. C. van. (2006, April 19). The importance of social relationships in horses. DSpace Home. https://dspace.library.uu.nl/handle/1874/8671
- Mach, N., Ruet, A., Clark, A., Bars-Cortina, D., Ramayo-Caldas, Y., Crisci, E., Pennarun, S., Dhorne-Pollet, S., Foury, A., Moisan, M.-P., & Lansade, L. (2020, May 20). Priming for welfare: Gut Microbiota is associated with equitation conditions and behavior in horse athletes. Nature News. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-65444-9
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