Dr Hall. “ The legislation that aims to protect
the welfare of animals (the Animal Welfare Act
2006) clearly states that the person responsible
for an animal has the duty to meet the needs
of that animal...The extent to which traditional
stabling and management complies with this
legislation is debatable.”
Equine Housing:
Understanding Stable
Stress
written by Louise Napthine MSc
Traditional stables are a popular form of
equine housing. Yet, many equine behaviourists
think that stabling is not all it’s cut out to be.
Traditional stabling and management systems,
which segregate horses into individual pens,
can lead to stress causing physical and
psychological health problems. Studies of
short and long term confinement and isolation
have reported increased stress symptoms like
raised heart rate, vocalisations, defecation
and disturbances in feeding, as well as the
development of abnormal behaviour. Stable
management practices are often based around
the human, structured by convenience and
organisation, rather than being orientated
around the behavioural needs of the horse.
For horses, stabling can mean reduced
stimulation and behavioural choices, as well as
confinement and social isolation.
Dr Carol Hall, from Nottingham Trent University
says:
“Many horses and ponies are kept for long
periods on their own in stables where their
movement is restricted and they generally eat
while standing still. The health and behavioural
problems that can occur as a result of this are
30
Btoodmare Group Support at
Weaning
clear indicators of less than optimum housing
and management.”
Traditional yard exercise and feeding regimes
mean that restrictions are placed upon the
horse, often dictating what it can do and when.
Although many owners are increasing the
amount of forage they feed their horses and
introducing stable toys to help counter boredom,
management routines intrinsically place
limitations on horse behaviour. Researchers
are concerned by the absence of behavioural
choice in the stabled environment, because
this in itself is a psychological challenge. Whilst
any style of management largely dictates how
a horse might choose to behave, a field or
group-kept horse typically has a larger range
of behaviours available to it at any one time
and so can often find this environment less
frustrating.
The wider concern is that the restriction of
behaviour can negatively impact equine
welfare.
“We need to consider the social needs of the
horse throughout its entire life to ensure that
we are not compromising their well-being” says
Everything Horse UK Magazine • February 2014 • Issue 5
To explore alternatives to traditional stabling,
Nottingham Trent University PhD student Kelly
Yarnell investigated the effects of different
housing designs. Supervised by Dr Carol
Hall, she documented the stress levels, ease
of handling and appearance of abnormal
behaviour in horses under different housing
conditions. During the study, horses were split
into four different housing types: single housing
with no physical contact; single housing with
semi-contact; paired housing with full contact;
and group housing with full contact. To evaluate
the effects, the team observed the horses’
behaviour via video foot Y