Variables affecting the prevalence of behavioural problems in horses. Can riding style and other management factors be significant?
Introduction
Behavioural problems—here encompassing both abnormal and undesirable behaviours, including stereotypies—are important concerns in equine practice and constitute a topic that has received considerable, recent, scientific attention (Clegg et al., 2008, Cooper et al., 2002, Hausberger et al., 2008, Henderson and Waran, 2001, Hockenhull and Creighton, 2010, Johnson et al., 1998, McAfee et al., 2002, Mills and Riezenbos, 2005, Thorne et al., 2005, Visser et al., 2008, Wickens and Heleski, 2010). Abnormal behaviours here denote pathologies usually resulting from a chronic conflict situation; undesirable behaviours will refer to behaviours humans typically consider annoying. It is beyond the scope of this study to review definitions of the concept of “abnormal”, which is controversial even in the human physiology literature, and, hence, would require a lengthy examination.
A growing body of research is beginning to lend some clarity to the cause and aetiology of problem behaviours among horses. Although it is true that stereotypies (such as crib-biting and pacing) are complex and of varied aetiology (Mason, 1991), many authors find that the majority of these problems in horses are linked to management issues such as stabling, breeding, and feeding practices, and to the management of foals at and around their weaning (for a review see Wickens and Heleski, 2010). In turn, the management of affected horses is influenced (usually in the sense of greater isolation) by the widespread belief among those in the horse world that behaviours—including problem behaviours—can be learnt or copied from other horses, rather than resulting from less-than-ideal housing and management (McBride and Long, 2001).
It seems intuitively logical that stereotypic and other problem behaviours will be more prevalent when management practices place horses in conditions quite different from natural ones to which they are adapted (Kiley-Worthington, 1997, Mills and Nankervis, 1998). For example, Mills and Macleod (2002) and Nicol et al. (2002) suggested that crib-biting develops in order to decrease stomach acidity resulting from a diet of few, concentrated meals quite antithetical to historic equine grazing practices. Administration of antacid buffers decreased crib-biting in a dose-dependent way according to a non-significant tendency. However, these results have not been confirmed by more recent studies using virginiamycin or omeprazole (Freire et al., 2008, Toewe et al., 2008).
Many management and training practices converge around the riding of horses. Ödberg (1987a), Ödberg and Bouissou (1999), and McLean and McGreevy (2010) speculate that the way a horse is ridden could cause chronic stress to the animal. In addition, Mills et al. (2002) reported that stereotypic behaviours were prevalent among 2-year-old Thoroughbred horses and linked it to the breaking in process. Therefore, handling and riding style merit investigation alongside other management factors for their association with problem behaviours.
Normando et al. (2002) found that riding style is associated with different prevalences of problem behaviours, especially stereotypies, but they were not able to assess whether such differences were due to the riding style per se, or to different management, breed, etc. factors. Teasing apart the effects of these various factors from that of riding style is important—not only to establish any role of riding style, but also to more clearly discern the relative importance of other factors, including characteristics of the horse (Luescher et al., 1998, Munoz et al., 2009) such as sex, age, and breed (Redbo et al., 1998, Albright et al., 2009), reactivity (Bachmann et al., 2003), mother's position in the herd hierarchy (Waters et al., 2002), a mare's reproductive status (Benhajali et al., 2010), and genetic factors (Albright et al., 2009, Hosoda, 1950, Luescher et al., 1998, Vecchiotti and Galanti, 1986).
The current study employed an epidemiological approach to assess co-occurrences of several management-related factors and characteristics of horses with behavioural problems. Of particular interest are whether various management practices, stabling conditions, and breed compositions independently contribute to differences in problem behaviour between horses ridden in different styles. Although an association does not necessarily imply causation, epidemiological studies such as this provide a naturalistic approach that can identify the extent to which a rather wide range of factors are linked to the prevalence of problem behaviours among animals; they can help both prioritize factors for future research and guide management until causal mechanisms can be better established.
Section snippets
Materials and methods
The study was conducted in two phases. Horses involved in phase 1 were not involved in phase 2. The methods employed in this study agree with respective national regulations on animal welfare.
Descriptive statistics and univariate results
The data for all questionnaires were pooled since there were no significant differences in the responses to items collected through questionnaires completed directly by the owner and to items where the questionnaires were completed through researcher interviews (lowest p = 0.228 for all χ2 and Fisher's exact tests). Horses involved in phase 1 (35 stallions, 142 mares, 166 geldings, 3 gender unknown) were aged from 7 months to 31 years, with a mean age of 10.96 years, SD = 6.03. Table 1, Table 2,
Discussion
Our results support the relationship of management-related factors with stereotypies and other problem behaviours. The speculations about riding style were borne out: problem behaviours were more common among saddle horses ridden in the English style than those ridden in any other style. This finding was rather robust, appearing when assessing rather different types of behaviours and even when other factors were considered (in multivariate analyses).
Being ridden in the English style was the
Conclusions
The results of this study shed some light on the possible role of riding styles on the prevalence of behavioural problems among horses. In particular, among saddle horses of different breeds, English style riding was linked to a higher prevalence of stereotypies especially when in combination with restrictive stabling—such as stabling conditions without free access to a paddock for at least 6 h a day. However, among the Arabian horses, no effect was found on behavioural problems when comparing
Acknowledgements
The author would like to acknowledge the valuable contributions of Dr. Barbara Pellegrini, Dr. Benedetto Zender, Ms. Cochi Allegri, horse owners, instructors, and all who collaborated. Research funded by MIUR ex 60%.
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