Time budget studies in stalled horses

Abstract

This study was designed to record the behaviour of stabled horses from the Household Cavalry over an extended period. Eighty horses were observed using infra-red time-lapse video for between 48 and 72 hours each, over 2 years, under similar management conditions, and in total 5,424 hours of data was collected. All the horses were kept in stalls at either Hyde Park or Windsor barracks and continued with their normal duties throughout observation periods.

The horses were found to spend 36.3% (8.7 hours per 24- hour period) of their time feeding and 1.01% (0.2 hours per 24-hour period) drinking. The horses were alert in their stables for 7.5% (1.8 hours per 24-hour period) of their time, non-alert for 63.03% (15.1 hours per 24- hour period), resting for 10.89% (2.6 hours per 24-hour period) and sleeping for 2.33% (0.6 hours pet 24-hour period). The horses stood for 57.92% (13.9 hours per 24-hour period) of their time in stalls, with 18.67% (4.5 hours per 24-hour period) of the time leg-resting and 6.17% (1.5 hours per 24-hour period) lying.

The horses were exercised for 4.92% (1.2 hours per 24- hour period) of the 24-hour period and spent 2.54% (0.6 hours per 24-hour period) of their time moving within the stalls. They interacted for 2.04% (0.5 hours per 24-hour period) of their time and spent 2.12% (0.5 hours per 24-hour period) of their time in abnormal behaviour (0.69% or 0.17 hours per 24-hour period being spent in stereotypic behaviour - this was seen in only ten horses). The times spent in different behavioural categories are not necessarily mutually exclusive

Analyses of variance showed no significant differences (i.e. p>0.05) in behaviour resulting from factors such as age, time spent in barracks, type of horse or height. Welch 't' test showed that sleeping was affected by gender (p = 0.0089), with females spending considerably more time sleeping than males.

The percentage time spent eating was less than for feral horses or stabled horses fed hay ad libiturn, but was comparable with other studies on stabled or enclosed horses on a restricted hay diet. The horses spent less time resting, and more time alert, than free-ranging horses, possibly owing to the different sensory stimulation associated with their environment. This may also be a factor in producing the low level of abnormal activity recorded and the relatively low time spent sleeping.

Time spent in interaction was low but the close proximity of the horses and regular human contact may compensate for any possible ill-effects of reduced social contact. The level of abnormal behaviour was low compared with other restricted-hay fed stabled horse studies. This may be due to the management routines, high sensory stimulation levels, type of horse and the almost "communal" living associated with stalls and cavalry routines.

The time-budgets of these horses is compared to that found in other studies and the implications for welfare discussed.