Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-gq7q9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-23T09:30:14.707Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Varying forage stem length as a behavioural enrichment for stabled horses

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 November 2017

L.C. Dumbell*
Affiliation:
Hartpury College, Associate Faculty of the University of the West of England, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
M. Wiggett
Affiliation:
Hartpury College, Associate Faculty of the University of the West of England, Gloucestershire, United Kingdom
Get access

Extract

Many domestic horses are kept in an environment very different from that of free-living horses, consuming a varied ad libitum forage based diet for up to 18 hours of the day (Harris, 1999). Encouraging foraging behaviour, defined by Goodwin et al. (2002) to include sniffing, manipulating, biting, chewing or ingesting food, is thought to allow domesticated horses to spend more time eating, approaching the time spent on this activity in free-living horses. The diet of the free-living horse includes a selection of grasses and herbs (Putman et al., 1987) whereas most domestic horses are provided with a single forage diet (Goodwin et al., 2002). In a short term trial Goodwin et al. (2002) found that offering more than one source of forage to stabled horses resulted in them spending significantly more time foraging compared to a horse on a single forage diet. This effect was found to continue for longer periods by Thorne et al. (2005), with four forages being identified as maximising foraging time and minimising standing time (Dumbell and Tackley, 2007). Storing and using four forages may however be impractical for the single horse owner. The present study aimed to determine whether providing two forages or one forage as two different stem lengths increased foraging time when compared to a single forage.

Type
Theatre Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Dumbell, L.C. and Tackley, A. 2007. Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science Annual Conference 2007Google Scholar
Goodwin, D., Davidson, H.P.B., Harris, P., 2002. Equine Veterinary Journal 34, 686–691 Google Scholar
Harris, P.A. 1999. In: Harris, P.A., Gomersall, G.M., Davidson, H.P.B., Green, R.E. (Eds) Proceedings of the BEVA Specialist Days on Behaviour and Nutrition, Newmarket Equine Veterinary Journal 45–49 Google Scholar
Putman, R.J., Pratt, R.M., Ekins, J.R. and Edwards, P.J. (1987) Journal of Applied Ecology 24, 369–380 Google Scholar
Thorne, J.B., Goodwin, D., Kennedy, M.J., Davidson, H.P.B. and Harris, P. 2005. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 94, 149–164 CrossRefGoogle Scholar