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Erber, R.; Wulf, M.; Aurich, J.; Becker-Birck, M.; Rose-Meierhöfer, S.; Möstl, E.; Hoffmann, G.; Aurich, C. |
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Title |
Physiological stress parameters in sport horse mares transferred from group housing to individual stabling |
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Conference Article |
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Year |
2012 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 2. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg |
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in press |
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Keywords |
horse, isolation, cortisol, heart rate, locomotion |
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Abstract |
Initial equestrian training and especially first mounting of a rider are stressful challenges for young horses (1). Most young horses are raised in groups but, in association with equestrian training, they are commonly transferred to individual stabling in loose boxes. Although, in most stables, visual contact with horses in adjacent boxes is possible, separation from the herd might be an additional stressor. We have studied physiological stress parameters, in 3-year-old sport horse mares (n=8), transferred from a group stable with access to a paddock to individual boxes without paddock. Once stabled in the individual boxes, mares underwent a standard training for young horses. Horses had been accustomed to lunging and tolerating a rider on their back several weeks before the study. Mares were studied from 5 days before to 5 days after changing the stable. Cortisol concentration in saliva, locomotion activity (ALT pedometers), heart rate (HR) and HR variability (RMSSD: root mean square of successive beat-to-beat intervals) were determined. We hypothesized that the change of the stable increases cortisol release and is associated with changes in HR and RMSSD and reduced locomotion. Before mares were moved to individual boxes, cortisol concentration showed a pronounced diurnal rhythm with values around 0.6 ng/ ml in the morning and a continuous decrease throughout the day. When the mares were moved to individual boxes, cortisol concentration increased to 1.8±0.2 ng/ml and did not return to baseline values within 6 h (p<0.05 over time). On subsequent days, a diurnal rhythm was re-established but shifted to a higher level than before. Locomotion activity determined by ALT pedometers was increased for some minutes only after mares has been placed in individual boxes but was only slightly higher than during the time mares spent with the group in a paddock. On days 2-5 in individual boxes, locomotion activity was reduced compared to the group stable. HR increased and the HRV variable RMSSD decreased when mares were separated. In conclusion, separating horses during initial training from their group is an additional stressor, although the stress is less pronounced than induced by other social challenges, e.g. weaning of foals (2). When stabled in individual boxes, mares move less than when kept as a group. Horses kept in a group thus appear to exercise themselves freely, such an effect is absent when the animals are kept individually. |
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Corporate Author |
Erber, R. |
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Xenophon Publishing |
Place of Publication |
Wald |
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Krueger, K. |
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978-3-9808134-26 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5542 |
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Author |
Flauger, B. |
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Title |
The introduction of horses into new social groups with special regard to their stress level |
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Year |
2011 |
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Keywords |
Pferd; Equiden; Eingliederungstechnik; Integrationspferd; Stress; Cortisol; Endokrine Reaktion; Gruppenhaltung; Verletzungsgefahr; Aggression; Futterplatzwahl; Kot; Geruchssinn; Mensch-Pferd Interaktion; horse; equids; introduction technique; integration horse; stress; cortisol; endocrine response; group housing; injury risk; aggression; feeding decision; faecal sample; olfaction; human-horse interaction |
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Abstract |
Horses are a highly social species living in complex social systems which should require them to memorise and generalise social experiences and distinguish between familiar and unfamiliar conspecifics. In the main part of my thesis I concentrated on the specific conflict situation of a horse being introduced into a new social group, and investigated its behaviour and stress level. Horses were either introduced (1) immediately, (2) after an observation period, or (3) together with an integration horse after an observation period. Additionally, in the second part of my thesis I arranged several experiments to elaborate additional aspects which could affect the behaviour of horses during introductions. In this study I could describe a simplified method for measuring stress through the analysis of faecal GCMs in horses. An enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for 11-oxoaetiocholanolone using 11-oxoaetiocholanolone-17-CMO: BSA (3?,11-oxo-A EIA) as antigen showed high amounts of immunoreactive substances. The new assay increases the accuracy of the test and lowers the expenses per sample; also storing of samples at room temperature after collection is less critical. This is a big advantage both in the field of wildlife management of equids and in the field of equestrian sports (chapter 1). Comparing the different introduction techniques, the introduction with an integration horse led to significantly less total interactions and lower levels of aggression than the introduction of single horses, both immediately and after several days of observing the new group. Additionally, by observing the behaviour of the horses during everyday sociality I could develop a formula describing the interrelationship between expected aggression level and enclosure size per horse. The curve takes an exponential shape. Starting from a space allowance of 300 m2 and more per horse, the amount of aggressions per hour approaches zero. For the reduction of aggression levels and injury risks in socially kept horses I recommend an enclosure size of at least 300 m2 per horse (chapter 2). I further investigated the stress level of the introduced animals. Horses which were immediately introduced did not show elevated faecal GCMs. In contrast, horses which were introduced after an observation period had slightly elevated values 2 and 3 days after the introduction. For horses introduced together with an integration horse faecal GCMs were significantly above the baseline value on the day of introduction and 1 day after it. These differences between introduction techniques indicate that the introduction event itself is not as stressful as previously assumed. Rather standing together with an integration horse and not being able to integrate immediately into the complete group elicits stress in horses (chapter 3). In the commentary of chapter 4 several studies are discussed which failed to demonstrate social learning in horses. It is argued that they did not consider important aspects which could have an influence, such as the dominance status or the social background of the horses (chapter 4). In chapter 5 a social feeding situation was investigated. The social rank as well as the position of conspecifics affected the feeding strategy of horses. Domestic horses used social cognition and strategic decision making in order to decide where to feed. When possible they tended to return to the same, continuously supplied feeding site and switched to an ?avoidance tendency? in the presence of dominant horses or when another horse was already feeding there (chapter 5). One possibility to recognize group members is through olfactory recognition. In chapter 6 it is shown that horses are able to distinguish their own from their conspecifics? faeces. In addition, they paid most attention to the faeces of those group members from which they received the highest amount of aggressive behaviour (chapter 6). Horses show cognitive abilities because they are able to use humans as local enhancement cues when searching for food, independently of their body posture or gaze consistency when the persons face them. Moreover, they seem to orientate on the attention of familiar persons more than of unfamiliar persons (chapter 7). Altogether, the results of this thesis provide further support for the view that horses show good conflict resolution strategies. They are perfectly able to deal with the conflict situation of being introduced to new group members, and the introduction event itself is not as stressful as previously assumed. It is rather suggested that standing together with an integration horse and not being able to integrate immediately into the complete group elicits stress in horses. All additional experimental set-ups could demonstrate that horses are well capable of social cognition. |
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Ph.D. thesis |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ epub18463 |
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5736 |
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Author |
Aurich, J.; Wulf, M.; Ille, N.; Erber, R.; von Lewinski, M.; Palme, R.; Aurich, C. |
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Title |
Effects of season, age, sex and housing on salivary cortisol concentrations in horses |
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Journal Article |
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Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Domestic Animal Endocrinology |
Abbreviated Journal |
Domest. Anim. Endocrinol. |
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Keywords |
horse; cortisol; diurnal rhythm; reproduction; housing |
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Abstract Analysis of salivary cortisol is increasingly used to assess stress responses in horses. Since spontaneous or experimentally induced increases in cortisol concentrations are often relatively small for stress studies proper controls are needed. This requires an understanding of factors affecting salivary cortisol over longer times. In this study, we have analysed salivary cortisol concentration over 6 mo in horses (n = 94) differing in age, sex, reproductive state and housing. Salivary cortisol followed a diurnal rhythm with highest concentrations in the morning and a decrease throughout the day (P < 0.001). This rhythm was disrupted in individual groups on individual days; however, alterations remained within the range of diurnal changes. Comparison between months showed highest cortisol concentrations in December (P < 0.001). Cortisol concentrations increased in breeding stallions during the breeding season (P < 0.001). No differences in salivary cortisol concentrations between non-pregnant mares with and without a corpus luteum existed. In stallions, mean daily salivary cortisol and plasma testosterone concentration were weakly correlated (r = 0.251, P < 0.01). No differences in salivary cortisol between female and male young horses and no consistent differences between horses of different age existed. Group housing and individual stabling did not affect salivary cortisol. In conclusion, salivary cortisol concentrations in horses follow a diurnal rhythm and are increased in active breeding sires. Time of the day and reproductive state of the horses are thus important for experiments that include analysis of cortisol in saliva. |
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0739-7240 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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5847 |
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Author |
Wyss, C. |
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Title |
Does housing in a „social box“ change faecal cortisol metabolites concentration in stallions? |
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Conference Article |
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Year |
2015 |
Publication |
Proceedings of the 3. International Equine Science Meeting |
Abbreviated Journal |
Proc. 3. Int. Equine. Sci. Mtg |
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housing system, stallions, social interaction, stress, faecal cortisol metabolites |
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In order to improve the housing conditions of stallions in individual boxes by offering a possibility to have more social contact, the Swiss national stud farm tested a new box system for horses, allowing increased physical contact with the neighbouring stallion. The aim of this part of the study was to investigate whether this type of housing system (named “social box”) potentially induces a change in stress reactions in stallions compared to conventional boxes. Therefore faecal cortisol metabolite (FCM) concentration was measured as a non-invasive parameter to assess endocrine responses related to this new environment.
Four groups each consisting of eight adult Freiberger breeding stallions were included in the test design. Every stallion spent three weeks in a conventional box and in a social box respectively (cross-over design). The conventional box consisted of a separation wall with a lower opaque part and an upper part with vertical barriers (5 cm between barriers), allowing visual and olfactory contact but strongly limiting tactile contact. The separating wall of the social box consisted of two lateral sections, one part being opaque to the ceiling and the second part consisting of vertical barriers (30 cm between barriers), allowing the horse to have physical contact with its neighbour or to avoid it.
In horses, FCM concentration reflects an average level of circulating cortisol over a period of approximatively 24h. Faecal samples were collected the day following integration in social / conventional boxes, reflecting the potential stress induced by increased social interactions during the integration. In order to asses potential chronical stress, faeces samples were also collected in week one, two and three after the integration into the social / conventional box (in total: 4 samples per horse and housing system). The samples were immediately stored at -20°C until they were analysed. The samples were not analysed in the laboratory until the end of the experiment, therefore the duration of conservation in the freezer varied from 40 to 429 days.
A considerable percentage of data from groups 1 and 2 was below the detection limit (<0.8 ng/g) (Tab. 1). Thus the statistical analysis was conducted with the FCM concentration from groups 3 and 4 (n horses = 16) which contained no values below the detection limit.
Tab. 1: Details about FCM values and storage time for the 4 groups of stallions
Group Storage duration [d] Proportion of data below the detection limit (<0.8 ng/g) Mean [ng/g] Median [ng/g]
Group 1 384-429 55.6 % 2.2 0
Group 2 315-360 25.5 % 5.8 6.3
Group 3 41-79 0.0 % 8.7 8.0
Group 4 40-85 0.0 % 5.8 5.4
Despite the impressive social interactions observed between the stallions directly after being introduced into the social boxes, we did not find any differences in FCM concentration between the stallions being introduced into the conventional box and the social box on the day of integration (social box: n samples = 16, mean±SD: 6.9±4.7 ng/g; conventional box: n samples = 16, mean±SD: 9.0±11.2 ng/g; Wilcoxon signed rank test V = 70, p = 0.94).
Overall the samples taken during integration and in week one, two and three did not show evidence of changes in FCM concentration in either housing system over a longer period of time (social box: n samples = 64, mean±SD: 7.9±6.2 ng/g; conventional box: n samples = 64, mean±SD: 6.6±3.4 ng/g; Linear mixed model (LMM), p = 0.56).
Our results suggest that the possibility of having physical contact with a conspecific does not induce changes in FCM concentration in breeding stallions. The considerable percentage of values below the detection limit in groups 1 and 2 seemed to correlate with the increasing duration of storage before analysis. During the IESM Network Meeting 2015, we would like to discuss possible methodological issues and the possibilities to correctly integrate these low values in the statistical analysis. |
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Corporate Author |
Wyss, C. |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
Serial |
5869 |
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Author |
Cerasoli, F.; Podaliri Vulpiani, M.; Saluti, G.; Conte, A.; Ricci, M.; Savini, G.; D'Alterio, N. |
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Title |
Assessment of Welfare in Groups of Horses with Different Management, Environments and Activities by Measuring Cortisol in Horsehair, Using Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Hybrid Orbitrap High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry |
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Year |
2022 |
Publication |
Animals |
Abbreviated Journal |
Animals |
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12 |
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14 |
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Keywords |
cortisol; animal welfare; horse; Lc-Hrms/Ms |
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Horses have always been animals used for companionship, work, transportation, and performance purposes over the history of humanity; there are different ways of managing horses, but studies on how horse welfare is influenced by different activities and managements are scanty. Understanding how the management, the environment, and the different uses of horses can affect the level of stress and well-being is important not only for people associated with horses. Three groups of horses with different management, environments, and activities were selected: (1) stabled horses ridden frequently, (2) horses that perform public order service under the Italian state police, and (3) free-ranging horses. Cortisol analysis was carried out on horsehair samples using liquid chromatography coupled to hybrid orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS), a laboratory technique used for the first time to quantify horsehair cortisol. The selection of horses to be included in the three groups was carried out by including only subjects with positive welfare assessment in accordance with the horse welfare assessment protocol (AWIN). These analyses demonstrated that the cortisol levels detected in the horsehair of free-ranging animals were significantly higher compared to those detected in stabled and working horses. These results may have been a consequence of complex environmental, managerial, and behavioral factors, which should be worth further investigation |
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Animals |
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12 |
Series Issue |
14 |
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2076-2615 |
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Equine Behaviour @ team @ |
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6674 |
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