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Zimmermann, W., & Zimmermann, M. (2012). Operation unterm Kranichhimmel. In K. Krueger (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting (Vol. in press). Wald: Xenophon Publishing.
Abstract: Auf dem herbstlichen Zug in den Süden rasten bis zu 80 000 Kraniche im Hortobágy Nationalpark im Osten Ungarns. Das einst von Wildtieren besiedelte Gebiet ist heute eine Kulturlandschaft aus Feldern und Weiden, wo seltene Haustierrassen wie Zackelschaf, Graurind und Noniuspferde grasen, die von Hirten mit ihren Hunden gehütet werden. Die noch erhaltenen Steppengebiete zeichnen sich durch eine große Vielfalt in Flora und Fauna aus. Sie sollen möglichst wenig betreten werden, damit vor allem die bodenbrütenden Vögel, wie z.B. die seltene Großtrappe nicht gestört werden. Deshalb wurde die Kernzone – das Pentezug-Gebiet (2400 ha) – mit Przewalskipferden und „Auerochsen“ zur natürlichen Beweidung besetzt. Bereits in den ersten Jahren fiel es auf, dass das Rind deutlich schlechter an die kalte Jahreszeit angepasst ist als das Wildpferd. Deshalb wurden beide Arten besendert, um Körpertemperatur und Herzschlagfrequenz zu messen. Außerdem sollten Gras- und Kotanalysen Aufschluss über die Unterschiede in der Futterverwertbarkeit liefern.
Der Film zeigt die chirurgische Arbeit im Feld und vermittelt einen Eindruck über die Funktion der Sender. Außerdem werden die neuen Bemühungen vorgestellt, aus dem Heckrind eine robuste Rinderrasse zu züchten, die dem Auerochsen noch ähnlicher sieht.
Ein Ziel der Untersuchungen war es, die klimatischen Grenzen zu erkennen, in denen die „Auerochsen“ einen Winter ohne Zufütterung überleben können. Diese Rinderrasse wird verstärkt zur Beweidung in Naturschutzgebieten eingesetzt, ihren Bedürfnissen wird aber nicht immer Rechnung getragen.
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Zeitler-Feicht, M. H., & Streit, S. (2012). Checkpunkte für eine tiergerechte Fütterung von Pferden an Abrufautomaten. In K. Krueger (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting (Vol. in press). Wald: Xenophon Publishing.
Abstract: In der Offenstallhaltung von Pferden wird für die individuelle Fütterung der Fressstand, der eine art-typische synchrone Nahrungsaufnahme erlaubt, empfohlen (BMELV 2009). Seit einigen Jahren kommen jedoch vermehrt Abrufstationen für Kraft- und Raufutter zum Einsatz. Diese ermöglichen nur ein asynchrones Fressen, was das Risiko für Auseinandersetzungen im Fressbereich erhöht.
In einer repräsentativen Studie an insgesamt 567 individuell unterschiedenen Pferden in 32 Offen-laufställen mit Abrufstationen und 10 Betrieben mit Fressständen wurden die Aufenthaltsdauer und Besuchshäufigkeit sowie das Droh- und Meideverhalten der Pferde im Fütterungsbereich und die Häu-figkeit von Blockaden erfasst, des Weiteren Herzfrequenz und Integumentverletzungen. Fazit war, dass es an den Abrufstationen doppelt so oft zu Auseinandersetzungen kam als an den Fressständen. Als Ursache hierfür konnte die starke Frequentierung der Automaten eruiert werden. Umso wichtiger ist somit die tiergerechte Ausführung der Abrufautomaten. In der Studie konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass Durchlaufstationen pferdegerechter sind als Rücklaufstationen. Als nicht tiergerecht wurden Stationen mit Strom führender Austreibehilfe.eingestuft. Die für das fressende Pferd als verhaltens-gerecht empfohlene Variante (Fressstand mit Eingangssperre und ohne Austreibehilfe) führte zu einer Erhöhung der Besuchshäufigkeit und Aufenthaltsdauer und somit auch zu einer erhöhten Anzahl an Drohgesten je Tier und Tag. Die Herzfrequenz lag im Wartebereich bei den meisten Pferden im physio-logischen Bereich (45,1 ± 12,42 Schläge/min), erhöhte sich jedoch in der Abrufstation um ca. 20 Schlä-ge/min. Einige Tiere zeigten möglicherweise stressbedingt auffallend hohe Herzfrequenzwerte ( 100 Schläge/min). Integumentverletzungen im Zusammenhang mit dem Fütterungssystem traten nicht auf. Das Flächengebot und die Konzeption der Offenstallanlage sowie das Management erwiesen sich als maßgebliche Einflussfaktoren auf alle überprüften Kriterien zur Tiergerechtheit.
Um die Anzahl an Auseinandersetzungen im Fütterungsbereich von Abrufstationen zu mindern wird eine Reduzierung der Fütterungshäufigkeit von üblicherweise bis zu 24 Mahlzeiten auf nur 10 Mahlzeiten empfohlen, gemäß dem natürlichen Fressrhythmus von Pferden. Unabhängig vom Fütterungssystem traten die wenigsten Auseinandersetzungen auf, wenn die Pferde täglich etwa 1,5 kg Heu pro 100 kg Körpermasse erhielten bei zusätzlicher ad Libitum Fütterung von Stroh.
Nach bisherigen Erkenntnissen ergeben sich nachfolgende Checkpoints für Abrufautomaten:
Checkpunkte für Abrufstationen
 Schutz des Pferdes durch Trennwände über die gesamte Körperlänge
 Trennwände mit Sichtkontakt zu den anderen Pferden
 Durchlaufstationen mit separatem Ein- und Ausgang
 Eingangssperre für eine stressfreie Futteraufnahme
 Ausgang mit Pendeltüre und Rücklaufsperre
 Ausgang in einen anderen Funktionsbereich
 Ausreichend Ausweichmöglichkeiten für rangniedere Tiere
 Räumliche Trennung von Kraftfutter- und Heuautomaten
 Maximal je 10 Kraft- und Grobfutterrationen je Tier und Tag
 ≥ 1,5 kg Heu bzw. Heulage pro 100 kg Körpermasse je Pferd und Tag
 Stroh zur freien Verfügung (Möglichkeit zum synchronen Fressen)
 Individuelles Anlernen der Pferde am Automaten erforderlich
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Zeitler-Feicht, M. H., & Buschmann, S. (2008). Investigation on standing stalls for horses with regard to animal welfare. In IESM 2008.
Abstract: The aim of the present study was to test housing conditions of horses (65 horses) in standing stalls (13 farms) with regard to animal welfare. Further behavioural observations were made on 39 horses. 52 horses stabled in 3 farms housed under natural conditions provided as a basis for sampling.
There were exclusively saddle horses as well as breeding horses present. The results of stabling conditions showed that most of the standing stalls fell short of the minimum requirements. 68% of standing stalls were too narrow, 38% not long enough and 28% of the tieing up systems were too short. Important behaviour patterns of social, recumbence resting, grooming and investigation behaviour, especially movement was extremely reduced in the standing stalls. 70% of the horses had no regular everyday lokomotion. A great part of the horses (51%) showed stereotypies. Half of these horses showed more than one stereotypy. The conclusion of the present study is: The standing stalls for horses do not take in account to the animal needs under present conditions in Germany.
The research resulted in a ban of continuous “roped husbandry” of horses, in most Bundesländer in Germany. Adjacent countries, such as Austria and Switzerland implemented expressly in their animal rights bill (2006) and animal rights regulation (2008) a ban of continuous “roped husbandry” of horses. It is hoped that other nations will follow.
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Wöhr, A. C., & Erhard, M. (2008). Polysonographic studies, about sleeping behaviour of horses. In IESM 2008.
Abstract: Objective: In the context of the ongoing discussion about keeping horses in individual stable boxes vs. in herds the lack of relaxation of the horse as a flight animal is an argument often put forward against individual housing. The long-term objective of our investigations is to determine the sleep phases in various housing systems in order to find a substantiated answer to that issue. For that purpose, the sleep waves measured by EEG have to be defined beforehand and allocated to the individual stages of sleep. The experiments described here are intended to support this effort. The objective is to establish a method which by means of a portable polysomnograph allows to capture the sleeping behaviour of horses for the purpose of defining the individual stages of sleep. It was investigated which stages of sleep horses undergo, and to what extent they may be comparable to those of humans.
Animals/materials/methods: Given the high technical effort involved, somnographic examination of large animals has so far been difficult and mostly required the animals to be sedated. Meanwhile, however, instruments such as the Somnoscreen by Somnomedics have become available. This is a completely portable polysomnograph with up to 28 channels and wireless online signal transmission and synchronous video transmission to a PC.
Using this instrument, the sleep profile of 5 Icelandic ponies and 10 horses (different race) aged 5-10 years was recorded and evaluated for 4 or 5 nights per horse. The following parameters were assessed: EEG (electroencephalogram), EOG (electrooculogram), EMG (electromyogram), ECG (electrocardiogram), thoracic and abdominal breathing motions as well as identification of the body posture. Synchronous video recordings were made. EEG recordings were obtained through gold-coated disk electrodes with long flexible cables, applied and secured to the scalp.
Results: As with humans, various stages of sleep can also be defined for horses using the above methods of recording. The waking condition is characterised by alpha waves, which just like in humans are within a range of 8-12 Hz. Typical REM phases as in humans were also detected, although not only when stretched completely on their side, as has hitherto always been described, but also when lying on their chest. Phases of deep sleep (stage 4) can also be measured, with the animals mostly in a standing position. The multi-stage human sleeping pattern, which is made up of 4-6 repeat phases of sleep (waking stage eyes open – waking stage eyes closed – REM phase – stage 1 – stage 2 – stage 3 – stage 4 – return to REM phase etc.) was found to be similar in horses in individual sequences. However, the sleep phases are shorter and more frequently interrupted by waking phases.
Conclusions: Horses are flight animals, which is why they have to be “on eye” in every situation so as to be able to flee in the face of danger. In a natural herd lying positions are only assumed if one or more members watch over the herd. In some publications the REM phase is treated as equivalent to the deep sleep phase. Although the REM phase is a phase of total muscle relaxation it is at the same time the dream phase and due to the high frequencies and the low amplitudes in the EOG resembles Stage I. This means that the sleeping horse can be awakened very quickly from this REM phase so as to be able to react to any dangerous situation. It therefore makes sense for the horses to assume a lying position during REM phases as the muscles are relaxed, yet a waking condition can be reached very quickly. A standing position seems to be preferred during deep sleep phases, where waking takes rather long, so that at least the position will not have to be changed. Whether the sleeping behaviour changes depending on age and race has yet to be investigated.
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Wyss, C. (2015). Does housing in a „social box“ change faecal cortisol metabolites concentration in stallions? In Proceedings of the 3. International Equine Science Meeting.
Abstract: 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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Wulf, M., Dörstelmann, V., & Aurich, C. (2008). Behavioural patterns of pony foals after simultaneous and consecutive weaning. In IESM 2008.
Abstract: In this study, the behaviour of Shetland pony foals after weaning was analysed. Foals were either weaned simultaneously (group SW; n=7) by removing all mares at the same time and leaving the foals as a group or foals were weaned consecutively (group CW; n=4) by removing one mare per day on consecutive days. Behaviour of the foals was observed 3 times per day (6:00-8:00, 12:00-14:00 and 18:00-20:00) from one day before weaning to 7 days (group SW) or 10 days (group CW) after removing the first mare. Vocalisation after removal mares was more frequent in foals weaned simultaneously (d 1: SW 66±37 per 2 hrs) than when mares were removed consecutively at one-day intervals (d1, i.e. removal of first mare: CW 3±2 per 2 hrs). In CW foals, vocalisation was most frequent on the day after removal of the last mare (day 5: 18±6 per 2 hrs), although it was lower than in SW foals on day 1 after weaning. Locomotor activity was highest in SW foals on days 1 and 2 after weaning (maximum 17±6 movements per 2 hrs, p<0.05 vs. CW: <2 movements per 2 hrs at all times). Frequency of defaecation increased to 7±1 per 2 hrs on day 1 after SW (p<0.05 vs. group CW), it was 3±2 per 2 hrs in group CW at the time 3 mares had been removed and was below 2 at all other times in both groups. The time, foals spent in lateral recumbency and in sternal recumbency was reduced to near zero during the two days following weaning (group SW) and the period during which mares were removed consecutively (group CW). Tactile contact between foals was increased in SW foals after weaning compared to CW foals during the period of consecutive weaning. Suckling on other foals increased in both groups for several days after weaning but did not differ between groups. No major changes over time or differences between groups were found for other behaviour parameters. Foals weaned simultaneously lost weight slightly but significantly (p<0.05) within two days after weaning (from 78±11 to 75±10) while no weight loss occurred in CW foals. In conclusion, SW elicited more pronounced behavioural changes than CW in pony foals. Consecutive weaning can be considered a more gentle method than SW and thus may be associated with lower risks and less stress for the foals.
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Wulf, M., Aurich, C., Nees, M., & Aurich, J. (2012). Identification of horses – hot iron branding versus microchip transponders. In K. Krueger (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting (Vol. in press). Wald: Xenophon Publishing.
Abstract: Identification of horses with hot iron branding is one of the most controversial issues in German horse breeding and also discussed in other countries. Traditionally horses have been identified by hot iron branding with breed-specific symbols and additional numbers. Since 2009, European Union legislation requires that all horses born after that year must have a microchip implanted for identification, although some exceptions are possible. So far it has not been tested using scientific criteria to what extent branding and microchips reliably allow identification of individual horses. In this study, the readability of branding symbols and numbers was analyzed by 3 independent investigators in 248 horses participating in an equestrian competition. Microchip transponders implanted into the neck were read in another 182 horses on different breeding farms. Microchip readings were made on both sides of the neck and 3 different commercially available ISO 11785/11785 scanners were compared (A: Minimax II, B: I-MaxPlus, C: Isomax V, all by Virbac, Germany). Correct reading of the branding breed symbol in horses at an equestrian championship by the individual investigators was close to 90% and differed only marginally between the investigators. Correct identification of the breed-specific symbol by all 3 investigators occurred in 84% of cases. The double-digit number branded together with the breed symbol was identified correctly by all 3 investigators in 39% of cases with correct readings by individual investigators ranging from 47 to 54%. Correct identification of the branding signs did not differ significantly between horses of different coat color and age group. Readability of microchips differed between scanners. Best results were obtained with scanner C which allowed microchip reading on the implantation side in 100% and on the contralateral side of the neck in 95% of 182 horses. Time for location of the microchip on the implanted side ranged from 1 to 4 sec (1.1±0.4). Scanner A identified 92 and 25% of microchips on the implanted and contralateral side, respectively while corresponding values for scanner B were 86 and 20%. Readability of microchip transponders on the side contralateral to implantation was influenced by size and thus caliber of the horse. In conclusion, hot iron branding does not allow unique identification of horses and individual branding numbers can be read in less than 40% of the horses. Readability of microchip transponders is more reliable compared to hot iron branding but depends on the type of scanner used. Scanner C allowed identification of all horses tested and gave good results also when used on the contralateral side of the horses` neck. KW -
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Wolter, R., & Krueger, K. (2015). The analysis of social bonds in feral horses. In Proceedings of the 3. International Equine Science Meeting.
Abstract: In many social mammals, individuals preferentially affiliate with a small subset of available partners instead of distributing their social behaviors equally among all group members. The resulting social bonds have been investigated in several mammalian taxa, especially in primate societies, but also in other taxa such as birds, dolphins, rodents and ungulates. In feral horses, a great number of studies on social bonds can be found, but with a huge variety between methods for the analysis. There seems to be a lack of a clear and common definition of social bonds in horses and of comparable analyses. For example, there are irregularities between the studies regarding the research designs, the selection of recording methods and the interpretation of the measurements. Mutual grooming is used most often for the analysis of social relationships in many species. As mutual grooming is rare in horses, especially measurements of spatial proximity are commonly used for the analysis of social bonds in addition to other behavioral patterns. However, the combination of mutual grooming and nearest neighborhood analyses for the analysis of social bond is debatable, as in contrast to mutual grooming, which must occur deliberately by both grooming partners, the spatial distribution can be influenced by one partner alone, which may even force the other horse to keep a certain distance or to stay in close proximity.
In this study, we investigated the comparability of mutual grooming and nearest neighborhood data for social bond analyses in feral horses. Therefore, we observed five groups of semi-wild living Przewalski’s horses and six groups of feral horses.
We analysed the horses’ social ranks by applying an Average Dominance Index, we recorded the distances between the animals and observed the number of mutual grooming events as well as friendly approaches.
Our results show that there was only a weak correlation between the frequency of staying in nearest neighborhood and mutual grooming in all observed horse groups. In contrast to this, the correlation between the number of friendly approaches and mutual grooming events was higher in most groups.
Hierarchies did not affect social bonds, as mutual grooming was similarly induced by higher and lower ranking animals and the social rank did not affect the choice of the grooming partner. Similarly, likelihoods of staying in the neighborhood of particular animals were not affected by the animals’ social rank.
The grooming frequencies differed between the different horse groups and between the individual horses living in the particular groups. They seem to be effected by individual predisposition.
Altogether we suggest that the ratio of mutual grooming seems to be a better indicator for social bonds in feral horses than the frequency of staying in the nearest neighborhood. Mutual grooming occurs deliberately and is bidirectional, whereas nearest neighborhoods could be enforced and unidirectional. For the calculation of social bonds in horses, we consider it to be more reliable to combine the frequency of mutual grooming with the frequency of friendly approaches.
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Westermann, K. (2012). The contribution of horses (Equus caballus) to human health Requirements, stresses and strains, selection, training, compensation and rectification. In K. Krueger (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting (Vol. in press). Wald: Xenophon Publishing.
Abstract: For a longer time, I occupy myself in my profession as a veterinarian, with the requirements and strains of horses (Equus caballus) used to contribute human health. For the first time complex and interdisciplinary scientific investigations are made to draw conclusions from determined requirements and strains of so-called therapy horses in regard to an adequate selection and training as well as compensation of physical and psychic strains and rectification of these horses. Focusing the physical and psychic resources of horses as well, it becomes obvious, that a horse which received conventional training, compensation and rectification is neither adequately prepared for its task as a therapy horse, nor adequately escorted through its employment. Therefore it is time now for hippologists and veterinarians to promote a justifiable use of horses for therapy purposes by suitable means having in mind not only the efficiency of the intervention, but also the safety of clients, therapists and horses as well as our responsibility towards the horse and animal welfare in general. For a concept profitable for all participants, different, each other complementing modules are worked out. Based on an interdisciplinary exchange of know-how and interdisciplinary cooperation, the decisive elements of a comprehensive, targeted, requirement-oriented and horse-friendly training, compensation of the horse’s strains and rectification are outlined.
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Westermann, K. (2012). Das Therapiepferd: Was macht es so besonders und wertvoll? In K. Krueger (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2. International Equine Science Meeting (Vol. in press). Wald: Xenophon Publishing.
Abstract: Als Tierärztin beschäftige ich mich seit geraumer Zeit mit den Anforderungen und Belastungsmomenten von Therapiepferden. Mein Ziel ist es, geeignete Methoden für die Auswahl, Ausbildung, Ausgleichs- und Korrekturarbeit dieser Pferde zu entwickeln.
Umfangreiche Recherchen haben ergeben, dass ein Pferd unter Berücksichtigung seiner physischen und psychischen Fähigkeiten durch die derzeit verbreitete Ausbildung, Ausgleichs- und Korrekturarbeit nur unzureichend auf die Aufgaben eines Therapiepferdes vorbereitet bzw. während seinesEinsatzes begleitet wird.
Aber genau hier liegt der Schlüssel für die Sicherheit von Klient, Therapeut und Pferd und den Erfolg der Therapie- und Fördermaßnahme. Darüber hinaus ist es auch im Sinne der Verantwortung für das Pferd und des Tierschutzes an der Zeit, durch geeignete Maßnahmen die verantwortbare Nutzung des Pferdes als Therapiepferd zu unterstützten.
Auf der Basis von interdisziplinärem Wissenstransfer und interinterdisziplinärer Kooperation werden die entscheidenden Elemente einer nachvollziehbaren, zielorientierten, bedarfs- und pferdegerechten Ausbildung, Ausgleichs- und Korrekturarbeit von Therapiepferden kurz skizziert.
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