Physiological Indicators in the Welfare Assessment of Riding Horses

Abstract

The welfare assessment of horses includes the evaluation of their ability to cope with the challenges of their environment and of work given to them. The aim of this study was to evaluate the welfare of 12 clinically healthy horses from a riding school, using physiological indicators. Double determinations were made (in winter and in spring of 2011) by a set of two tests each time, before and after physical effort. The clinical parameters (heart and respiratory rate) were in the normal range at 20 minutes after effort, decreasing towards the resting values. Slightly higher values were recorded in the spring comparing with the winter, but the differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05). Even if were in the normal range, the results of the haematology tests and the blood sugar values showed clearly the response of the horses’ organisms to exercise. The serum cortisol concentrations presented an effort dependent elevation and higher values of the basic level were observed in the spring than in winter. The other stress-response indicator recorded, the neutrophyle-lymphocyte ratio, showed dynamics correlated with that of the cortisol level. The physiological indicators tested in this study proved their real value in the riding horses’ welfare assessment.

Keywords

• horse fitness
• horse welfare
• neutrophyle-lymphocyte ratio
• riding horses
• stress response
• serum cortisol