An Observational Study of Wood-Chewing in Mares and Their Foals Kept in Fenced Outdoor Paddocks with Variable Browsing Access.

The research article conducts an in-depth study on wood-chewing behavior of mares and their foals in an outdoor environment. Analyses are conducted considering elements like browsing access, stocking density, foal sex, and other non-nutritive oral behaviors.

Introduction

• The purpose of this observational study is to explore the behavior of wood-chewing (WC) in horses, specifically in 31 mares and their foals. The researchers aim to understand the potential causes of WC, which include frustrated foraging motivation, developmental exploratory, or teething behaviours.

Data Collection

• The data were collected via all-occurrences sampling during continuous observations of grazing, resting and suckling for 20 sessions of 10-minute periods, over three days. The observation was made when the foals were between 3-5 months of age and kept in pasture with their mares.
• The counts of particular behaviors per hour were recorded and taken into consideration for the study.

Primary Findings

• Of the observed group, 17 out of 31 mares and 28 out of 31 foals exhibited WC. Foals performed WC at a higher frequency than mares.
• Colts (male foals) exhibited significantly more WC than fillies (female foals), suggesting that sex-based differences might play a role in the frequency of this behaviour, possibly due to differences in exploratory tendencies.

Effects of Browsing Access

• The study found that the amount of browsing access had varying effects on mares and foals. This factor was partially confused with foal age, making it difficult to derive conclusive results on this front.

Conclusion

• Based on the observational data collected, the study suggests that WC is associated more with the developmental exploration of the horses rather than frustrated foraging access.
• The researchers propose that further experimental work is necessary to confirm the findings of this study, indicating that this research is a preliminary exploration of the factors influencing WC in horses.