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Equine veterinary journal2024; 57(1); 54-61; doi: 10.1111/evj.14054

Frequency and nature of health issues among horses housed in an active open barn compared to single boxes-A field study.

Abstract: Keeping horses in open barns has positive effects on social interaction and free movement, which may improve horse welfare. However, many horse owners fear that housing in open barns leads to more injuries. Objective: To compare health events among horses housed in an active open barn (AOB) or in single boxes (BOX). Methods: A prospective study during 9 months and a 2-year retrospective study. Methods: Two housing systems in one farm were investigated: AOB and BOX in pairs or alone in paddock (2-4 h/day) using 66 and 69 horses in the prospective respectively retrospective study. Lameness, wounds, colic and days lost from training were recorded. Results: There were lower prevalences of lameness and colic in AOB than in BOX (18% vs. 26% and 0% vs. 5%; p < 0.001). Overall, there was a larger proportion of individuals with health events in AOB (83%) compared with BOX (52%) (p < 0.01). However, number of days lost to training did not differ between AOB (10 ± 15 days) and BOX (15 ± 34 days) (p = 0.36). There were no significant differences between the housing systems in number of health events/horse in the retrospective study: AOB 1.54 ± 1.51 versus BOX 1.14 ± 1.20 (p = 0.22). Conclusions: The different, not standardised, housing systems varied in size and number of horses with no individual consideration in this descriptive field study with no possibility to cross-over. A convenience sample was used. Conclusions: Lameness and colic were less frequent in the AOB system compared to single boxes, probably because the horses in the open barn could move freely day and night. Horses in AOB had a higher prevalence of wounds due to interactions between horses, but this did not lead to more days lost from training.
© 2024 The Authors. Equine Veterinary Journal published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of EVJ Ltd.
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Publication Date: 2024-01-03 PubMed ID: 38173124PubMed Central: PMC11616948DOI: 10.1111/evj.14054Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

This study investigates the health implications for horses when housed either in an active open barn or in single boxes, with the key finding being that while there may be more minor injuries in the open barn due to social interaction, serious health issues like lameness and colic are reduced.

Study Design

This research paper compares the health conditions of horses housed in two different types of situations- an active open barn (AOB) system and single-box (Box) system. Both a prospective study over nine months and a two-year retrospective study were conducted. Sixty-six horses were examined in the prospective study, while sixty-nine were used for the retrospective study. Health events were monitored and recorded such as lameness, wounds, colic, and days lost from training.

Results and Findings

  • The results revealed lower incidences of lameness and colic in the AOB system compared to the BOX system. Specifically, lameness and colic were found in 18% and 0% of horses in AOB respectively, as against 26% and 5% in BOX horses.
  • In contradiction to this, a larger number of overall health events were found among horses housed in the AOB scenario (83%) than those in the BOX condition (52%).
  • Despite the higher incidences of health events in AOB, the actual number of days lost to training remained similar between the two housing methods. In AOB, horses were out of training for an average of 10 days, while in BOX, the average was 15 days.
  • The retrospective study showed no significant differences between the numbers of health events per horse in the two systems. The AOB system had an average of 1.54 health events per horse, and the BOX system had 1.14.

Conclusion and Implications

While this study did review two different housing systems, it should be noted that the housing systems varied in size and number of horses, without any consideration given to individual horses. Despite the greater prevalence of minor injuries like wounds in the AOB system due to more horse-to-horse interaction, serious health issues were less common. This may be attributed to the fact that horses in the open barn have the freedom to move around both day and night. The findings suggest that despite more overall health events in the AOB system, these did not lead to increased training downtime, implying that the open barn system could be a viable and potentially beneficial housing method for horses, particularly considering the reduced incidence of conditions like lameness and colic.

Cite This Article

APA
Kjellberg L, Dahlborn K, Roepstorff L, Morgan K. (2024). Frequency and nature of health issues among horses housed in an active open barn compared to single boxes-A field study. Equine Vet J, 57(1), 54-61. https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.14054

Publication

Equine veterinary journal
ISSN: 2042-3306
NlmUniqueID: 0173320
Country: United States
Language: English
Volume: 57
Issue: 1
Pages: 54-61

Researcher Affiliations

Kjellberg, Linda
  • National Equine Centre Strömsholm, Strömsholm, Sweden.
  • Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Dahlborn, Kristina
  • Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Roepstorff, Lars
  • Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Morgan, Karin
  • National Equine Centre Strömsholm, Strömsholm, Sweden.
  • Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.

MeSH Terms

  • Animals
  • Horses
  • Housing, Animal
  • Horse Diseases / epidemiology
  • Male
  • Female
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Animal Welfare
  • Animal Husbandry
  • Lameness, Animal / epidemiology
  • Prospective Studies
  • Colic / veterinary
  • Colic / epidemiology

Conflict of Interest Statement

No competing interests have been declared.

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Citations

This article has been cited 2 times.
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  2. Gobbo E, Maccario C, Zupan Šemrov M, Bovo M, Atallah E, Minero M, Dalla Costa E. Exploring the impact of housing routine on lying behavior in horses measured with triaxial accelerometer. Front Vet Sci 2025;12:1572051.
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