Prevalence of stereotypic and other problem behaviours in thoroughbred horses.

The research article discusses a study conducted to determine the prevalence of problematic behaviours in Thoroughbred horses in Australia and find out any relationship between time spent outside the stable and the occurrence of such behaviours.

Methodology

• The research was carried out through a survey. The survey questionnaire was mailed to 607 Australian trainers, who were selected randomly from The Australian Thoroughbred Directory.
• The invitation to the survey was made attractive by promising the respondents a copy of the result and an entry into a draw to win a reference book.
• The questionnaire was divided into three sections containing quantitative questions. These included asking the total number of horses in training, how much time they spent out of their stalls, and the number of horses demonstrating several listed stereotypic or other problem behaviours.
• The behaviours under study included crib-biting or wind-sucking, weaving, stall-walking and self-biting along with wood-chewing, bed-eating, manure-eating, rug-chewing or tearing, stall-kicking, aggression towards humans and masturbation.

Data Analysis

• Data analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel 5.0 to establish the prevalence of each problem behaviour and the overall prevalence of problem behaviours in each stable.
• The researchers also analysed how time spent out of the stable affected the occurrence of these behaviours. For this purpose, they divided the time spent out of the stables into quartiles and analysed the proportion of horses showing certain behaviours in each quartile.
• A chi-square test for linear trend in proportions was used to examine the relationship between the time spent out of the stable and the prevalence of each behaviour.
• The researchers also calculated Odds Ratios (OR) to explore the statistical relationship between time spent out of the stable and the prevalence of each problem behaviour. The OR represents the odds that an outcome will occur given a particular exposure, compared to the odds of the outcome occurring in the absence of that exposure.

Response Rate and Sample Size

• The overall response rate of the survey was 35.0% and the usable response rate was 31.3% due to incomplete submissions.
• The study was based on a total of 3009 horses, out of which 1690 were stabled and 1319 were available for the survey.