The Influence of Stable Management and Feeding Practices on the Abnormal Behaviors Among Stabled Horses in Malaysia.

This research study investigates how stable management and feeding practices can influence abnormal behaviors in stabled horses in Malaysia, finding that the number of working hours, amount of hay and concentrate, and number of feedings each day play significant roles.

Study Objective and Methodology

• The goal of this study was to gather initial data on the prevalence of three types of abnormal behaviors (oral stereotypic, locomotory stereotypic, and redirected behaviors) in horses, and to examine if and how these behaviors are influenced by stable management and feeding practices.
• The researchers conducted a cross-sectional study on 207 working horses, used for activities like leisure riding, equestrian sport, polo, endurance, and patrolling across seven different equine facilities.
• Methods for collecting data on stable management and feeding practices included examining stable records, interviews with stable staff, and on-site monitoring of the facilities.
• To determine the prevalence of abnormal behaviors in the horses studied, the instantaneous scan sampling method was used by the researchers.

Findings

• The study observed most horses in the research sample worked more than 8 hours per week.
• The majority of the horses (65 of the total) were fed three times per day, receiving varying amounts of hay, concentrate, and chaff.
• Among the population studied, oral stereotypic behaviors were the most prevalent, observed in over half of the horses, followed by redirected behavior (34%), and then locomotory stereotypic behaviors being the lowest observed (12%).
• Oral stereotypic behavior was found to have a significant correlation with the number of working hours, amount of hay fed, and amount of concentrate, while both locomotory stereotypic and redirected behaviors were impacted by the number of feedings per day and the amount of hay fed.

Conclusion and Implications

• The results from this study demonstrated how stable management and feeding practices can have a significant influence on the prevalence of abnormal behaviors in working horses. Specifically, oral stereotypy was identified as the most common abnormal behavior.
• Future research in this area may guide more effective management practices designed to mitigate the prevalence of abnormal behaviors in horses.