Time-activity budget in horses and ponies: A systematic review and meta-analysis on feeding dynamics and management implications.

Overview

• This study analyzes daily activity patterns, particularly feeding behavior, in horses and ponies under various living conditions to understand how management practices affect their welfare.

Introduction

• Time-activity budgets measure how animals allocate their time to behaviors such as feeding, resting, standing, and movement, reflecting their welfare state.
• Horses’ natural behavior includes significant time for foraging, social interaction, and locomotion, which can be impacted by different management systems.
• The study conducted a meta-analysis combining data from multiple studies spanning 1979 to 2020 involving 364 horses living in wild, natural, or stabled environments.

Objectives

• To categorize and quantify daily behavioral patterns in horses and ponies, focusing on feeding behavior and its relationship to other activities.
• To evaluate how various factors such as management type, social grouping, sex, age, body size, and feeding type influence equine time budgets.

Methods

• Inclusion of 14 scientific studies reporting time spent on feeding, resting, standing, and locomotion in horses and ponies.
• Use of statistical models such as fixed and random effects, forest plots, and ANOVA to analyze the aggregated data.
• Assessment of the impact of these variables:
  • Management system (free-ranging vs. stabled)
  • Social conditions (grouped vs. isolated)
  • Sex (female vs. male)
  • Age and body size
  • Type of feeding (grazing vs. hay feeding)

Key Results

• Feeding Behavior:
  • Free-ranging horses spent significantly more time feeding (56%) compared to stabled horses (38%).
  • Grouped horses fed more (54%) than isolated horses (39%).
  • Female horses spent more time feeding (64%) than males (48%).
  • Grazing horses devoted more time to feeding (56%) compared to those fed hay (39%).
• Resting Behavior:
  • Young, smaller, grouped, and grazing horses rested more than their counterparts.
• Standing Behavior:
  • Stabled, isolated, adult, larger, and hay-fed horses showed higher proportions of standing time.
• Locomotion:
  • Free-ranging, grouped, and grazing horses exhibited increased locomotion activity.

Interpretation and Management Implications

• Increased feeding time in free-ranging and grouped animals indicates that natural foraging and social environments encourage natural feeding behavior.
• Standing behavior is more prevalent in stabled and isolated horses, possibly reflecting limited opportunities for movement and social interaction.
• Greater locomotion seen in free-ranging and group-living horses suggests that management strategies allowing movement and companionship improve physical activity levels.
• Sex and age influence activity budgets, highlighting the need to consider individual animal characteristics in welfare assessments.
• Feeding type influences behavior: grazing allows horses to engage in their natural foraging pattern, enhancing welfare compared to hay feeding alone.
• Overall, promoting conditions that support foraging, social contact, and mobility supports a more natural time-activity budget, which is linked to better welfare outcomes for horses and ponies.

Conclusion

• The meta-analysis demonstrates clear differences in time allocation for key behaviors depending on management and environmental factors.
• Equine welfare is enhanced by management practices that enable natural feeding behavior, group living, and sufficient space for locomotion.
• These findings provide evidence-based guidance for horse caretakers to structure environments and routines that better reflect horses’ natural needs and promote overall well-being.