Equine Activity Time Budgets: The Effect of Housing and Management Conditions on Geriatric Horses and Horses with Chronic Orthopaedic Disease.
Authors: Kelemen Zsofia, Grimm Herwig, Vogl Claus, Long Mariessa, Cavalleri Jessika M V, Auer Ulrike, Jenner Florien
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary This Austrian research team used automated tracking devices to measure daily activity patterns in geriatric (≥20 years) and chronically lame horses across various housing systems, establishing the first quantifiable baseline for how environment influences behaviour in these vulnerable populations. Across all conditions studied, horses allocated approximately 42% of their day to eating, 39% to rest, and 19% to movement—figures comparable to healthy horses—suggesting that age and orthopaedic disease alone need not compromise natural activity levels if management is appropriate. Significantly, horses with access to open-air group paddocks demonstrated more evenly distributed feeding and movement throughout the day, whereas those in more confined systems showed concentrated activity peaks, likely reflecting restricted opportunities and subsequent compensatory behaviour. The findings highlight that housing type substantially influences temporal patterns of activity regardless of individual health status, with paddock-based systems appearing to support more naturalistic behaviour distribution. For practitioners managing geriatric or lame horses, these results provide evidence that appropriate turnout—particularly group access to larger spaces—may be as therapeutically important as targeted veterinary or farriery interventions in optimising both behaviour expression and overall welfare.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Older and chronically lame horses can maintain normal activity patterns; don't assume reduced behavioural capacity based on age or orthopaedic status alone
- •Maximise turnout in open paddocks with group housing to encourage more consistent grazing and movement patterns throughout the day, reducing stress peaks
- •Monitor and compare your individual farm's time budget data against benchmarks to identify welfare improvement opportunities specific to your management system
Key Findings
- •Geriatric and chronically lame horses spent 42% of day eating, 39% resting, and 19% in movement, equivalent to healthy controls
- •Open-air group housing on paddocks produced more uniform temporal distribution of feeding and movement with fewer pronounced peaks compared to restricted husbandry systems
- •Significant differences in time budgets were identified between farms, turn-out conditions, and time of day