Impact of feeding strategies on the welfare and behaviour of horses in groups: An experimental study.
Authors: Roig-Pons Marie, Bachmann Iris, Freymond Sabrina Briefer
Journal: PloS one
Summary
# Editorial Summary Group-housed horses managed under traditional feeding schedules (three 2-hour meals during daylight hours) and portioned feeding systems (six 1-hour meals across 24 hours) exhibited activity patterns comparable to stabled horses, despite living in loose-housing environments, whilst slow-feeding with ad libitum hay access through a restrictive net more closely mimicked natural grazing behaviour. Roig-Pons and colleagues conducted a cross-over trial with 18 mares across four groups, alternating between these three strategies over five-week periods (three weeks habituation, two weeks data collection), with continuous video recording of social interactions over 15 hours daily, 15-minute point samples of activity and location, injury assessments, and accelerometer-measured lying behaviour. Counter-intuitively, the portioned feeding approach—designed to reduce frustration through frequent small meals—showed no significant reduction in agonistic behaviours during feeding times compared to traditional feeding and actually tended to reduce lying time by 11.3 minutes daily relative to both slow-feeding and traditional systems (which averaged 37.5 minutes more daily lying time). These findings challenge the assumption that increasing meal frequency automatically improves welfare in group settings, and suggest instead that ad libitum slow-feeding better accommodates equine behavioural needs by allowing more continuous foraging activity. Farriers, veterinarians, and those involved in group-housing management should consider slow-feeding systems as a priority, though further research into optimal portioning strategies and the long-term health implications of ad libitum feeding remains necessary before definitive recommendations can be established.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Implement ad libitum slow-feeders (hay covered with nets) rather than frequent small meals—they more closely replicate natural grazing patterns and improve lying time, which is critical for health in group housing
- •Avoid portioning hay into 6 small meals spread over 24 hours; this created frustration without reducing aggression at feeding times and worsened rest behaviour compared to traditional or slow-feeding systems
- •Monitor lying behaviour and social dynamics when changing feeding strategies, as these are sensitive indicators of welfare—lying time loss of >10 min/day may signal increased stress in group-housed horses
Key Findings
- •Slow-feeding (ad libitum with net) produced activity time budgets matching natural conditions, while traditional (3 meals) and portioned (6 meals) feeding resulted in box-stall-like patterns despite loose housing
- •Portioned feeding (6 meals over 24h) did not reduce agonistic behaviours during feeding times compared to traditional feeding (3 meals), contrary to expectations
- •Lying behaviour was impaired in portioned feeding horses (−11.3 min/day) compared to slow-feeding and traditional feeding (37.5 min/day average)
- •Slow-feeding strategy was superior to both traditional and portioned feeding for optimizing horse welfare in group housing systems