Evaluating Stress in Riding Horses: Part One-Behavior Assessment and Serum Cortisol.
Authors: Hovey Monique R, Davis Amanda, Chen Shikun, Godwin Pat, Porr C A Shea
Journal: Journal of equine veterinary science
Summary
# Editorial Summary Whilst behavioural observation and serum cortisol measurement are widely advocated as practical tools for assessing equine stress, the research supporting their correlation remains limited—a gap this 2021 study aimed to address by comparing horses in two contrasting ridden environments: a therapeutic riding programme and a university riding programme. Trained observers scored stress-related behaviours during lessons using both live assessment and video review, whilst blood samples were collected before exercise, immediately after, and 30 minutes post-exercise to measure serum cortisol concentrations. Both programmes showed significantly decreased cortisol immediately following ridden work (therapeutic: P ≤ 0.01; university: P = 0.0004), with all values remaining within or below normal ranges, yet overall behaviour scores were consistently low across both groups regardless of rider experience or disability type—indicating minimal overt stress responses. Notably, the researchers found no clear relationship between the behavioural indicators and cortisol changes, suggesting that neither measure alone reliably reflects the horse's stress state in these ridden contexts. For practitioners, these findings reinforce that cortisol reduction post-exercise reflects physiological adaptation rather than necessarily indicating distress, whilst the absence of strong behavioural-physiological correlation highlights the need for multi-modal assessment approaches rather than reliance on single stress indicators when evaluating equine welfare in ridden work.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Serum cortisol alone may not reliably predict stress-related behavioral changes in riding horses; use multiple assessment methods for comprehensive stress evaluation
- •Well-structured riding programs (both therapeutic and recreational) appear to maintain horses in low-stress states based on cortisol and behavioral metrics
- •Consider individual rider-horse pairs rather than generalizing by experience level; some specific rider groups may influence equine stress differently
Key Findings
- •Serum cortisol concentrations decreased significantly from before to after riding lessons in both therapeutic (P ≤ 0.01) and university riding programs (P = 0.0004)
- •Serum cortisol increased over the course of the study in both groups (TRH P ≤ 0.0002; UNI P ≤ 0.0001), but remained within normal ranges
- •Overall behavior scores were low in both riding programs with no clear relationship demonstrated between stress-related behaviors and cortisol concentration changes
- •Behavior scores differed only in therapeutic riding horses ridden by one specific group of disabled riders (P ≤ 0.0431), with no significant differences between novice and experienced riders (P ≥ 0.1662)