Tracking the Impact of Weather on Equine Activity While Pastured.
Authors: Keller Gretel A, Nielsen Brian D, Vergara-Hernandez Fernando B, Robison Cara I
Journal: Journal of equine veterinary science
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Weather's Limited Impact on Pastured Horse Activity Whilst free-ranging horses have obvious welfare advantages over stalled confinement, the assumption that pasture access automatically delivers increased movement and exercise isn't necessarily valid—prompting investigation into what actually drives activity patterns outdoors. Researchers equipped horses on two similarly-managed farms with triaxial accelerometers across five separate monitoring periods from January to August, collecting detailed data on steps, standing duration, lying time, and frequency of recumbent bouts, then cross-referenced these metrics against concurrent temperature, humidity, precipitation, and wind speed measurements. Surprisingly, no significant correlations emerged between weather variables and equine movement, though notable differences in step counts and lying-down duration appeared both between the two farms and across different testing periods, indicating that non-meteorological factors—particularly ground conditions and blanket use—likely exert stronger influences on activity levels. For practitioners managing horses on pasture, this finding suggests that optimising movement through environmental design may require greater attention to surface quality, footing consistency, and shelter configuration rather than simply expecting horses to self-regulate activity in response to seasonal conditions. Further research clarifying how management variables interact with activity patterns would help establish evidence-based protocols for maximising the genuine physical and psychological benefits of pasture-kept systems.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •Weather alone does not strongly determine whether pastured horses will increase their activity; focus management efforts on ground conditions and other environmental factors to encourage movement
- •Individual farm differences in activity levels suggest that management practices (blanket use, pasture quality, ground conditions) may be more critical to optimize than weather-related decisions
- •Consider using accelerometer technology as a practical tool to objectively monitor equine activity patterns and evaluate the effectiveness of management changes
Key Findings
- •No strong correlations were found between weather factors (temperature, humidity, precipitation, wind speed) and equine movement patterns measured by accelerometers
- •Significant differences in average steps and lying time were observed between farms and across testing periods, suggesting ground conditions and blanket use may be more influential than weather
- •Triaxial accelerometers successfully tracked multiple movement parameters including steps, standing time, lying down time, and lying bouts across five independent time periods