Equine Activities Influence Horses' Responses to Different Stimuli: Could This Have an Impact on Equine Welfare?
Authors: Mendonça Tiago, Bienboire-Frosini Cécile, Kowalczyk Izabela, Leclercq Julien, Arroub Sana, Pageat Patrick
Journal: Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
Summary
# Editorial Summary Horses engaged in different disciplines encounter distinct cognitive and learning demands, yet little is known about how these experiences shape their broader responsiveness to environmental challenges. Researchers assessed 41 horses across four activity groups (dressage, jumping, eventing, and equine-assisted therapy) using a standardised test involving access to treats, measuring both autonomic nervous system activity via heart rate variability indices (SDNN, RMSSD, and LF/HF ratio) and behavioural responses (exploration, social interaction, and approach latency) to various stimuli. Significant differences emerged across all measured parameters: dressage, jumping, and eventing horses showed distinct patterns in heart rate variability and behavioural engagement, suggesting that training discipline fundamentally alters how horses process and respond to novel situations. These findings carry important welfare implications, as horses' capacity to cope with environmental demands and stress varies according to their habitual activities—meaning that a discipline-appropriate training approach may be more relevant to individual horse welfare than a one-size-fits-all management strategy. For practitioners, this underscores the importance of tailoring handling protocols, rehabilitation programmes, and environmental enrichment to a horse's background activity, rather than assuming uniform responses across the population.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Training discipline shapes how horses respond to new situations—dressage, jumping, eventing, and therapy horses show measurably different stress responses and exploratory behaviors, so handlers should tailor habituation and training approaches accordingly
- •Monitor individual horses' physiological stress markers (heart rate variability) during training transitions or new activities, as baseline responses vary by discipline and may indicate welfare concerns
- •Equine-assisted therapy and other activities may have differential impacts on nervous system regulation; consider these differences when designing programs or assessing horse suitability for specific roles
Key Findings
- •Horses from different equine activities (dressage, jumping, eventing, equine-assisted activity/therapy) showed significant differences in heart rate variability measures SDNN (p=0.0202), RMSSD (p=0.0078), and LF/HF ratio (p=0.0031)
- •Exploration behavior and latency to approach stimuli differed significantly among activity groups (p=0.0013 and p<0.0001 respectively)
- •Type of equine activity practiced influences both behavioral and physiological responses to novel stimuli, with implications for equine welfare