Social contacts and access to resources as indicators of equine welfare and quality of life

Kurzbezeichnung

Equine social proximity

Einrichtung Vetmeduni

Klinisches Zentrum für Pferde

Art der Forschung

Grundlagenforschung

Forschungsschwerpunkt

Veterinärmedizinische Ethik und Tierschutz

Abstract

Social behaviour is an essential determinant of equine welfare and quality of life (QoL). Only close companions are tolerated within a horse's personal space for affiliative interactions, while agonistic behaviour is characterized by a rapid separation after contact. Therefore, proximity (and its duration) is a good indicator of equine social behaviour. This project aims to develop a new tool to assess equine QoL based on objective and quantifiable indicators of social relationships and interaction patterns, herd dynamics (access to shared resources such as hay and lying areas) in combination with lameness and discomfort scores, and time budgets for eating, resting and locomotion, to enable targeted interventions to improve equine husbandry and QoL.Scientific objective 1 To establish the interaction patterns characteristic of agonistic or affiliative behaviour based on the measurement of spatial proximity and its duration and the speed of separation of the involved animals.Scientific objective 2 To investigate the influence of different housing conditions on the social behaviour and time budgets of horsesScientific objective 3 To investigate the influence of acute and chronic lameness and discomfort on the social behaviour and time budgets of horses