What a horse wants: 3 factors for a happy life

An international team of scientists from Germany and the UK summarized the basic needs of horses that play a role in well-being and the prevention of depression.

Each animal species has specific environmental requirements that are necessary for its well-being, and these are described as basic needs.

As a general assumption, it is stated that social contact, social fellowship, free movement and access to roughage are the basic needs of horses.

1. Communication.

Horses need social contact because in natural conditions they live in large groups, about 200-400 horses make up a herd. These herds are divided into sub-groups of harems (usually consisting of one to five males, several females and their offspring) and bachelor herds (composed of males of various ages).

In addition, horses are in dire need of social companionship because about one-third of all horses form stable social bonds with members of their subgroup. Related animals mutually protect each other and their offspring, and together protect resources - food, water and places of rest.

2. Grazing.

Horses need free movement because in natural conditions they cover from 3 to 30 km per day.

3. Proper feeding.

Horses need roughage because in nature they feed on grass 12 to 16 hours a day.

This study assessed whether horses suffer during the absence of basic needs, and if so, what reactions show suffering when one or more of these needs are not met.

The development of abnormal behaviors and stress responses is a direct consequence of adverse housing conditions and is considered a maladaptive strategy that prevents animals from coping with such conditions.

When social relations are disturbed, horses show increased aggressive behavior towards each other and towards people, show symptoms of depression.

Passive reactions, such as reduced activity, reduced food intake, refusal to contact people and other relatives, and indifference to a changing environment, indicate that the animal is withdrawing from external stimuli and withdrawing into itself.

Horses often develop gastric ulcers caused by physiological stress and when access to roughage is limited and gastric acidosis cannot be controlled by feed and salivary amylase secreted during feeding.

Stress in conditions of restricted housing also affects the emotional state of animals, which is proved by comparing the wave patterns of the hemispheric electroencephalogram (EEG), that is, the processing of information in one or another hemisphere of the brain.

Shifts to the left in motor (leading leg) and sensory (leading ear and eye) laterality in horses were useful behavioral indicators of changes in information processing in certain hemispheres of the brain when horses experienced stress during the transition from group grazing to limited individual management.

Remarkably, horses kept under restraint showed EEG wave patterns comparable to those indicative of negative emotional states in humans.

Negative stereotyped behavior, formed under adverse conditions, persists later, even when the animal returns to a favorable environment. And the personal experience of each animal matters. For example, horses that are born and raised in a stall experience less stress due to movement restriction than horses that are herd bred and then transferred to a stall.