Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Bulevar oslobođenja 18, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia.
Department of Animal Hygiene, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Belgrade, Bulevar oslobođenja 18, 11000, Belgrade, Serbia.
J Equine Vet Sci. 2024 Dec;143:105203. doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2024.105203. Epub 2024 Sep 27.
In Serbia, at present, there is very little information about the welfare of horses. The aim of this study was to identify the main welfare issues likely to be encountered in five different categories of horses (Western riding horses, riding school horses, leisure horses, jumping horses, and endurance horses) kept in stabled housing systems. A total of 50 horses were evaluated using the Animal Welfare Indicator (AWIN) welfare assessment protocol for horses. Identified welfare issues in horses were inadequate box dimensions (52%, 26/50), insufficient quantity of bedding material (34%, 17/50), dirty bedding material (52%, 26/50), integument alterations (68%, 34/50), lameness (16%, 8/50), stereotypic behaviors (28%, 14/50), and negative response to human presence (24%, 12/50). The mean scores for alopecia, skin lesions, hardened spots at the mouth corners, horse grimace scale, and human-animal relationship tests in riding school horses were significantly higher (P<0.05; P<0.001) than for other categories of horses. The leisure horses exercised significantly less often (P<0.001) compared with other categories of horses. Additionally, important risks to welfare, identified across all groups of horses, were insufficient social interaction where 14 horses (28%) were unable to have any visual or physical contact with other horses. The results of this study provide the first analysis and valuable insight into the impact of the individual stable housing system on the welfare of different categories of horses in the Balkan region.
在塞尔维亚，目前关于马的福利状况的信息非常有限。本研究的目的是确定在五种不同类别的马（西部骑乘马、骑术学校马、休闲马、跳跃马和耐力马）中可能遇到的主要福利问题，这些马都被关在厩舍系统中。共有 50 匹马使用动物福利指标（AWIN）马福利评估方案进行了评估。确定的马福利问题有：箱子尺寸不足（52%，26/50）、垫料量不足（34%，17/50）、垫料脏污（52%，26/50）、被毛改变（68%，34/50）、跛行（16%，8/50）、刻板行为（28%，14/50）和对人类存在的负面反应（24%，12/50）。骑术学校马的脱毛、皮肤损伤、口角硬结、马面部表情量表和人-马关系测试的平均得分明显高于其他类别的马（P<0.05；P<0.001）。休闲马的运动频率明显低于其他类别的马（P<0.001）。此外，所有马群都存在的重要福利风险是社交互动不足，有 14 匹马（28%）无法与其他马进行任何视觉或身体接触。本研究的结果首次分析了个体厩舍系统对巴尔干地区不同类别的马福利的影响，并提供了有价值的见解。
