McGreevy P D, French N P, Nicol C J
University of Bristol, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, Langford.
Vet Rec. 1995 Jul 8;137(2):36-7. doi: 10.1136/vr.137.2.36.
The behaviour of horses competing in different disciplines was studied and the relationship between the time they spent out of the stable and the prevalence of abnormal behaviour was examined. The owners of dressage, eventing and endurance horses were sent a questionnaire and a total of 1101 responses were received, giving data on 1750 horses. The behaviours studied were wood-chewing, weaving, crib-biting/wind-sucking and box-walking. The reported percentage prevalences of abnormal behaviour for the dressage, eventing and endurance horses were 32.5, 30.8 and 19.5, respectively. The relationship between the time spent in the stable and the prevalence of abnormal behaviour was examined by chi 2 tests which showed that there were significant linear trends for the eventing group (P < 0.001) and the dressage group (P < 0.05). It is concluded that the time a horse spends out of the stable is related to the discipline for which it is being trained and in dressage and eventing horses the time spent in a stable is correlated with an increased risk of abnormal behaviour.
研究了参加不同项目比赛的马匹的行为，并考察了它们离开马厩的时间与异常行为发生率之间的关系。向盛装舞步马、三项赛马和耐力赛马的主人发放了调查问卷，共收到1101份回复，提供了1750匹马的数据。所研究的行为包括啃木、摇晃、咬栏/咽气和在厩内踱步。盛装舞步马、三项赛马和耐力赛马报告的异常行为发生率分别为32.5%、30.8%和19.5%。通过卡方检验考察了在马厩中停留的时间与异常行为发生率之间的关系，结果表明三项赛组（P<0.001）和盛装舞步组（P<0.05）存在显著的线性趋势。得出的结论是，马匹离开马厩的时间与它所接受训练的项目有关，在盛装舞步马和三项赛马中，在马厩中停留的时间与异常行为风险增加相关。
