The study objective was to determine if there was a relationship between behavioral and physiological stress measures in sport horses and their performance. Nineteen horses competed in show jumping events (6 housed at the center and 13 transported), while 5 horses at home training served as controls. The competition horses were assigned to âlightâ (obstacles â¤100 cm) and âdifficultâ class (obstacles >100 cm). The conflict behaviors (CBs/min) in two rounds were calculated. Total faults were classified as âless faultsâ (â¤one fault) or âmore faultsâ (>one fault). Salivary cortisol concentration (SCC) before the first round (SCC-SP1), 20 minutes (SCC-SP2), and 60 minutes after the second round (SCC-SP3) was measured. The increase (SCC-in) and decrease (SCC-dec) in SCC were calculated. No effect of competition was found. Horses that waited longer for the second round had greater CB (P <.05). Conflict behavior was more frequent in horses from the âmore faultsâ (P =.05) and âdifficultâ (a tendency; P =.06) classes. No correlation of CB with SCC was found. SCC-SP2 was greater in âmore faultsâ (P <.01) and âtransportedâ (P <.01) horses. Competition increased the SCC (P <.05), whereas SCC-SP2 was greater in less successful horses (P <.05). Transported horses and horses with more faults had the greatest SCC-SP2 and SCC-dec (P <.05). Our results suggest that horses which presented stress response were also less successful in competition. The adoption of effective methods to reduce transport and competition stress could enhance welfare and performance of sport horses during competition.
Conflict Behavior in Show Jumping Horses: A Field Study / E. Jastrzä bska, A. Wolska, M. Minero, M. Ogå uszka, B. Earley, J. Wejer, A. Gã³recka-bruzda. - In: JOURNAL OF EQUINE VETERINARY SCIENCE. - ISSN 0737-0806. - 57(2017), pp. 116-121. [10.1016/j.jevs.2017.07.009]
Conflict Behavior in Show Jumping Horses: A Field Study
M. Minero;
2017
Abstract
The study objective was to determine if there was a relationship between behavioral and physiological stress measures in sport horses and their performance. Nineteen horses competed in show jumping events (6 housed at the center and 13 transported), while 5 horses at home training served as controls. The competition horses were assigned to âlightâ (obstacles â¤100 cm) and âdifficultâ class (obstacles >100 cm). The conflict behaviors (CBs/min) in two rounds were calculated. Total faults were classified as âless faultsâ (â¤one fault) or âmore faultsâ (>one fault). Salivary cortisol concentration (SCC) before the first round (SCC-SP1), 20 minutes (SCC-SP2), and 60 minutes after the second round (SCC-SP3) was measured. The increase (SCC-in) and decrease (SCC-dec) in SCC were calculated. No effect of competition was found. Horses that waited longer for the second round had greater CB (P <.05). Conflict behavior was more frequent in horses from the âmore faultsâ (P =.05) and âdifficultâ (a tendency; P =.06) classes. No correlation of CB with SCC was found. SCC-SP2 was greater in âmore faultsâ (P <.01) and âtransportedâ (P <.01) horses. Competition increased the SCC (P <.05), whereas SCC-SP2 was greater in less successful horses (P <.05). Transported horses and horses with more faults had the greatest SCC-SP2 and SCC-dec (P <.05). Our results suggest that horses which presented stress response were also less successful in competition. The adoption of effective methods to reduce transport and competition stress could enhance welfare and performance of sport horses during competition.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
1-s2.0-S0737080617300552-main.pdf
accesso riservato
Tipologia:
Publisher's version/PDF
Dimensione
342.79 kB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
342.79 kB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri Richiedi una copia |
Pubblicazioni consigliate
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.