Enriched Environment Promotes Well-Being in Young Horses

Young horses that are exposed to various experiences will be calmer and less reactive to novel stimuli as they grow. This is the conclusion reached by a group of French researchers who conducted a trial with two groups of ten-month-old Welsh weanlings.

The horses in one group were kept in individual stalls bedded with wood shavings and were turned out in individual paddocks three times a week. They were fed hay or pelleted feed three times a day. Horses in the other group had enrichment experiences with more variety in their diets, including hay plus flavored pellets and fruit. They were kept in stalls with straw bedding for seven hours each day and were turned out to pasture as a group for the rest of the time. They were shown novel objects and exposed to various odors and types of music in their stalls and in the pasture, and were individually led to new locations three times a week. The trial was continued for 12 weeks.

Horses in the enriched group were less frightened by novelty items, showed less avoidance to human presence and handling, and were more curious and likely to explore novel items than horses in the control group. They were better able to focus on and perform various cognitive tasks and had lower blood levels of cortisol, an indicator of stress, than control horses.

The enriched horses also showed better eating patterns, were found lying down more often, and had fewer incidents of pinned ears than horses in the control group. The researchers concluded that the enrichment experiences increased curiosity, confidence, and overall well-being in this group of young horses.