Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Icelandic horses are becomming increasingly common in Sweden. The owners of
Icelandic horses in Sweden usually believe their horses to be different from other
breeds. Icelandic horses are predominantly considered to be less reactive, less
neophobic and easier to handle than other breeds. Swedish owners of Icelandic
horses also usually try to house and handle their horses in a way similar to the
traditional extensive Icelandic way. There are no scientific studies of breed
differences between Icelandic horses and other breeds, or of the housing of
Swedish Icelandic horses. The goal of this study was to investigate how young
22
Swedish Icelandic horses are housed and to study their behaviour in an unfamiliar
situation.
All the young horses in the study were housed outdoors in herds all year round.
The herds contained between 3 and 20 horses. Almost all of the owners
vaccinated their horses against tetanus and most of them also against equine
influenza. The young horses were only handled regularly on one farm. All other
husbandry routines varied between owners. This study did not show any
significant differences in the behaviour of the horses depending on their sex.
There seemed to be a sex difference initially, but it was caused by four individuals
from the same herd. There were however differences in behaviour depending on
the size of the herd, the wind and the distance between the fields the horses were
kept in and human interferences, like roads.

Islandshästar blir en allt vanligare hästras i Sverige. Islandshästarnas ägare och
skötare anser i många fall att det finns skillnader mellan dem och andra hästraser,
framför allt vad gäller reaktivitet och hanterbarhet. Ägare av islandshästar strävar
dessutom ofta efter att hålla sina hästar på ett sätt som liknar den extensiva
hästhållningen på Island. Det finns dock inga vetenskapliga studier av eventuella
rasskillnader mellan islandshästar och andra raser, eller av hur svenska
islandshästar hålls. Målet med denna studie var att undersöka hur unga svenska
islandshästar hålls samt studera deras beteende i en okänd situation.
Alla unghästar i studien hölls utomhus året runt, dygnet runt, i flockar om 3-20
individer som oftast bestod av blandade åldrar. De flesta vaccinerades också mot
stelkramp. Därutöver varierade avmasknings- och hovvårdsfrekvens,
hanteringsgrad och hagarnas läge mellan olika besättningar. Studien visade till
synes signifikanta beteendeskillnader mellan könen, som dock visade sig bero helt
på fyra individer från samma flock. Det fanns skillnader i aktivitetsgrad beroende
på flockstorlek. Unghästarnas beteende varierade också med vindförhållanden och
hagarnas läge i förhållande till människogenererade störningar.