Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Horses are highly social animals and their welfare depends on access to social interaction and freedom to behave naturally. Management systems that limit physical movement or social contact affect behaviour, time budgets, and horses’ overall welfare. Understanding how horses spend their free time, and which factors affect their behaviour, is therefore important for evaluating welfare.

The aim of the study was to observe and analyse behavioural patterns, social interactions, and compare behaviour between daytime versus nighttime in group-housed horses during their free-time. In total, nineteen horses were observed using continuous 24-hour video recordings across multiple days, including both riding horses and Icelandic horses. The videos were analysed using BORIS with an ethogram, which comprised twenty-five defined behaviors.

The results showed that social behaviours occurred more frequently than solitary behaviours across all groups, with socially foraging and resting being the most common behaviours. Riding horses engaged in significantly more social locomotion, while Icelandic horses tended to spend more time resting socially. Mares and geldings behaved similarly overall, both showing a preference for social activity.

Foraging occurred mainly during the day while lying down was most common at night. Standing rest was evenly distributed across day and night. Affiliative behaviours, such as standing or lying in close proximity to another horse, were far more common than agonistic interactions, which mainly consisted of avoidance and retreat. Play and allogrooming were observed, but variation between individuals was considerable.

Continuous video observation provided detailed behavioural data but was limited by small sample size and camera visibility. Further research with larger and more diverse sample sizes as well as refining the method and reducing technical difficulties would improve the overall results. The findings from this study highlights natural behaviour, social dynamics, and diurnal rhythms in group-housed horses and can contribute to better management practices where equine welfare is prioritised by offering guidance for designing housing and management systems that align with horses’ natural social organisation and diurnal activity rhythms.