UTILIZATION OF GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF FREE

ROAMING IN HORSES KEPT IN PADDOCKS:A PRELIMINARY STUDY

C.Amato, E.Valle, D.Bergero DiPAEE University of Torino

10° Convegno

Nuove acquisizioni in materia di Ippologia

New findings in equine practice

Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

Introduction

• Horses kept in paddocks can be considered close to a feral activity behaviour ?

• Free moviment is important for domesticated horses:

to lower the incidence of behavioural troubles

to improve the gut’s general health

• Free activity affect the overall requirements of an horse taken into account while rationing

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

Introduction

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

Introduction

• The aim of the work is:

to state if a GPS device is useful to study horses kept in paddocks

to obtain preliminary results in diurnal observations

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

• Haflinger and Bardigiano horses(1-9 years)

• Garmin Forerunner 201 GPS device

• Forerunner Logbook software

• ANOVA

Materials

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

Materials

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

Materials

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

Methods

• 129 observations of the diurnal free activity

• Measured data: total Km, gallop occurrence, trot occurrence, speed (average, max), registration time

• Collected data: breed, sex, age, feeding habits, weather conditions, temperature, presence of the stallion, number of the horses in the group, presence of people, paddocks width (3000 to 20000 m²).

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

Results

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

Results

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

• Mean time observation: 8 h

• Total distance covered (KMT): mean 2.04 km (1.47 km sd)

• Gallop occurrence (NG): 1.85 (1,33 sd)

• Trot occurrence (NT): 8.96 (7.33 sd)

• VMED: 0.25 km/h (0.17 km/h sd)

• VMAX: 18.66 km/h (9.48 km/h sd)

Results

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

Results

• Breed → VMED, NT, NG

Bardigiani move more than Avelignesi

• Sex → KMT, VMED, NT, VMAX

Mares move less than geldings and stallions

• Age → VMED, NT, NG

Higher values for horses aged 4-7 years

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

• Presence of the stallion → NT

The presence of the stallion increases NT

• Number of horses → VMED, NT, NG

The highest values are in larger groups (> 8 horses)

Results

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

Results

• Temperature → NT

Temperature between 15 º and 20 º increases the values

• Wheather condition → No difference

• Presence of people → NT

in presence of people the horses move less

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

Discussion

• Horses in paddocks perform very little spontaneous movement

• Different factors affect diurnal physical activity

GPS give useful information on the behaviour and requirements of horses

kept in paddocksC. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

THANKYOU !

C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008