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
