Though vacations can be a good way to relieve stress and relax for humans, new research has found that the same can't be said for horses that experience time off from work. A study out of Spain shows that horses that are in work regularly become stressed when they're turned out for a lengthy break. However, after a few weeks, the horse's stress levels decrease, allowing them to get in some quality vacation time, reports The Horse.
Dr. Manel Lopez-Bejar, of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, noted that the downtime is difficult on horses as it changes almost everything about their environment, including feeding, management and work routines.
Lopez-Bejar and a study team tested eight Spanish stallions owned by the Municipal Police of Barcelona, Spain, for stress caused by an increase in leisure time. The horses were turned out in a pasture for three weeks and not worked. The researchers clipped hair from each horse's abdomen once a month from August through February to analyze the hair for the presence of long-term stress, denoted in the cortisol levels. Five police stallions were used as controls and had their hair samples taken from November to October.
The police horses went on vacation during the last 22 days in August. They were removed from the stalls where they are traditionally housed while working, loaded on a van for a 45-minute trip and turned out in fields. The horses had no set routines and were exposed to unknown caretakers and horses.
The researchers found a significant increase in cortisol in the hair samples during the rest period. Though the move itself didn't stress the horses, everything else that lasted throughout the period did. Lopez-Bejar noted that this doesn't indicate that a vacation is bad, but that the horse is responding physiologically to an environmental change. The cortisol response should return to normal once the horse adapts to his new environment.
It's important to ensure that the horses don't remain in a constant state of stress, however, as this could compromise his welfare. When giving horses time off, it's imperative to monitor him to be sure he's adapting to his new normal—no matter how long that will be.
Read more at The Horse.
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