Welfare and epidemiology of stereotypies in horses exhibited at an agricultural fair

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at the Pedro Felício Cavalcante exhibition Park located in the municipality of Crato-CE, during the 86th edition of the Agricultural Exhibition of Crato (Expocrato) from July 13 to 21, 2019. The objective was to assess the welfare of animals exposed for sale. Twenty horses were examined, all males, aged between 3 and 6 years, for 9 days. The animals were being kept in 2.0 x 3.0 m masonry stalls during the 9 days of exposure. The climatic variables were obtained from a thermo-hygrometer (AK28 new). The horses were inspected every 30 minutes, distributed to all animals for 9 days, between 7 am and 5 pm, to observe the behavior during the peak of people at the fair. The type and repeatability of the stereotypes, the temperature and humidity index (ITU) and the facilities were observed. The stereotypes analyzed were: coprophagy, licking troughs, walls and chains, vertical head movements, biting wood, aerophagia, scratching the bay, lateral body sway, digging with the legs, walking in circles and aggressive attitude. The most observed stereotypes were the aggressive attitude (60%), biting chain or wood (40%) and aerophagia (25%). Aggressiveness was observed most frequently in the afternoon, corresponding to the time interval with the greatest movement of people in the park. The licking of troughs and chains occurred mainly during the afternoon, between meals. Aerophagia was prevalent during the morning, this behavior may be due to stress and lack of physical activities since the animals only leave the bay for bathing. The values of the ITU were higher in the first days of exposure, the ITU was already critical at the beginning of the evaluations with an average of 73% and extended to the last days of exposure, indicating that the animals could present marked thermal discomfort. Among the management conditions, facilities and climatology, important risk factors were identified, which are harmful to horses in the way that they make the animals' environmental and climatic comfort impossible. It was concluded that the stereotypes in horses exhibited at the Crato Agricultural Exhibition are diverse and frequent and the facilities and protocols for animal/visitor interaction do not provide comfort to the animals.