The Relationship Between Behavioral and Other Welfare Indicators of Working Horses

This study aimed to investigate the different behavioral responses of working horses toward humans, and to determine whether horses react differently toward an unknown person than toward a familiar one and whether these behavioral reactions are correlated with certain health- or management-related welfare indicators. The noninvasive assessment of 715 working horses included direct observation and clinical examination. Three simple tests were used to assess the horses' behavior toward humans, performed by the assessor and then by the horse owner. The most prevalent behaviors observed in the horses were indifference to human approach and avoidance/fear shown in the walk beside test and chin contact test, respectively. The comparison of the results for each individual test showed significant differences between the horses' reactions to the assessor compared with the owner. The correlation coefficients found between the behavioral indicators and the health-related and descriptive indicators were generally low, yet many of them were statistically significant. The strongest correlation was found between the depressed attitude of the horses and the presence of deep body lesions (r = 0.35, P < .01). Human-related aggressiveness correlated consistently with the presence of swollen tendons/joints, and the horses wearing inadequate horseshoes showed avoidance/fear in almost all of the behavioral tests. The older horses were more prone than the younger ones to be indifferent to their owner's approach, but they showed avoidance/fearfulness in other tests. As the correlations revealed, improper husbandry and handling practices are linked with the occurrence of unwanted behaviors in the assessed working horses.