Pilotstudie av hästars användning av en ligghall i ett lösdriftssystem

Sammanfattning: Different types of loose housing systems are becoming more common, primarily with the aim to increase the welfare of the horses. According to Swedish Animal Welfare legislation, horses kept outside all year around must have access to a shelter during the cold season, for protection against cold, rain and wind. The shelter should be equipped with dry and soft bed for the horse to satisfy their need for sleep. This study aimed to investigate how a group of horses used the shelter in a loose housing system called HIT Active Stable, at the Swedish National Equestrian Centre Flyinge. The study was performed during four days in the autumn. The duration of time the horses spent in the shelter was measured, also which location in the shelter the horses preferred to remain and what behaviour they performed. The shelter was divided into four zones to discern which location the horses preferred, how many horses who were within the zone limits and if they were standing or lying down. The four zones were observed once per hour. The behaviours in the shelter were observed every minute in five randomly selected horses. Differences in the use of the shelter during the day and at night were also recorded. The results show that the horses used the shelter about one out of five observations, mainly at night. The front part of the shelter, closest to the exits, was the most attractive place for the horses to remain. The most common behaviour of all the observations was resting behaviour (71%) such as lying on the chest, lying on the side and standing passively. We concluded that these results suggest that having access to a shelter seems to satisfy the horses need to rest.