A 24-hour stall ethogram on 23 horses in a commercial stableJ during two seasons.

B.K. Fulmer and M.A. Russell, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Behavioral analysis is one of many methods to assess an animal's well-being. Comparing the behavior of free-ranging horses with domesticated horses housed in a variety of confinement situations is one process of determining which behaviors are normal and which are abnormal. This study focuses on a stalled ethogram as a measure of a horses' well-being. Twenty- three lesson horses housed at a typical commercial stable were observed for non-consecutive 24 hour periods during the spring and summer seasons. Twenty-six different behaviors consisting of both duration and frequency behaviors were recorded during 10 minute focal samples. Duration behaviors included: standing, standing alert, stand resting, lying sternal, lying flat out, walking, running/excited, eating, drinking, socializing, investigating, nibble grooming, rubbing self, chewing/licking environment, lip-licking/chewing no food, and pacing/weaving. Frequency behaviors included: defecating, urinating, vocalizing, stretching, kicking stall, nodding head, tail swishing, crib-biting/windsucking, head tossing, and pawing. The aid of a hand-held event recording computer allowed for the documentation of simultaneous behaviors. Overall horses spent the greatest amount of time standing (55.7%), eating (43%), and stand resting (36.2%). The frequency behavior exhibited most often was crib-biting/windsucking which was observed 1,656 times (3.8 n 0.8 times/10 min. observation). A wide variety of management factors have been shown to affect the horse ethogram; the real challenge is to ascertain whether the differences in behavior indicate a lack of well-being.

Key words: horse, well-being, ethogram, stalled.