Effects of Different Bedding Materials on the Behavior of Horses Housed in Single Stalls

The effects of three different bedding materials (straw, wood shavings, and straw pellets) on the behavior of six warmblood horses (four mares, two of them with foals) housed in single stalls were analyzed. Each material was used for 2 weeks in three consecutive runs. The behavior of the horses was videotaped and analyzed on the first and last 3 days for each bedding alternative in the last of the three runs. The time budgets for the behaviors including standing, eating, lying, occupation with bedding material, and other were generated. Compared with straw pellets and wood shavings, the application of straw bedding led to a significantly higher frequency and longer duration of occupation with bedding material and in turn, shorter fractions of standing and other behaviors. The total duration of lying was significantly longer on straw than on straw pellets. Straw pellets resulted in the least mean recumbency duration per occurrence of this behavior. Because occupation is one of the important functions that bedding material is supposed to fulfill, we concluded that in regard to horse behavior, straw bedding was the best among the three materials analyzed. Further investigations with a more homogeneous group of probands are necessary to verify the observed behavioral reactions.