"Colloque 2017" Séquence 8.3

1. Activating group keeping of horses
- a modern housing system för improving
welfare and reducing costs
Michael Ventorp
Swedish University of Agricultural Science/
Hushållningssällskapet (consult company) - Sweden

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Contents
1. Housing systems for horses
2. Describing of the activating group keeping system
3. Advantage and disadvantage of the system; and
comparisons with other systems, recommendations

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Equine housing systems
Individual In Groups
STALL
SINGLE BOX
INSULATED
STABLE
UNINSULAT-
ED STABLE
GROUP-BOX
FREE- RANGED

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Free-ranged horses/Loose housing outdoors
AVANTAGES WITH LOOSE HOUSING:
• Natural behaviour
• Fresh air and voluntary movement
• Cheap buildings
• Working time saving
• …………………..
AND, OF COURSE, DISVANTAGES:
• …………………..
• Problem at restricted feeding

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Activating group housing

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Activating group housing

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Concentrate feed station

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Activating group housing
Handling
stable
Roughage feed station
Lying hall
Foto Michael Ventorp

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Activating group housing
Foto Michael Ventorp
Detour to concentrate feed station
Rolling area
Concentrate feed station

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Rolling Area
• 1st level
– 2nd level
• 3rd level
• 1st level
FOTO: Birgitta Friberg Sjöberg

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Basic roughage feed station
Foto: Åsa Foglé

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Activating?
Mean daily activity in activating group
housing (Stable A1 and A2)
The results indicated that the activity
of horses is affected by space and
functional areas. Although providing
more space increases activity, it will
not have a long-term effect like
feeding system.
(Rose-Meierhöfer, et al., 2010)

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Working time saving?
Average working hour per
horse and year distributed
into different working ope-
rations within three horse
housing systems: activating
group-housing (with
automatic feed stations).
traditional group-housing and
single boxes.
Three horse farms were
used and each farm had all
three housing system.
(von Borstel et al., 2010)

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Performance
• No difference between horses in activating group
housing and horses in single boxes regarding:
– Racing, show jumping and dressage results
– Body condition (fat and muscles)
– Hoof quality
– However, a bit poorer “quality” of the coat (i.e
marks of bites and rugs, dirtier) (Kjellberg, 2016; Connysson,
2016)

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Problems? and advices!
• Stress: At 54 m2 paddock area per horse, Hoffmann
(2008) found that the avarage stress (cortisol and
heart frequenz) was lower in group kept horses vs. in
single boxes; however, 30 % of the horses had higher
levels. Plan for at least 200 – 300 m2 paddock area
per horse – the lager the better.
• The horses on footings of gravel wear horse-shoes in
great exstent. Use natural gravel instead of
crushed stone.

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Problems? and advices!
• Aggressive behaviour: Agnostic behaviour are
generally few; however, often occur in the area behind
the feed stations (at the entrance), the waiting zone.
Plan large free area behind the stations; especially,
behind concentrate feed station.
• Frequent agnostic behaviour is correlated to number of
visits per horse in feed stations. Zeitler-Feicht et al.
(2010, 2011) proposed reducered number of
programmed meals of concentrates (from 20 to 10).

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Problems? and advices!
• Eating rate of roughage (kg dry matter per minute)
has great variation both within horse and between
occasion (and feed). Measure eating rate of each
horse 5 times per horse before programming eating
time for every single horse.
• Calculate that it takes in average 1 week to teach a
horse the feeding station. The exit door is often the
problem for the horse to learn.

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Paddock trail system – the future?
• 1st level
– 2nd level
• 3rd level
• 1st level

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References
• Connysson, M., 2016. Travskolan Wången/PhD-student SLU. Personal message
• Hoffman, G., 2008. Bewegungsaktivität und Stressbelastung bei Pferden in
Auslaufhaltungssystemen mit verschiedenen Bewegungssangeboten. Diss. Justus-
Liebig-Universität. Deutsche Veterinärmedizinische Gesellschaft Service GmbH,
Gießen
• Hoffmann, G., A. Bentke, S. Rose-Meierhöfer, W. Berg, P. Mazetti, & G.H.
Hardarson, 2012. Influence of an active stable system on the behavior and body
condition of Icelandic horses. Animal 6:10, pp 1684-1693
• Kjellberg, L., 2016. Ridskolan Strömsholm/PhD-student SLU. Personal message
• Rose-Meierhöfer, S., S. Klaer, C. Ammon, R. Brunsch & G. Hoffmann, 2010. Activity
behavior of horses housed in different open barn systems. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 30:11,
pp 624-634

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References
• von Borstel, U.K, L. Kassebaum, K. Ladewig & M. Gauly, 2010. Arbeitszeitaufwand
in der Pferdehaltung: ein Vergleich von Einzelboxen-, Laufstall- und Bewegungs-
stallhaltung. Züchtungskunde, 82:6, pp 417–427
• Zeitler-Feicht, M.H, S. Streit & L. Dempfle, 2010. Tiergerechtheit von Futterabruf-
stationen in der Gruppenhaltung von Pferden. Teil 1: Fressstände versus Abruf-
automaten. Tierärztliche Praxis Großtiere 6/2010
• Zeitler-Feicht, M.H, S. Streit & L. Dempfle, 2011. Tiergerechtheit von Futterabruf-
stationen in der Gruppenhaltung von Pferden. Teil 2: Abrufautomaten im Vergleich.
Tierärztliche Praxis Großtiere 1/2011