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Farm Atmosphere: Calm Attention and Mobility Characterise Positive Horse Welfare
1
Department Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Makhanda 6140, South Africa
2
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, CEEC (Centre d’Etude en Éthologie et Cognition)—UMR 6552, University of Rennes, University of Normandie, F-35000 Rennes, France
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
These authors contributed equally to this work and share first authorship.
Animals 2026, 16(10), 1557; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16101557
Submission received: 18 February 2026
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Revised: 13 April 2026
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Accepted: 7 May 2026
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Published: 20 May 2026
Simple Summary
Assessing the welfare of horses on the farm level is particularly complex because their living conditions, such as housing and activities, can vary greatly. In this study, we tested whether observing how horses spend their time—known as a time budget—could help evaluate their welfare. We observed 174 horses across eight different facilities, focusing on their daily activities like feeding, walking, resting, or interacting with others. We compared these behaviours to welfare indicators (e.g., stereotypic behaviours, ear position while foraging, neck shape). The results showed that horses who spent more time in exploratory walking or observation behaviour had a better welfare rating. In contrast, horses who spent more time standing resting or in fixed attention, or engaging in negative social behaviours, tended to show more indicators of poor welfare. These results suggest that measuring how horses spend their time could be a useful and practical way to assess their well-being on a daily basis.
Abstract
On-farm welfare assessment of equines is a challenge given the large diversity of management practices, especially in terms of housing and activities. In our study, we tested time budget measures as a complementary tool to more conventional welfare indicators (e.g., stereotypic behaviours, ear position while foraging, neck shape). We observed 174 horses living in eight facilities (in their home environment) for which data on management practices and welfare were available. Time budget was assessed using the scan sampling method (1 min scan sampling over 30 min; 33 scans), while welfare assessment was based on classical measures. The study was performed in two parts: The first part consisted of validating time budget as a correlate of welfare state, which was performed at the individual level and according to the context of observation. In the second part, the data were analysed at the farm level by averaging data from all horses in the same facility. The results showed that the time spent feeding, in exploratory walking and observation behaviour were correlated with indicators of positive welfare and/or good practices in contrast to the time spent standing immobile resting or in fixed attention and/or in negative social interactions. Time budget varied greatly between facilities, reflecting welfare state and management (feeding, working) practices. This study shows that, provided that observations are made at different time periods when animals are calm, three sessions of 10 min. could give a good account of the local «atmosphere». These findings bring new insights into both methodological approaches and the significance of behaviours and, in particular, the importance of precisely defining and measuring the types of attention as a window into an animal’s internal state.
Keywords:
equid; time budgets; equid management; animal-based measures; attention; ethogram
