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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Vet. Sci.
Sec. Animal Behavior and Welfare
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fvets.2024.1477653
This article is part of the Research Topic Welfare, Behavior, and Sensory Science of Working Animals View all articles

Increased freedom of head movement mitigates stress and bacterial load in the airways of horses during transport

Provisionally accepted
Yuji Takahashi Yuji Takahashi 1*Hidekazu Niwa Hidekazu Niwa 1Yusaku Ebisuda Yusaku Ebisuda 1Kazutaka Mukai Kazutaka Mukai 1Toshinobu Yoshida Toshinobu Yoshida 1Sharanne L. Raidal Sharanne L. Raidal 2Barbara Padalino Barbara Padalino 3Hajime Ohmura Hajime Ohmura 1
  • 1 Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, Shimotsuke, Japan
  • 2 Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia
  • 3 University of Bologna, Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Protection of horse welfare during transport is crucial. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of head and neck restraint on behaviour and airway bacteria. In a randomized crossover study, six healthy Thoroughbreds were transported by road for 22 hours in an individual bay with tight head restraint (50 cm short-rope) or loose head restraint (95 cm long-rope). Behavioural parameters relating to head position, eating, and stress were monitored during transportation. Tracheal wash samples were obtained 6 days before and immediately after transport for bacterial culture and metagenomic analysis. Compared to before transport, bacterial load (CFU/mL) after transport was significantly increased in the short-rope group (P = 0.04), whereas no changes were observed in the long-rope group. Transport significantly reduced Simpson index at phylum, class, order, and family levels in both groups (P < 0.001) of tracheal microbaiota. In both groups, this reduction was associated with increases in the dominant members of relative abundance at phylum (Firmicutes: +24% in long-rope and +14% in short-rope), class (Bacilli: +20% in long-rope and +22% in short-rope) and family (Streptococcaciae: +22% in long-rope and +23% in short-rope) levels. Licking behaviour during transportation with short-rope restraint was more frequent than in horses with long-rope restraint. These results suggest loose head restraint during transportation is likely to ameliorate stress and mitigate the associated increased bacterial load in the lower airways associated with transport. Further, head position during transportation is likely a more important determinant of airway hygiene and distress than duration of travel.

    Keywords: Tracheal wash, Colony forming unit, microbiota, Long-distance transport, welfare, Equine

    Received: 08 Aug 2024; Accepted: 16 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Takahashi, Niwa, Ebisuda, Mukai, Yoshida, Raidal, Padalino and Ohmura. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Yuji Takahashi, Equine Research Institute, Japan Racing Association, Shimotsuke, Japan

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