RETHINKING HOUSING FOR STALLIONS.

STALLIONS; HOUSING; HORSE farms; WELL-being; SOCIAL isolation

This experiment was not designed to determine whether the stallions were "happier" in the Social Boxes, but Zollinger says their behaviors were more natural, indicating improved welfare. We really should understand that the possibility of interacting and maintaining affiliative relationships with other horses is vital to a stallion's well being", says Anja Zollinger with Agroscope, the research division of the Swiss National Stud Farm in Avenches. Although isolation is unhealthy for any horse, it can be particularly damaging for stallions, says Zollinger, because "they have much more lively and extroverted social interactions than do the other sexes. [Extracted from the article]

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