Can We Monitor Ridden Horses’ Stress Levels Objectively?

A new device determines horses’ heart rate changes due to stress and “subtracts” changes due to physical activity.
Share
Favorite
Close

No account yet? Register

ADVERTISEMENT

Wouldn’t it be great if we could take the guesswork out of determining our horses’ stress levels while we’re riding them? As it turns out, that might not be as far-fetched as it seems: Thanks to new wearable technology, researchers are on the brink of providing us with a reliable, objective way to monitor horses’ stress levels under saddle.

“The most common approach to evaluating mental state in horses is visual assessment of their behavior, but that’s subjective and time-consuming, so a new methodology is really necessary,” said Deborah Piette, PhD, of the M3-BIORES research team at KU Leuven in Belgium. Piette introduced her new technology at the 2016 International Society for Equitation Science conference, held June 23-25 in Saumur, France.

Piette and her fellow researchers have developed a wearable device that riders can place around their horses’ barrels like a heart monitor. This device does register critical information about heart rate, but an important distinction between the two is that the new technology connects via Bluetooth to a computer system able to separate the “stress” response from the “activity” response, said Piette.

“The presented methodology is based on the principle that a horse’s heart rate can be divided into three parts: basic metabolism, physical activity, and mental state or stress,” she said. “We can generally assume that basic metabolism remains fairly constant during a riding session, so our goal was to separate activity-related heart rate from that related to mental state or stress

Create a free account with TheHorse.com to view this content.

TheHorse.com is home to thousands of free articles about horse health care. In order to access some of our exclusive free content, you must be signed into TheHorse.com.

Start your free account today!

Already have an account?
and continue reading.

Share

Written by:

Passionate about horses and science from the time she was riding her first Shetland Pony in Texas, Christa Lesté-Lasserre writes about scientific research that contributes to a better understanding of all equids. After undergrad studies in science, journalism, and literature, she received a master’s degree in creative writing. Now based in France, she aims to present the most fascinating aspect of equine science: the story it creates. Follow Lesté-Lasserre on Twitter @christalestelas.

Related Articles

Stay on top of the most recent Horse Health news with

FREE weekly newsletters from TheHorse.com

Sponsored Content

Weekly Poll

sponsored by:

Where do you primarily feed your horse?
300 votes · 300 answers

Readers’ Most Popular

Sign In

Don’t have an account? Register for a FREE account here.

Need to update your account?

You need to be logged in to fill out this form

Create a free account with TheHorse.com!