Can Stalled Stallions Interact Socially?

Stallions with access to each other through stall walls interacted frequently with a “surprisingly low” injury rate.
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Can Stalled Stallions Interact Socially?
Horses spent an average of 51 minutes per day in social contact in the social stalls, compared to only five minutes per day through the 5-centimeter spaces between the bars. | Photo: Courtesy Anja Zollinger
Social housing for stallions? It’s a joke, right?

Not at all. Swiss researchers working with the country’s top national breeding stallions decided to give it a try—allowing stallions to have partial access to each other through their individual stalls. And the results were highly positive for equine welfare, with a surprisingly low injury rate.

“Social isolation is bad for equine welfare, even for stallions, and can lead to such problems as stereotypies and aggression toward humans,” said Anja Zollinger, BSc, of the Agroscope Swiss National Stud Farm, a research institute in Avenches, Switzerland. “It’s necessary to look into ways to improve the welfare of breeding stallions kept in confined domestic conditions, without putting them at risk of injury to themselves or others.”

We’ve already reported on how Swiss researchers have been allowing national stud stallions to spend their summers frolicking together in “bachelor herds” in large pastures. Now, in a new project, the team has allowed an experimental group of the stallions to experience extra social contact in barns via specially designed “social walls” between stalls. Zollinger presented the results of their new study during the 42nd French Equine Research Day, held March 17 in Paris

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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.

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