Massage pads provide effective stress relief for horses
Take Home Message: Use massage pads frequently to reduce stress levels in horses
Electronic massage pads could be a useful tool to significantly reduce stress in horses. And measurements of positive and negative behaviour and heart rate taken by scientists at Preston’s Myerscough College demonstrate that results from using a massage pad can be seen as early as the first week.
“Duration of positive behaviour, frequency of negative behaviour and standard deviation of heart rate returned to baseline levels two weeks post treatment, suggesting that the electronic massage pad should be used regularly,” said Alison Northrop, who led the study and presented its findings to delegates at the British Society of Animal Science’s annual conference.
Equine massage therapy, particularly the use of electronic pads, to relieve stress is becoming increasingly popular. Massage may help in stress reduction due to its similarity to mutual grooming. But the effect of massage on horses with an electronic massage pad is not established. “So we set out to examine the effect of an electronic pad on the stress perception of domestic horses,” said Ms Northrop, explaining the rationale behind her work.
Ten horses were divided into two match paired treatment groups – control and massaged. The massaged group were treated six days per week with the massage pad for six weeks. The massage pad delivers a pre-set timed treatment of 30 minutes. The control group wore a massage pad that was switched off at the same time as the corresponding treated pair.
Measurements of frequency of positive and negative behaviour, duration of positive behaviour, average heart rate (HR), standard deviation of HR and salivary cortisol were taken the week before the start of the trial, weekly during the treatment period and two weeks post treatment at the same time each day.
A heart rate monitor took continuous readings at 15 second intervals during the treatment and a video camera was set up to film each horse throughout the course of the treatment and the behaviour was assessed using an ethogram of positive and negative behaviours.
An assessment of stress using a saliva sample was collected using an oral swab immediately before and after the treatment.
“We found that the frequency and duration of positive behaviour was significantly higher and frequency of negative behaviour was significantly lower in the massaged group than in the control group during the six weeks of treatment,” said Ms Northrop.
“There was a significant difference between mean heart rate and standard deviation of heart rate between groups during the six-week treatment period. And the duration of positive behaviour within the massaged group was significantly higher during treatment weeks than at baseline and post treatment.”
The team also concluded that the number of weeks of treatment had no significant effect on all measurements and there were no significant differences in the salivary cortisol measurements between groups or during baseline, treatment or post treatment.
“Our study supports the use of massage therapy to reduce stress but further research is needed to design the optimum massage programme to improve the welfare of the horse,” added Ms Northrop.
To view proceedings of all summaries presented at the Annual Conference 2009 http://www.bsas.org.uk/Publications/Annual_Conference_Proceedings/ To view all Powerpoint presentations http://www.bsas.org.uk/Members_Area/ For further information contact: BSAS on 0131 445 4508 or bsas@sac.ac.uk
