Valle E., Odore R., Badino P., Girardi C., Bergero D. AN EVALUATION OF THE STRESS RESPONSE IN HORSES USED FOR EQUESTRIAN REHABILITATION (ER) Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Torino

Introductions Noradrenalina (NOR), Dopamina (DOPA), Cortisol (CORT) and heart rate (HR) have received a great attention for studying welfare, and investigating the reactivity of animals The objective of this preliminary study is to evaluate the response of horses commonly used for ER in one day sessions of work with disabled people (D) and expert normal rider (NR)

Material and methods HR was monitored with Polar Equine RS800 Horses were exercised with NR for preparing show jumping competitions (45 min of exercise) Immediately after underwent to a session with therapist (90 min of therapy session) (D) Blood samples to assess the concentration of DOPA, NOR, CORT were collected at rest 30 min (R), and immediately at the end of each session of work with D or NR One way Anova was applied to assess statistical differences among times of blood collection (p<0.05).

Results and discussions The mean HR, max/min were: 43, 64 and 34 bpm for D, 74, 139 and 34 bpm for NR session DOPA levels were different for R vs NR (0.04 ±0.02 vs 0.13±0.02 p=0.003) and R vs D (0.04 ±0.02 vs 0.09±0.04 p=0.04) HR during ER were relatively low and well within the aerobic levels and similar to the values reported in literatures. Plasma values of DOPA were affected by treatment (NR vs D) After D session there is no increase of CORT (considered as stress hormone) This preliminary study suggest that the workload of ER is very low and not cause a physiological stress response

Acknowledgements: Equestrian Centre of Army “Scuola di applicazione d’arma” Torino Horses and therapists