1. UTILIZATION OF GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM FOR THE ASSESSMENT OF FREE ROAMING IN HORSES KEPT IN PADDOCKS: A PRELIMINARY STUDY C.Amato, E.Valle, D.Bergero DiPAEE University of Torino 10° Convegno Nuove acquisizioni in materia di Ippologia New findings in equine practice Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

2. Introduction Horses kept in paddocks can be considered close to a feral activity behaviour ? Free moviment is important for domesticated horses:  to lower the incidence of behavioural troubles  to improve the gut’s general health Free activity affect the overall requirements of an horse taken into account while rationing C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

3. Introduction C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

4. Introduction The aim of the work is:  to state if a GPS device is useful to study horses kept in paddocks  to obtain preliminary results in diurnal observations C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

5. Haflinger and Bardigiano horses(1-9 years) Garmin Forerunner 201 GPS device Forerunner Logbook software ANOVA Materials C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

6. Materials C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

7. Materials C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

8. Methods 129 observations of the diurnal free activity Measured data: total Km, gallop occurrence, trot occurrence, speed (average, max), registration time Collected data: breed, sex, age, feeding habits, weather conditions, temperature, presence of the stallion, number of the horses in the group, presence of people, paddocks width (3000 to 20000 m²). C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

9. Results C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

10. Results C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

11. Mean time observation: 8 h Total distance covered (KMT): mean 2.04 km (1.47 km sd) Gallop occurrence (NG): 1.85 (1,33 sd) Trot occurrence (NT): 8.96 (7.33 sd) VMED: 0.25 km/h (0.17 km/h sd) VMAX: 18.66 km/h (9.48 km/h sd) Results C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

12. Results Breed → VMED, NT, NG  Bardigiani move more than Avelignesi Sex → KMT, VMED, NT, VMAX  Mares move less than geldings and stallions Age → VMED, NT, NG  Higher values for horses aged 4-7 years C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

13. Presence of the stallion → NT  The presence of the stallion increases NT Number of horses → VMED, NT, NG  The highest values are in larger groups (> 8 horses) Results C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

14. Results Temperature → NT  Temperature between 15 º and 20 º increases the values Wheather condition → No difference Presence of people → NT in presence of people the horses move less C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

15. Discussion Horses in paddocks perform very little spontaneous movement Different factors affect diurnal physical activity GPS give useful information on the behaviour and requirements of horses kept in paddocks C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008

16. THANK YOU ! C. Amato, E. Valle, D. Bergero Druento (To), 31oct - 01 nov 2008