The welfare and behaviour of travelling horses
There is debate about the best way to travel horses in floats, and a variety of designs of trucks, floats
and transports are used. This project would use a qualitative behavioural assessment method, well
developed and used in a variety of species and contexts by our group, to evaluate the behaviour of
horses floated in different ways, correlating the behaviour with physiological measures to provide
information about how horses respond to the different methods of road transport. There is scope to
expand the project to consider a range of stressors before and during travel. This project could lead to
recommendations about optimum conditions and methods for horse travel, resulting in improved
welfare and performance of horses transported around the country and to events.
For more information contact:
A/Prof Anne Barnes
Vet Clinical Sciences Room 1.069
Tel: 08 9360 2643
Email: a.barnes@murdoch.edu.au
Dr Trish Fleming
Ph: (08) 9360 6577 FREE (08) 9360 6577
Email: T.Fleming@murdoch.edu.au