A Survey on Transport Management Practices Associated with Injuries and Health Problems in Horses

Abstract

An online survey was conducted to determine associations between transport management and transport-related injuries and diseases in horses in Australia. The survey was composed of three sections: respondents’ demographic information, transport management strategies or procedures (before, during and after transportation) and transport diseases experienced in the previous two year period. Univariate and multivariate modelling was performed exploring associations between variables (respondents’ details and transport management strategies) and the following transport-related diseases as outcomes: traumatic injuries, diarrhoea, heat stroke, muscular problems, laminitis, transport pneumonia and colic. The survey generated 797 responses. Traumatic injuries were the most common transport-related problem, with a reported incidence of 45.0%. Younger respondents (<40 years old) caring for large numbers of horses (>30 in a week) were more likely to report transport-related injuries. Injury risk was also linked to the use of protections and tranquilizers prior to transport, and checking horses after the journey. Diarrhoea (20.0%) and heat stroke (10.5%) were reported more by amateur than professional horse carers. Increased risk of heat stroke was linked to the restriction of hay and water prior to transportation. Muscular problems (13.0%) appeared to be exacerbated when horse health was not assessed before journey; whilst the risk of laminitis (2.9%) was around three fold greater when post transport recovery strategies were not applied. Associations were made between transport pneumonia (9.2%) and duration of journey, and with activity (horses involved in racing at greater risk). No associations were seen between the incidence of colic (10.3%) and the variables examined. Study findings should be interpreted with caution as they represent participant perceptions and recall. Nevertheless, results support many current recommendations for safe transportation of horses. They also highlight the need to further investigate many of identified management factors to refine existing policies and practices in equine transportation.

Effects of transportation on gastric pH and gastric ulceration in mares

“…Abdominal auscultation also suggested decreased GI motility in transported horses, as has been reported previously, but decreased GI motility was not observed after confinement. Decreased GI motility is consistent with well‐characterized sympathoadrenal neuroendocrine responses to transportation and GI problems, notably colic and colitis, are commonly associated with transportation of horses . Road transportation has been recently determined to influence fecal microbiome and metabolic responses to diet and exercise .…”

A Retrospective Survey of Factors Affecting the Risk of Incidents and Equine Injury During Non-Commercial Transportation by Road in the United Kingdom

“…Replication of the non-commercial transport experience in an experimental situation is challenging and would not reflect the variety of road conditions experienced in reality [5]. Consequently, a retrospective survey-based approach has been used in previous studies to evaluate the risk of injury during equine transport [6,7,27,29,30]. To date, surveys aimed at evaluating these risk factors in the non-commercial transport of equines have been conducted in Australia [6,27,30], New Zealand [7] and the United States [29].…”

Effects of Transport Conditions on Behavioural and Physiological Responses of Horses

“…Transportation has been identified as a stressor for horses, and has been associated with several adverse outcomes including injury, respiratory and gastrointestinal disease [1][2][3][4][5][6]. We have recently shown that 12 hours' transportation is associated with ulceration of the gastric squamous mucosa in fasted horses, associated with increased pH of gastric content, and possibly with decreased gastrointestinal motility in horses fed 1 h and 6 h prior to transportation [7].…”