Horse Injury during Non-Commercial Transport: Findings from Researcher-Assisted Intercept Surveys at Southeastern Australian Equestrian Events

Abstract

Simple SummaryResearch on the transportation of horses has largely focused on the movement of horses by commercial livestock carriers. Information on factors associated with horse injuries sustained during private (non-commercial) transportation in small horse trucks and trailers is limited. This study surveyed drivers transporting their horses to equestrian events in southeastern Australia. Information on drivers, travel practice, vehicle characteristics and horse injury was collected. A total of 55/223 (24.7%) participants reported transportation related injuries to their horses. Of these 72% were described as horse associated (scrambling, slipping and horse-horse interaction), 11% due to mechanical failure, and 6% due to driver error. The risk of horse injury was not associated with driver age or gender, or experience. Drivers that answer the telephone whilst transporting horses, were more likely to report a previous injury experience. There was a trend for participants with <8 hours sleep prior to the survey to have previously had a horse injured. There was a modest positive association between increasing trailer age and the number of injuries. The range of trailer models prevented identification of the importance of individual design features. The study highlights the potential for horses to sustain transportation injuries in privately owned vehicles and warrants further study to address this risk to their welfare.AbstractEquine transportation research has largely focused on the commercial land movement of horses. Data on the incidence and factors associated with horse injuries during non-commercial transportation (privately owned horse trucks and trailers) is scant. This study surveyed 223 drivers transporting horses to 12 equestrian events in southeastern Australia. Data collected encompassed driver demographics, travel practice, vehicle characteristics, and incidents involving horse injury. Approximately 25% (55/223) of participants reported that their horses were injured during transportation. Of these 72% were owner classified as horse associated (scrambling, slipping and horse-horse interaction), 11% due to mechanical failure, and 6% due to driver error. Horse injury was not significantly associated with driver age, gender, or experience. Participants that answer the telephone whilst driving were more likely to have previously had a horse injured (p = 0.04). There was a trend for participants with <8 hours sleep prior to the survey to have experienced a previous transportation-related injury (p = 0.056). Increased trailer age was associated with a greater number of injury reports (r² = 0.20; p < 0.04). The diversity in trailer models prevented identification of the importance of individual design features. This study highlights the potential for horses to sustain transportation injuries in privately owned vehicles and warrants further study to address this risk to their welfare.

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

“…The scale of the problem and the prevalence of injuries sustained during non-commercial transportation for sport, leisure and related purposes has yet to be determined. Recent surveys conducted in Australia [6] and New Zealand [7] indicate that transport-related incidents in the equine sporting and leisure sectors are not uncommon, with the potential scale of the problem dependent upon transportation frequency [7]. In the United Kingdom (UK), an online survey of horse owners found that approximately 60% of respondents regularly transported their horse to attend events and activities [8] and a cross-sectional UK study found that, out of a sample of 797 survey respondents, 22.5% had transported their animals within the previous week (54.7% in a trailer, 41.3% in a horsebox, and 3.9% used both) [1].…”

“…Although, in this study, only 2% of the injuries sustained were associated with transportation, compared with 62% in the field and 13% when ridden [10], the risk of transport-related injury should not be underestimated. In Australia, a survey of horse injury during non-commercial transport that was conducted at competitive events found that 24.7% of participants reported transport-related injuries to their horses [6]. In New Zealand, in a recent study of the human factors associated with equine road transport issues, 17.7% of survey participants reported that they had experienced at least one transport-related horse injury over the past two years [7].…”

“…The ability of fallen animals to get up may be limited by lack of space and other animals, resulting in an increased risk of injury [12]. Although most animals transported non-commercially for recreation and sporting purposes are not transported in groups, the horse-carrying capacity of the vehicle was found to show some association with an increased risk of injury in the Australian survey conducted by Riley et al [6]. The impact of inter-horse aggressive behaviour is likely to be lessened during non-commercial transport where most animals are segregated, but this will vary according to the internal design of the vehicle.…”

“…The ability of the horse to maintain its balance during vehicle movement was found to be affected by traffic and road conditions, the condition of the transport vehicle, and by driving style and experience [16]. In the survey conducted in Australia, most transport-related injuries (83.6%) were found to occur while the vehicle was moving, with over 50% involving the lower limbs, indicative of balance issues [6]. The ability to maintain balance has also been found to vary according to the orientation of the horse, although conclusions regarding the optimum direction of travel vary.…”

“…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].…”