06/11/2025
Tämän te hevosen omistajat olettekin jo tienneet, m***a nyt se on todettu myös tämän pienen tutkimuksen avulla.👌
Hevoset ovat tarkkoja ruokinta-aikojensa suhteen ja muutokset totutussa ruokintarytmissä häiritsevät niitä - toisia enemmän kuin toisia.
Luonnossa hevosella olisi periaatteessa aina mahdollisuus hakea ruokaa silloin kun on nälkä, ja voidaan ajatella että vaikka ruokaa olisi vähän niin jo se, että sillä on se mahdollisuus hakea itse ruokansa riittää, eikä isompaa stressiä ruoan saannista tulisi. Hevosten "alkuperäinen koodihan" on käyskennellä ja syödä vähitellen sitä mukaa mitä löytyy.
Tallielämässä ruokailu on usein aikataulutettua. Kun hevosten sisäinen koodi on linkitettynä ruoan saantiin ja syömiseen, ruoka on niille iso asia. Kannattaa siis pyrkiä pitämään ruokinta-ajat mahdollisimman samoina, että siihen liittyvää stressiä ei pääsisi syntymään.
Olen myös joskus miettinyt sitä, miksi toiset hevoset (tai jotkut koirat tai kissat) ahmivat ja toiset eivät. Onkohan niillä taustalla joku kokemus tai "uskomus", että seuraavasta ruoasta ei ole varmuutta joten siksi hotkin nyt niin paljon kun onnistun. Tai mahassa (tai muualla kehossa?) tuntuu tyhjältä/ikävältä ja ne ajattelevat, että ruoka auttaa. Toisaalta kunnolla kipeä hevonenhan jättää ruokansa syömättä, kuten me ihmisetkin..🤔
Tässä vähän kirjaimellisesti Food for a though - ajatuksia ruokaan liittyen. 😄
Onko teillä tallissa joku, joka on tarkka aikataulujen suhteen? 🤓
(Teen kohta pienen koosteen syyskuiselta Coloradon koulutusreissulta, joka oli 3 sarjassaan 🤠)
DOES YOUR HORSE BECOME STRESSED IF THEIR FEED IS LATE?
Most of us know horses who become restless, vocal or frustrated if their feed isn’t served on time — but perhaps with good reason.
A study by a team of researchers in Slovenia explored how feeding at irregular times affects horses’ behaviour and found they do become stressed if their meal arrives late.
Eight stabled horses were given ad-lib hay and a barley and oat mixture hard feed. For most of the week, breakfast was served at the usual 6 a.m.; on Thursdays it arrived early (5 a.m.) and on Saturdays it was delayed (7 a.m.). After eating, horses were turned out to pasture for the rest of the day. Their behaviour was observed for two hours around breakfast, beginning an hour before feed delivery, over a ten week period.
When fed early, horses were described as “not really awake yet” and ate less hay before their meal, so overall intake was reduced. When breakfast was late, signs of stress were clear: pawing, door-kicking, looking repeatedly toward the food source, and frequent whinnying. While some horse owners find this behaviour irritating or even funny, it is important to remember these behaviours are caused by frustration and stress and could be considered a measure of poor welfare. As lead researcher Manja Zupan noted, “A horse that cannot predict when he will get fed will have compromised performance and health."
These findings highlight that horses are excellent timekeepers. They learn daily patterns and anticipate routine cues such as voices, sounds of buckets or stable doors. Disrupting these routines — especially by delaying feed — can cause measurable stress.
It can be difficult for some owners to stick to a consistent feeding schedule. Life often gets in the way the horse’s mealtimes may be delayed. However we must consider that any change in their routine can affect horses adversely, especially if their species-specific needs are not met and their choices are limited.
Consistency matters. Those who are routinely fed at a specific time and then fed out of their normal time schedule (and perhaps watching other horses being fed first) can find this extremely stressful. So horses housed within sight of others should be fed simultaneously to prevent frustration.
If feed times must vary, then being fed early is preferable to being fed late. Ensuring your horse has access to ad lib forage will also go a long way to keeping them healthy and happy if you can’t get to the yard. Of course being turned out with friends and no need for 'mealtimes' is the ideal!
Of course, the ideal is as much turnout with companions as possible and continuous access to forage, with no rigid ‘mealtimes’ at all.
Study: Zupan et al., 2020. The Effect of an Irregular Feeding Schedule on Equine Behavior. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science.
