抄録
To determine the reasonable direction for loading horses during transportation, we loaded 12 yearling Thoroughbred horses in pairs into a horse-carrying vehicle, and without tethering them, drove with either minimal acceleration and deceleration (normal travel group) or repeated sudden stops (abrupt stop travel group). As we investigated how these horses behaved and postured inside the vehicle throughout repeating trials, we observed the following: 1) While the vehicle was on the road, the horses exhibited significantly less feeding behavior (P<0.01) and significantly more standing (P<0.01) than while the vehicle was parked. 2) In the normal travel group, the frequency with which the horses changed direction inside the vehicle decreased significantly (P<0.01) with repeated trials. Moreover, the horses' behavior of facing away from the direction of travel increased significantly (P<0.01). 3) In the abrupt stop travel group, the number of direction changes made by the horses inside the vehicle did not decrease, and no tendency was observed in the direction the horses preferred to face during the repeated trials. Consequently, it was suggested that transporting restrained horses with their heads facing backward is a rational way.
