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Influence of riders’ skill on plasma cortisol levels of horses walking on forest and field trekking courses
Author(s) -
Ono Ayaka,
Matsuura Akihiro,
Yamazaki Yumi,
Sakai Wakako,
Watanabe Kentaro,
Nakanowatari Toshihiko,
Kobayashi Hiroshi,
Irimajiri Mami,
Hodate Koichi
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
animal science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.606
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1740-0929
pISSN - 1344-3941
DOI - 10.1111/asj.12801
Subject(s) - psychology , horse , zoology , biology , paleontology
The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of rider's skill on the plasma cortisol levels of trekking horses on two courses, walking on field and forest courses (about 4.5 to 5.1 km each). Three riders of different skills did horse trekking ( HT ) in a tandem line under a fixed order: advanced‐leading, beginner‐second and intermediate‐last. A total of six horses were used and they experienced all positions in both courses; a total of 12 experiments were done. Blood samples were obtained before HT , immediately after and 2 h after HT . As a control, additional blood samples were obtained from the same horses on non‐riding days. Irrespective of the course and the rider's skill, the cortisol level before HT was higher than that of control ( P < 0.05). In both courses, the cortisol levels immediately after HT ridden by the advanced rider were higher than that of control ( P < 0.05). However, in every case, the cortisol level 2 h after HT was closely similar to the level of the control. Thus, we concluded the stress of trekking horse was not sufficient to disturb the circadian rhythm of the cortisol level, irrespective of the course and the rider's skill.