Welfare assessments performed on Gotland ponies used as restorers of landscape biodiversity in the project “The Gotland pony as a conservationist – a way to promote biodiversity and conserve an endangered breed”

In Sweden the use of forests and outfields as pastures for livestock has decreased during the 20th century due to modern forestry, a diminished human population in the countryside, government grants for better pastures and a more widespread use of artificial fertilizers. This has resulted in a radical change when it comes to biological diversity. As part of a resolution, large grazers such as cattle and horses can be used as tools to preserve landscapes and improve the diversity of vegetation. In this masters thesis the possibility to keep Gotland ponies on extensive pastures has been examined as a part of a wider project called “The Gotland pony as a conservationist- a way to promote biodiversity and conserve an endangered breed”. The Gotland pony, the only national native pony breed in Sweden (1998/99:MJ244), was a suitable breed for the project since it is considered to be well adapted to the Nordic climate among other things. The pony is also regarded as a part of the Swedish cultural heritage and is one of the domestic breeds Sweden has responsibility to preserve (Report 2010:14). All horses used in the study were one year old stallions purchased from various breeders by the Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences (SLU). The horses were divided into three groups with four horses in each of the enclosures. In Sweden no supplementary feed is allowed on valuable grasslands for reasons that the feed can introduce seed and thus plant species that do not belong in the natural grassland (Swedish Board of Agriculture, 2015). The horses in the study had to manage solely on foraging and browsing on the grasslands and in the forests. According to Swedish animal welfare regulations this is not allowed elsewise, since horses and other livestock must be offered additional feed during winter months (SFS 1988:534; DFS 2007:6 L101). Welfare assessments, both physical and behavioural, were performed during four occasions ranging from September until December. All assessments were performed according to a protocol developed in line with Welfare Quality® by Viksten et al. (submitted). The physiological parameters included body condition score, coat quality, skin problems, mane and tail problems, ocular and nasal discharges, lameness, hoof quality, thermal comfort and respiration. The behavioural parameters focused on the horses’ reaction towards an observer and their acceptance of physical contact; assessed pursuant to a human approach test and an avoidance distance test (Viksten et al. submitted). According to the results there were no significant differences between groups when it comes to body condition score. The mean value for body condition score was 3.1 for the first observation in September and decreased to 2.5 for the last observation in December, and no horse scored lower than the limit (score 2). The body score changed significantly between observation dates November and December (P<0.0001). Observation date had a significant effect on the prevalence of chafes, with a higher number of chafes during the first two months of the study compared to the last months (P<0.028). A tendency for more skin problems was seen for the second period of the study i.e. November and December, but the results were not significant. For the Human Approach Test there were differences between both groups (P<0.001) and observation dates (P<0.006). Horses in group one showed less interest towards the observer compared to group two and three. All horses did also show less interest in November compared to September and October. The Avoidance Distance Test could not be analysed statistically due to too low variance. The Gotland ponies managed to maintain an acceptable body condition score on extensive pastures during a period from September until December, but some individuals maintained a higher body condition score than others. The possibility to accumulate fat during spring and summer is of vital importance since it has a considerable effect on the body condition during the late fall and winter months. The Gotland pony project could give an alternative for preserving the breed, however as some individuals may be at risk during winter months, it is recommended that future studies focus on if and when supplementary feed is necessary. In this project only stallions were used and it is important to see how well mares manage during winter months as well. Further studies should look at different group constitutions with both mares and stallions, to get a more detailed view on how well horses manage on extensive pastures.