Prevalência de estereotipias em equinos atletas de vaquejada estabulados na Zona da Mata Alagoana

Abstract

Stereotypy can be characterized as a change in homeostasis, resulting from a set of factors that promote physical and psychological changes in several species of animals. Among the common stereotypes in the horse, one can list aerophagia with or without support, lignophagia, coprophagia, geophagia, bear dancing and others. It is important to remember that horses with stereotypies have a welfare deficit, predisposition to various enteric diseases, in addition to being undervalued economically, which makes the situation an important problem in animal health and financial viability for equide oculture. Seeking to identify the prevalence of stereotypies in vaquejada athlete horses, this work sought, through direct observation and data recording in individual clinical records of 23 Quarter Horse horses, stabled in a stud farm in the region of the Zona da Mata of Alagoas, to show the sample percentage of animals that present stereotyped behaviors. Of the 23 animals observed, 8 (34.8%) showed some stereotypy, with 4 (50%) showing lignophagy behavior, 3 (37.5%) showing aerophagic behavior with support and 1 (12.5%) showing behavior of kicking the stall. The prevalence of stereotypies was higher in males than in females, with 5 (45.5%) of the 11 males having stereotypies, while only 3 (25%) of the 12 females had stereotypies. The present work revealed a prevalence of stereotypes higher than those found in the literature. Such results corroborate the relevance of stereotyped behaviors in stabled horses, showing the need for environmental enrichment and alternatives to maximize animal welfare.