This study was performed to examine whether horses that are kept alone in smallPaddocks are less likely to suffer injuries, compared to horses kept in biggerenclosures with the company of other horses, or not. In not yet published researchmaterial from 2005, risk factors associated with ?accidental injuries? versus ?wearand tear injuries? (represented by trauma injury and fetlock inflammationrespectively), were compared. That material, based on the results of 507 returnedquestionnaires from owners of horses in a Swedish insurance company, includedquestions about Paddock/pasture confinement. The results from those questionswere then analyzed in this study in a so called case-control study, in which thegroups with trauma and fetlock inflammation were compared to a healthy controlgroup.The results show that the risk of fetlock inflammation is greater in a smallconfinement, OR for inflammation in a small Paddock is 2,2 (95% KI 1,2-3,9)compared to a bigger Paddock.

Horse keeping is gaining an increasing interest in Sweden. During 2004 to 2010 the number of horses increased with 10 - 20 %, and was estimated to be 362 700 in 2010. Julmyra Horse Center (JHC), situated in Heby municipality, is a gated community for people sharing a large interest for horses and a vision of a sustainable horse management has been formulated. This study evaluates how the horse keeping of today at JHC, and how an expansion of the horse keeping may affect the risk of enhanced phosphorus load to the nearby lake system Vansjön ? Nordsjön.

AbstractA prerequisite to be able to use semi-natural pastures in an optimal way is knowledge about their conditions and properties. One thing to consider is the amount of herbage mass that can be produced during one season on different types of semi-natural pastures. That knowledge makes it easier to choose which type of animals and how many you are able to have in each Paddock to maintain a high biodiversity and achieve the desired production of the animals at the same time.This study was performed in nine different semi-natural pastures around Uppsala. The Paddocks were already mapped with regard to different vegetation types. Exclosure cages were placed on previously fertilized, mesic, dry, shaded and wet vegetation.

This work focuses on the relation between human and animals and especially on the relation between horses and human. I have brought up the human och horse relationsship, today, and in history and wrote about the behaviour of the horse. Some older studies with human and animal interaction, including animals like dog and cattle are discussed. I have also discussed physiological parameters that might influence the bond and the interaction between human and horse and some critical aspects concerning the methodology when studying this kind of physiology. The purpose of the experimental study was to analyze if common management routines and grooming of horses increases horses interest in making contact with humans. Many horse owners feel that they have a good connection with their horse and factors that can influence the relationsship could be physical contact, feeding or some challange that make the horse trust the human.

Today it is common to have adult horses stabled for most of the day. This limits the horses? ability to perform some of their natural behaviors such as foraging and movement. The purpose of this review was to compare the feral horses? diurnal rhythm and time budget with stabled horses.

Records of P III fractures from 235 horses, 71 of them were standardbreds, treated at 3 major Swedish equine hospitals (Strömsholm, SLU and Mälaren hästklinik) between 1994 and 2004 were evaluated for information such as the patients age, sex, breed, type of fracture, affected leg, time and place of the injury, treatment and, if possible, result of treatment. For the standardbreds, result of treatment was also followed up through written correspondence with owners and by screening AB Trav och Galopp racing-results. Moreover, results of horses with type II and III-fractures treated with rest and therapeutic shooing only were compared to horses in which lag screw fixation were added to achieve interfragmental compression. Compared to the rest of the Swedish horse population, P III fractures were slightly more common among standardbred horses. The mean age of the affected standardbred was 5,8 years, compared to 7,9 years in the rest of the horse-population. Most horses injured themselves in the Paddock.

Feed costs constitute a large part of the expenses of dairy farmers. Pasture is a high quality feed with a low cost. However, feeding with concentrates has been shown to enhance milk yield (Leaver, 1985; Bargo et al., 2003; Stockdale, 2004). The purpose with this study was to investigate how milk yield and milk composition were affected as the concentrate proportion in the diet decreased. Pasture behaviour was examined to see if the different concentrate levels affected the time cows spent grazing and ruminating.

Arkeologiska fynd har visat tecken på att hästen levde vid människans sida redan för mer än 5 000 år sedan. De utmaningar som tidigare förfäder tvingats hantera har i mångt och mycket dagens hästar fått hjälp av oss människor att undvika. Trots detta är inte dagens hästar framselekterade för att reagera annorlunda på omgivingen, utan använder sig av samma samma sätt att hantera sin tillvaro som deras förfäder tvingats att göra för sin överlevnad. Hästhållningen i Sverige regleras i många avseenden enligt de lagar och förordningar som finns, både i fråga om hur den fysiska miljön ska se ut och vilka krav som ställs på hästens dagliga hantering. Jordbruksverket har tagit fram uppgifter som visar att nästan 90 % av svenska hästhållare tillgodoser hästarnas behov av social kontakt genom att de får gå i hage tillsammans med andra hästar och att 80 % har stall med boxar. Att inhysa tidigare stäpplevande djur på begränsade ytor kan antas medför en hel del risker.