Honours veterinary student Charles Sturt University Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
Abstract:
Background: Physical restraint of horses for veterinary procedures is necessary to allow completion of tasks safely, effectively and without injury to patient or personnel. The restraint used should be of minimal welfare cost to the horse. In the context of veterinary procedures, patient wellbeing is optimized when procedures can be completed efficiently, with minimal distress to the animal. Objectives This study was designed to compare the physiological effects and efficacy of three commonly used restraint techniques (Figure 1) for upper airway endoscopy in unsedated horses. Animals: 12 university owned teaching horses.
Methods: Blocked and randomized interventional study. Horses were subjected to a routine endoscopic assessment of laryngeal function on four occasions and were allocated to each of four restraint methods (nose twitch, ear hold, lip rope, nil) in random order, with 48h between interventions. Outcome measures included behavioral scoring, subjective and objective measures of procedural efficacy, heart rate variability, cortisol and β-endorphin concentrations.
Results: Horses demonstrated strong individual differences for procedure tolerance and preferred method of restraint. Subjective procedure scores and objective measures of head movement (Figure 2) were significantly lower with use of a nose twitch, compared to nil restraint. Conclusions and clinical importance: There was no evidence that any of the restraint types investigated had a different effect on welfare or wellbeing based on behavioral or physiological outcome variables evaluated in the current study. Use of a nose twitch provided the most effective restraint, but individual horse preferences should influence the method selected.
