Study links bedding and exercise to abnormal behavior in working horses
Bottom line
A new study in Equine Veterinary Journal examined 77 rural working horses in Pullally, in Chile’s Papudo commune, and found that nearly 30% showed abnormal behaviours, including wood chewing, crib-biting, and windsucking. The strongest management signal was bedding: horses kept with absent or inadequate bedding had more than five times the odds of abnormal behaviours, while longer daily exercise was associated with lower odds. The researchers also found that housing problems were common, with insufficient bedding in just over half of stalls, dirty bedding in nearly 60%, and only about 21% of horses getting daily exercise. The paper is currently available as a preprint posted January 5, 2026, and notes that findings come from a single rural area and include some pet parent-reported management data. (d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals working with equine clients, the study reinforces that stereotypic and redirected behaviours in working horses may be closely tied to everyday management, not just individual temperament. That fits with broader equine welfare guidance from WOAH, which lists oral stereotypies such as crib-biting and windsucking as potential indicators of stress, and with equine behaviour experts who argue these behaviours should prompt a closer look at housing, forage access, turnout, and exercise routines rather than simple suppression. In this Chilean cohort, hoof disorders were also common, suggesting welfare conversations may need to connect behaviour, stall conditions, and physical health in the same visit. (woah.org)
What to watch: Watch for peer-reviewed publication details, and for whether these findings drive more field-based welfare work on practical housing and exercise interventions in working equids across Latin America. (d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net)
A cross-sectional study of rural Chilean working horses is putting a spotlight on management-linked behavioural risk. Researchers evaluating 77 horses in Pullally, in Chile’s Valparaíso Region, found that 29.87% displayed abnormal behaviours, most often wood chewing, crib-biting, and windsucking. Among the clearest associations: absent or inadequate bedding was tied to a more than fivefold increase in the odds of abnormal behaviours, while longer daily exercise appeared protective. (d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net)
The study adds new data to a part of equine practice that’s often discussed more than measured. The authors note that working horses remain central to rural livelihoods in Chile and elsewhere in Latin America, but that housing and management conditions in these systems are still poorly characterized. To assess welfare, the team used the Animal Welfare Indicators, or AWIN, framework, a standardized protocol that has also been used in prior Chilean work evaluating the welfare status of working horses and handler interactions. (d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net)
The management picture in this group was striking. According to the preprint, 77.92% of horses were kept in frequently inadequate housing conditions, 53.25% had insufficient bedding, 22.08% had no bedding at all, and 59.74% were standing on dirty bedding. Only 20.78% performed daily exercise. Hoof-related disorders were present in 41.56% of horses, even though most animals had acceptable body condition and the overall prevalence of other health problems was low. That combination suggests welfare risks may be easy to miss if clinicians focus mainly on body condition or overt disease. (d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net)
The behavioural findings also offer useful nuance. Wood chewing was the most common abnormal behaviour at 12.99%, followed by crib-biting at 10.39% and windsucking at 6.49%. The authors suggest the feeding pattern may matter: horses in the study were reportedly fed only twice daily, which could leave long fasting intervals and limited opportunities for normal foraging behaviour. They also note that all horses showing crib-biting had a prior history consistent with wood chewing, raising the possibility that some redirected ingestive behaviours may progress over time if management conditions don’t change. Because the manuscript is still a preprint, those interpretations should be treated as provisional. (d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net)
Outside experts and welfare guidance broadly point in the same direction. WOAH’s welfare chapter for working equids lists oral stereotypies such as crib-biting and aerophagia as potential indicators of stress. Equine behaviour specialists cited by The Horse have similarly argued that when multiple horses in a management system show stereotypies, the key question is often what in the environment is driving chronic stress, and that the goal should be to reduce the need for the behaviour rather than simply prevent it mechanically. Suggested management responses include more turnout, more grazing or forage access, and less restrictive housing. (woah.org)
Why it matters: For veterinarians, especially those serving rural and mixed animal communities, the study is a reminder that behaviour can be a frontline welfare indicator in working equids. A horse with wood chewing or crib-biting may not just need a dental, gastrointestinal, or tack workup, but also a practical review of bedding, cleanliness, turnout, exercise frequency, and feeding intervals. The findings are especially relevant in lower-resource settings, where modest management changes, like better bedding provision or more structured time out of the stall, may be more feasible than major facility upgrades. (d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net)
The paper also has limitations worth keeping in view. It reflects one rural area of Chile, the sample size was 77 horses, and some management variables, including time out of the stall, relied on pet parent report. Even so, the consistency between this dataset and broader equine welfare literature gives the results practical weight, particularly because the identified risk factors are modifiable and easy to explain in the field. (d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net)
What to watch: The next step is formal peer-reviewed publication, plus follow-on research testing whether targeted changes in bedding, forage access, turnout, and exercise can measurably reduce abnormal behaviours in working horse populations beyond Papudo. (d197for5662m48.cloudfront.net)