Equine attraction to essential oil odours
Equine attraction to essential oil odours
There are a wide range of products containing essential oils. Aromatherapy for horses is becoming popular with owners however there are few published studies on equine response to essential oil odours.
The study aimed to identify which essential oils were attractive to horses. The study comprised 10 horses, (5) geldings, (5) mares of mixed breed. Nine organic essential oils plus a control (no oil) were presented in a repeated measures experimental design. Oils were applied to cotton wool and gauze and hung either side of the stable door. Presentation of oils was randomised using a 10 x 10 Latin Square design. Oils were presented in pairs for 120 seconds with a 5 minute interval between tests. Horses were exposed to 5 paired presentations on day 1 and the experiment was repeated on day 2.
Behaviour was recorded on videotape for 120 seconds. Continuous focal sampling was used to analyse behaviour based on an ethogram using Observer 5.0® software.
The time the horses spent investigating each individual test substance was recorded. Range 169.2 seconds (Violet Leaf) to 35.4 seconds (control).
Kendall’s W coefficient of concordance compared agreement in duration of interest between the horses. The mean ranked duration of investigation was significant (W= 0.272, n=10, p= <0.05). To compare differences between the duration of interest, individual oils were tested against the control using the Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Significant differences were found between the control and Peppermint (Mentha piperata) p=<0.01, Violet Leaf (Viola odorata) p=<0.05. Valerian Valeriana officinalis) and Lavender (Lavendula angustifiolia) were approaching significance at p=<0.08 and p=0.09 respectively.
Although only a limited number of oils were tested, horses demonstrated a significant attraction to Peppermint, Violet Leaf and were also attracted to Valerian and Lavender. This study is relevant for horses exposed to essential oils in horse care products.
p.218
Wageningen Academic Publishers
Hurley, Juliet
fc38d17d-f58b-4c31-9b93-6bfb5ac2e08c
Goodwin, Deborah
6a44fe30-189a-493d-8dcc-3eb8199a12ab
5 August 2008
Hurley, Juliet
fc38d17d-f58b-4c31-9b93-6bfb5ac2e08c
Goodwin, Deborah
6a44fe30-189a-493d-8dcc-3eb8199a12ab
Hurley, Juliet and Goodwin, Deborah
(2008)
Equine attraction to essential oil odours.
Boyle, Laura, O'Connell, Niamh and Hanlon, Alison
(eds.)
In Proceedings of the 42nd Congress of the ISAE. Applied Ethology: Addressing Future Challenges in Animal Agriculture. University College Dublin, Ireland 5-9 August 2008.
Wageningen Academic Publishers.
.
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
There are a wide range of products containing essential oils. Aromatherapy for horses is becoming popular with owners however there are few published studies on equine response to essential oil odours.
The study aimed to identify which essential oils were attractive to horses. The study comprised 10 horses, (5) geldings, (5) mares of mixed breed. Nine organic essential oils plus a control (no oil) were presented in a repeated measures experimental design. Oils were applied to cotton wool and gauze and hung either side of the stable door. Presentation of oils was randomised using a 10 x 10 Latin Square design. Oils were presented in pairs for 120 seconds with a 5 minute interval between tests. Horses were exposed to 5 paired presentations on day 1 and the experiment was repeated on day 2.
Behaviour was recorded on videotape for 120 seconds. Continuous focal sampling was used to analyse behaviour based on an ethogram using Observer 5.0® software.
The time the horses spent investigating each individual test substance was recorded. Range 169.2 seconds (Violet Leaf) to 35.4 seconds (control).
Kendall’s W coefficient of concordance compared agreement in duration of interest between the horses. The mean ranked duration of investigation was significant (W= 0.272, n=10, p= <0.05). To compare differences between the duration of interest, individual oils were tested against the control using the Wilcoxon signed ranks test. Significant differences were found between the control and Peppermint (Mentha piperata) p=<0.01, Violet Leaf (Viola odorata) p=<0.05. Valerian Valeriana officinalis) and Lavender (Lavendula angustifiolia) were approaching significance at p=<0.08 and p=0.09 respectively.
Although only a limited number of oils were tested, horses demonstrated a significant attraction to Peppermint, Violet Leaf and were also attracted to Valerian and Lavender. This study is relevant for horses exposed to essential oils in horse care products.
More information
Published date: 5 August 2008
Venue - Dates:
42nd Congress of the ISAE. Applied Ethology: Addressing Future Challenges in Animal Agriculture, Dublin, Ireland, 2008-08-05 - 2008-08-09
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 63471
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/63471
PURE UUID: 671e430b-3900-47a6-ac14-7f01c6f2090b
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 13 Oct 2008
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 11:40
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Contributors
Author:
Juliet Hurley
Author:
Deborah Goodwin
Editor:
Laura Boyle
Editor:
Niamh O'Connell
Editor:
Alison Hanlon
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