ReviewAnimals : an open access journal from MDPI2020
Welfare of Free-Roaming Horses: 70 Years of Experience with Konik Polski Breeding in Poland.
Review in Animals : an open access journal from MDPI, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- The Polish Konik Horse: A Multidisciplinary Review of Its Origin, Genetics, Ecology, Health, Behaviour and Reproductive Biology.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2026Review
- Could snort production reflect comfort in horses kept outdoors? A first study.Die Naturwissenschaften · 2026Article
- Article
- Rewilded horses in European nature conservation - a genetics, ethics, and welfare perspective.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2025Review
- Mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome reveal the genetic structure of the native Polish Konik horse population.PeerJ · 2024Article
- A comparison of the welfare of free-ranging native pony herds on common land with those used for conservation grazing in the UK.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2024Article
- How Useful Are Existing Protocols in the Quick Assessment of the Welfare of Semi-Feral Horses? Pilot Study on Konik Polski Horses Living in the Forest Sanctuary.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- Visual and morphometric description of feral horse hooves from Sable Island National Park Reserve.The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne · 2023Article
- Habitat use by semi-feral Konik horses on wetlands-three-year GPS study.Environmental monitoring and assessment · 2023Article
- Social Box: A New Housing System Increases Social Interactions among Stallions.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Article
- The Social and Reproductive Challenges Faced by Free-Roaming Horse (Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2023Review
- Welfare of extensively managed Swedish Gotland ponies.Animal welfare (South Mimms, England) · 2023Article
- Review of the Foundational Knowledge Required for Assessing Horse Welfare.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Review
- Behavioural responses of Konik Polski horses to natural, familiar sound of thunderstorm, and unfamiliar similar-sounding sounds of volcanic eruption and sea storms.BMC veterinary research · 2022Article
- Some Genetic and Environmental Effects on Equine Asthma in Polish Konik Horses.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Article
- Exploratory Behaviours of Primitive Horses Based on Konik: A Preliminary Study.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- Social Behaviour of Horses in Response to Vocalisations of Predators.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
To prevent abuse and to assure the welfare of domestic horses, attempts to assess welfare in a standardized way have been made. Welfare-assessment tools often refer to the physical and social environments of feral domestic horses as examples of welfare-friendly conditions for horses. However, free-roaming horses are often exposed to conditions or states that may be regarded as welfare threats or abuse. The aim of this review was to present cases of welfare compromises as well as natural ways to restore high standards of welfare to Konik polski horses (Koniks) living in semiferal conditions in a forest sanctuary over the course of 70 years. Welfare problems in Koniks related to feeding, locomotor, social, reproductive, and comfort behavior, as well as health issues concerning hoof trimming and parasitism in Koniks, are discussed. Periodic food scarcity or abundance, stressful events around weaning and gathering, the consequences of fights among stallions, exposure to sire aggression during dispersal, lameness during "self-trimming," exposure to insect harassment, high levels of parasitism, and specific landscape formations may endanger free-roaming horses. It has to be underlined that despite the excellent adaptability of horses to free-roaming conditions, one should be aware that welfare problems are to be expected in any semiferal population. Here, we present the management system applied for 70 years in free-roaming Konik polski horses that minimizes welfare threats. It allows close follow-up of individual horses, the strict monitoring of health and welfare on a daily basis, and if necessary, instant reactions from caretakers in cases of emergency. Moreover, it addresses the problem of starvation due to overgrazing and thus, the ethical controversy related to the eradication of surplus animals causing environmental damage.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.