Between November 2016 and October 2017, 23 horse transports from 18 collection points to two slaughterhouses in Argentina and one in Uruguay were monitored. The goal of this study was to characterize the current practices in commercial horse transports and to detect potential threats to horse welfare. A total of 596 horses were transported over an average distance of 295 ± 250 km. Average transport duration was 294 ± 153 min. The infrastructure did not always promote smooth loading, but the amount of horses that refused to enter the trailers was limited. In each loading space, a camera was mounted to observe horse behaviour during the journey. Ambient temperature and relative humidity (RH) were recorded every five minutes in each loading space. In 14 of the 23 transports, the maximum temperature rose above 25 °C and the average temperature was over 25 °C during six transports. The average temperature humidity index (THI) exceeded 72 during six transports. The average stocking density was 1.40 ± 0.33 m2 per horse, or 308 ± 53 kg/m2. The degree of aggression differed between the front and rear loading space. Stocking density, environmental parameters, trailer characteristics, and transport duration and distance did not influence aggressiveness.
Keywords: horses; slaughter; transport.