Author:

Abstract:

The “duct tape twitch” – a piece of adhesive tape stuck on the vertical midline of the horses’ nose – is supposed to calm horses down during hoof trimming. The underlying mechanism is unknown. We tested the effect of this tape on 30 horses, with three farriers. For each horse, trimming of one forefoot and one hindfoot was observed with and without tape on the nose, in a randomized order. Relaxed and tensed behaviours were scored during five minutes per hoof for a total of 20 minutes per horse. In one horse the experiment was terminated due to dangerous behaviours. A mixed linear model was used to examine the relationship between relaxed and tensed behaviour and presence of tape. Besides horse identity, identity of farrier, sex (male - stallion or gelding - and female), judgment of owner about calmness of horse (calm, not calm), type of hoof manipulation (lifting, rasping, cutting, clipping), the model also included other factors possibly explaining part of the variance. Mares were more relaxed (p<0.04), there was more relaxed behaviour during rasping compared to lifting, cutting and clipping (p<0.0001) and the horses showed significantly more relaxed behaviour with tape on the nose (p<0.0001). We saw more tensed behaviour in horses that were judged by the owner as “not calm” (p<0.0001). The horses showed more tensed behaviours during foot lifting and when they had no tape on the nose (p<0.0001). The increase in relaxed behaviours and decrease of tensed behaviours when there was tape on the nose was significant but small (p<0.0001). Horse and farrier identity also affected tensed behaviours. The application of tape slightly calms down horses but its’ application or attempts hereto can in some cases cause dangerous reactions.