Use of music therapy in aiding the relaxation of geriatric horses

Abstract Aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of music therapy on changes in the level of parameters describing heart rate and heart rate variability (HR and HRV) as excitability indicators in geriatric horses. The study involved 20 warmblood geriatric horses, i.e. aged 20 years or more. Animals were kept in two identical stables in one facility. Horses from stable No. 1 were considered the experimental group, while horses from stable No. 2 constituted a control group. The experiment consisted in playing relaxation new age music to the horses in the experimental group for 28 days use special sound system (MyPetSpeaker). To examine the emotional excitability of horses from both groups, heart rate and heart rate variability parameters were used. The subsequent measurements were performer morning at rest at seven-day intervals, counting from the first day of the experiment, and four measurements were recorded. Heart rate and heart rate variability measures indicated that daily exposure for several hours to new age music had a positive effect on relaxation of geriatric horses. A short-term effect of one to two weeks duration was observed beginning one week after onset. Unfortunately, the effect disappears after subsequent two- three weeks of therapy application, without leaving spectacular results.