Influence of age and experience rider on differentiate the behaviour of recreational horses being prepared for use.

The aim of the study was to determine the effect of selected rider-related factors (riders' age and experience, type of preparatory activities, test variant) on the behaviour of recreational horses being prepared for use. Six adult, hot-blooded recreational horses were handled by two female riders that the horses knew and by another two that the horses did not know (two of them were aged 12 and two aged 30). The horses were assessed by a behaviourist for their behaviour during the pre-training activities (entering the box, grooming, cleaning the hooves, bridling, saddling up, taking a horse to a riding arena). These actions were performed in a basic variant in complete silence and in a variant with an added sound stimulus (human voice) as a riding (supporting) aid. An analysis of variance for repeated measurements, Tukey t-test and Spearman's correlations were performed. It was found that the behaviour of recreational horses being prepared for use can be better if they are handled by people whom they know. However, the age of the handler and a supporting factor (human voice) is not expected to have any effect on horse behaviour. A horse's behaviour can change during various preparatory activities. Horses can misbehave mainly when a person enters the box and when the horse is being bridled.