Abstract
Thermoregulation is an important mechanism to ensure thermal homeostasis. In horses, different housing conditions could influence this mechanism by exposing animals to different microclimates. The circadian rhythm of body temperature is well known. For this reason, we wanted to investigate the daily rhythm of cutaneous (jugular, shoulder, inner thigh and croup) temperature in comparison to rectal temperature in athletic horses kept under two different housing conditions. Ten clinically healthy Italian Saddle horses were divided into two equal groups: the first group was housed in individual boxes, and the second group was kept in paddocks. In all horses, rectal and cutaneous temperature measurements were performed every 4 h for 48 consecutive hours during different seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter), respectively, by means of digital and infrared thermometers. Ambient temperature, relative humidity and ventilation were recorded simultaneously. A general linear model (GLM) was applied to the recorded temperature values displaying a significant effect of season, time of day, site of recording and housing condition (p < 0.001). No statistical differences were found between the two days of monitoring (p = 0.49). A trigonometric statistical model (single cosinor method) was applied to investigate the circadian rhythm of rectal and cutaneous temperatures in the two different groups. Our results showed circadian rhythmicity of rectal temperature during all seasons and in both groups. Cutaneous temperature shows daily rhythmicity that was different in the various regions and was influenced by housing conditions and seasons. Application of GLM also showed a statistically significant effect of season and site of recording (p < 0.0001) on all circadian parameters and of management condition on amplitude and robustness (p < 0.0001). No statistical differences between the two days of monitoring were observed (p = 0.68). These findings are probably due to the animals’ thermoregulatory mechanisms ensuring heat exchange between the body and the environment, and that was influenced by the microclimate. In particular, the microclimate influenced the thermodispersion disrupting the daily rhythmicity of some body regions, in horses kept in boxes. Only the temperate climatic conditions observed in summer guarantee the expression of the daily rhythmicity of all body surfaces in both management conditions. These results contribute to the knowledge of the mechanisms of homeostasis and control of body temperature in the athletic horse kept in different housing conditions, with a chronophysiological interpretation that completes the proper management of thermal well-being in horses.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Arfuso F, Rizzo M, Giannetto C, Giudice E, Fazio F, Piccione G (2016) Age a related changes of serum mitochondrial uncoupling 1, rumen and rectal temperature in goats. J Therm Biol 59:47–51
Bertolucci C, Giannetto C, Fazio F, Piccione G (2008) Seasonal variation in daily rhythms of activity in athletic horses. Animal 2(7):1055–1060
Bombik E, Bombik T, Frankowsa A (2011) Evaluation of selected parameters of horse stabling environment in box-stall stables. Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Zootechnica 10(4):13–22
Budzinska K, Szejniuk B, Jurek A, Michalska M, Traczykowski A, Berlec K (2016) Evaluation of selected physical and microbiological parameters of air in a box stall stable. Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Zootechnica 15(1):3–18
Giannetto C, Arfuso F, Giudice E, Gianesella M, Fazio F, Panzera M, Piccione G (2020) Infrared methodologies for the assessment of skin temperature daily rhythm in two domestic mammalian species. J Therm Biol 92:102–677
Gwinner E (2003) Circannual rhythms in birds. Curr Opin Neurobiol 13:770–778
Hartmann E, Hopkins RJ, Blomgren E, Ventrop M, Brömssen C, Dahlborn K (2015) Daytime shelter use of individually kept horses during Swedish summer. J Anim Sci 93:802–810
Hodgson DR, Davis RE, McConaghy FF (1994) Thermoregulation in the horse in response to exercise. Br Vet J 150(3):219–235
Houben R (2008) Ventilation and air hygiene parameters in horse stables. Universiteit Utrecht (doctoral dissertation)
Kalyan D, Davendra K, Vijay KS, Syed MKN (2017) Study of circadian rhythmicity of physiological response and skin temperature of sheep during summer and winter in semi-arid tropical environment. Physiol Behav 169:16–21
Kwiatkowska-Stenzel A, Sowinska J, Mituniewicz T, Iwanczuk-Czernik K, Wòjcik A, Radzyminska M (2011) The comparison of horses management conditions in the box stall stable and the horse-barn. Pol J Natl Sci 26(1):27–36
Mader TL, Davis MS, Brown-Brandl T (2006) Environmental factors influencing heat stress in feedlot cattle. Am Soc Anim Sci 88:714–9
McManus C, Paludo GR, Louvandini H, Gugel R, Sasaki LCB, Paiva SR (2009) Heat tolerance in Brazilian sheep: physiological and blood parameters. Trop Anim Health 41:95–101
Morgan K (1997) Effects of short-term changes in ambient air temperature or altered insulation in horses. J Therm Biol 22:187–194
Morgan K (1998) Thermoneutral zone and critical temperatures of horses. J Therm Biol 23(1):59–61
Mortola J (2013) Thermographic analysis of body surface temperature of mammals. Zoolog Sci 30:118–124
Murphy BA (2019) Circadian and circannual regulation in the horse: internal timing in an elite athlete. J Equine Vet Sci 76:14–24
Piccione G, Caola G, Refinetti R (2002) The circadian rhythm of body temperature of the horse. Biol Rhythm Res 33:113–119
Piccione G, Caola G, Mortola J (2005) Scaling the daily oscillations of breathing frequency and skin temperature in mammals. Comparative Biochemistry Physiology. Mol Integr Physiol 140(4):477–486
Piccione G, Giannetto C, Marafioti S, Casella S, Fazio F, Caola G (2011) Daily rhythms of rectal temperature and total locomotor activity in trained and untrained horses. J Vet Behav 6:115–120
Piccione G, Giannetto C, Giudice E, Refinetti R (2020) Persistent homeothermy in large domestic mammals maintained under standard farming conditions. J Basic Clin Physiol Pharmacol 31(2):2018–121
Pittendrigh CS (1993) Temporal organization: reflections of a Darwinian clock-watcher. Annu Rev Physiol 55:16–54
Refinetti R (2006) Circadian physiology, 2nd edn. CRC Press
Refinetti R (2010) The circadian rhythm of body temperature. Front Biosci 15:564–594
Refinetti R, Menaker M (1992) The circadian rhythm of body temperature. Physiolical Behav 51:13–37
Refinetti R, Piccione G (2003) Daily rhythmicity of body temperature in the dog. J Vet Med Sci 65:935–937
Refinetti R, Piccione G (2005) Intra and inter-individual variability in the circadian rhythm of body temperature of rats, squirrels, dogs, and horses. J Therm Biol 30:139–146
Rizzo M, Arfuso F, Alberghina D, Giudice E, Gianesella M, Piccione G (2017) Monitoring changes in body surface temperature associated with treadmill exercise in dogs by use of infrared methodology. J Therm Biol 69:64–68
Romanovsky AA (2014) Skin temperature: its role in thermoregulation. Acta Physiologica 210:498–507
Sowinska J, Bursztynowicz K, Iwanczuk-Czernik K, Mituniewicz T, Wòjcik A, Witowska D, Kwiatkowska AA (2010) Comparison of the welfare of horses kept under different conditions. Welfare and Economic Aspects Production. 3rd International Conference “The Impact of Environmental Conditions-Animal Welfare, Pollutions, Economics.” Polish J Nat Sci 26(1):27–36
Swanson DL, Liu JS, Zheng W (2014) Seasonal phenotypic flexibility of body mass, organ masses, and tissue oxidative capacity and their relationship to resting metabolic rate in Chinese Bulbuls. Physiol Biochem Zool 87:432–444
Zhou J, Enquist BJ, Helliker BR, Kaspari M, McDowell NG, Weiser MD, Michaletz ST (2016) The energetic and carbon economic origins of leaf thermoregulation. Nat Plants 2:16129
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Giannetto, C., Aragona, F., Arfuso, F. et al. Diurnal variation in rectal and cutaneous temperatures of horses housed under different management conditions. Int J Biometeorol 66, 1601–1611 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02304-3
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02304-3