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Weaning foals marks a stressful event in horses' lives. Limited research exists regarding different housing methods post-weaning and the long-term implications on horse behavior and welfare. The purpose of this study was to monitor behavior and physiological stress markers in horses weaned individually in solid partition box stalls versus horses weaned in small groups and housed in paddocks. Both treatment groups underwent maternal deprivation stress, but the stalled weanlings had the additive effects of social isolation which prevented them from performing social behaviors. Quarter Horse weanlings from the Michigan State University, Merillat Equine Center, average age 4.5 months, were weaned in 13.4 m2 box stalls (n=6) or in groups of three in a 992 m2 paddock, which had very limited grazing forage and an open shelter available (n=6). Subjects were fed concentrate and hay to National Research Council recommendations. A time budget for 31 observed behaviors was developed. Behavioral observations were made 2 days per week, approximately 6 h per day, for the duration of the 56 days study. Instantaneous samples were recorded every 5 min on each observation day, with equal division between the two treatment groups (n=35 scans per horse per observation day). Focal data were recorded continuously between scans to provide a more detailed ethogram. On each observation day, fecal samples were collected to measure 11,17-dioxoandrostanes, an indicator of glucocorticoid metabolite concentration. Regarding the fecal 11,17-dioxoandrostanes, there was no discernible treatment difference either immediately post-weaning or at the conclusion of the 56 days study. Interestingly, all 12 weanlings showed a 4 week post-weaning increase in 11,17-dioxoandrostanes. The reason for this peak was unclear. Behavioral observations demonstrated a significantly different time budget in paddock-housed weanlings than in stall-housed weanlings (P<0.0001). Paddock-housed weanlings displayed a time

Ability. --- Age. --- Behavior. --- Boxes. --- Conspecific. --- Deprivation. --- Duration. --- Equine. --- Ethogram. --- Feral. --- Foal. --- Foals. --- Forage. --- Glucocorticoid. --- Grazing. --- Group. --- Hay. --- Horse. --- Horses. --- Housing. --- Increase. --- Isolation. --- Long-term. --- Lying. --- Maternal-deprivation. --- Maternal. --- Method. --- Motivation. --- Moving. --- Observation. --- Partition. --- Pawing. --- Physiological. --- Post weaning. --- Purpose. --- Research. --- Shelter. --- Social behavior. --- Social isolation. --- Social-behavior. --- Social-isolation. --- Social. --- Stress. --- Time budget. --- Time. --- Treatment. --- University. --- Weaning. --- Welfare.