There has been little research on the bacterial burden in the air of an indoor horse riding arena on horses and riders. Researchers in studied four different indoor riding arenas in Germany. They measured the bacterial burden in the arena flooring. Bacterial burden was measured in the arena footing. Bacteria was also measured in the air at the level of the horse’s head and the rider’s head. This was done before and after a specified riding program.

“The investigation showed no difference in the bacterial burden between the breathing zone of riders (2.5 m height) and horses (1.5 m height),” noted the researchers. “However, the bacterial loads in all four arenas significantly increased after the riding program.”

About the Research

The riding program in the arenas involved one horse. Each program included a 12-minute walk, a 5-minute trot, and a 3-minute gallop. Researchers said this program was “based on standardized riding figures to reach comparable usage in the four different arenas.”

The published research was titled, “Bacterial Burden in the Air of Indoor Riding Arenas.” It was authored by Nina Volkmann, Jeanette Probst, Cornelia Dreyer-Rendelsmann, Jochen Schulz, and Nicole Kemper.

Why This Is Important

The researchers noted that during a 90-minute training period, a horse consumes about 45,300 L of air. This is compared to about 81,000 L of air that is inhaled over the rest of the day. “Thus, the air quality of riding arenas is of special interest,” they said.

Recurrent airway obstruction (RAO) and inflammatory airway disease (IAD) are major disease problems in horses, the researchers noted. “Those airway diseases are correlated with bad air quality,” they stated.

Final Words

The researchers stated, “Airway diseases in horses are often multifactorial and have a strong environmental background because diseased horses react to inhaled agents. In this study, the air quality of closed riding arenas was analyzed monthly in four riding arenas over the course of one year with special emphasis on bacteriology. A standardized riding program with one horse was used to measure exposures to airborne bacteria. Air samples were taken from the heights of the riders’ and the horses’ breathing zone (2.5 m and 1.5 m, respectively) at four sampling points before and after the riding program. The bacterial loads in all four arenas significantly increased after the riding program.

“However, the results showed no differences between the breathing zones of the riders (2.5 m height) and those of the horses (1.5 m height).”

Gram-positive bacteria—and especially Staphylococcus spp.—occurred as the predominant aerobic mesophilic bacteria. 80% of the identified Staphylococci were Staphylococcus xylosus.

“The cultured samples from the ground of the arenas indicated that the ground was probably the main source of airborne Staphylococcus spp. during riding. The air quality of riding arenas should be of special interest in future studies in terms of the high air consumption of horses during training periods.”

Further Content

  • Kimberly S. Brown
    Kimberly S. Brown is an award-winning writer and publisher. She is the Editorial Director for My Senior Horse. Brown spent 10 years at Equine Network, parent company of My Senior Horse. Prior to that she worked for three years in equine nutrition after she retired from nearly 30 years working at The Blood-Horse. Brown spent the last 15 years of her time at that organization creating and developing The Horse and TheHorse.com.
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