Barn Beat: What Music Style is Best for Horses?

Many horse owners and managers keep a radio playing in the barn, feeling that the low level of noise helps to keep stalled horses content. Some studies focusing on this practice have confirmed that the horses seem to enjoy the music, while others have linked barn music to a higher rate of gastric ulceration and nervous behavior.

To test the effects of different kinds of music on stabled horses, researchers from Hartpury College in England studied eight stabled Thoroughbred geldings. The researchers played jazz, classical, rock, and country music for separate 30-minute periods and kept detailed records of each horse’s behavior during each type of music. They also observed the horses’ behavior for 30 minutes when music was not being played.

Results showed that horses produced the same balance of restful and alert behaviors during silent periods and when classical and country music selections were being played. They tended to eat more quietly, a behavior that is associated with calmness, when country music was playing than when no music was heard. Jazz and rock tunes were correlated to more frequent behavioral indications of stress such as stamping, head tossing, snorting, and vocalizing compared to behavior when no music was being played. The horses ate in a nervous manner, snatching at their food in short bursts, while listening to jazz or rock music. Jazz seemed to stimulate the most stress-related behavior, possibly due to its rapid tempo.

Based on the results of this study, the researchers concluded that classical and country music may have an enriching effect on the environment of the stabled horse, and these sounds are probably better choices for equine welfare than rock or jazz.