Effects of lavender aromatherapy on stress horses

Abstract

The heart rate and respiratory horses of competition horses and stabled horses may increase due to environmental stressors. Aromatherapy has been legalized and revealed to be very helpful to horses that have been exposed to environmental stressors. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of lavender aromatherapy on horse heart rate and respiratory rate after being exposed to a stressor. A total of eight horses were observed as subjects in both water control and lavender aromatherapy. Lavender aromatherapy were diffused using an aroma diffuser with 3 drops of lavender essential oil along with 250ml of water for 30 minutes as well as water control. The paired sample t-test was applied to analyse. There is no significant effect of aromatherapy on the heart rate and respiratory rate of horses. In both water control group and lavender aromatherapy group, there were no significant changes of heart rate from stressed phase to recovery phase. Same goes for respiratory rate in water control group and lavender aromatherapy group from stressed phase to recovery phase. It can be concluded that lavender aromatherapy does not show any effective on horse heart rate and respiratory rate.