Dental disease is highly prevalent in horses, yet frequently remains undetected until advanced pathology is present. While overt clinical signs such as nasal discharge or facial swelling may occur, more subtle behavioural changes often go unnoticed. This study investigated behavioural indicators of dental pain, with the aim of developing an ethogram to support diagnosis, monitoring, and welfare assessment in equine dentistry.

Horses with confirmed dental pathology on sedated oroscopic examination were compared with controls free from oral disease. Overnight video surveillance was employed to capture both eating and general behaviours in undisturbed horses, while parallel caretaker observations provided insight into which behaviours were readily identified.

Pilot work identified candidate behaviours – such as yawning, atypical jaw movements, altered head position, and changes in eating behaviour – that may serve as reliable indicators of discomfort. Based on these pilot observations, an a priori power calculation determined that a minimum of nine horses per control group was required to detect meaningful differences (balanced one-way ANOVA, k = 3, Cohen’s f = 0.64, α = 0.05, power = 0.8). This confirmed the feasibility of the study design and ensured robust statistical comparisons. The study aimed to identify distinct behavioural differences between horses with and without dental disease, some of which were not consistently recognised by caretakers. These findings will be presented at the conference. By refining pain recognition and enhancing clinical decision-making, this work has the potential to improve both early diagnosis and welfare outcomes in equine dental practice.