UNANNOUNCED inspections of equestrian facilities, making welfare education mandatory for all those who work with sport horses, and publishing results of welfare assessments were the public’s top three answers on what would increase their trust that sport horses live good lives, according to World Horse Welfare’s (WHW) latest public opinion poll.

Other suggestions to improve welfare and increase public trust included: putting the horse at the centre of decision-making, more education and better dissemination of best practice, moving away from outdated language and practices, and the implementation of ethical training based on how horses learn.

On June 3rd, at an event in London and online, the findings of this year’s WHW survey were presented to an audience of over 120 horse sport leaders and media, and discussed by a panel of influential members of the horse world.

Roly Owers, chief executive of WHW, set the keynote by picking up on the differences in views between the public and those in the horse world, Owers said: “While horse people seem more confident in the quality of life of sport horses, they seem to have a different slant on what actually matters to a horse.

“We asked people what they think is important to a sport horse, and the public generally recognised that being free of pain or discomfort, having a suitable diet and healthcare, resting after competitions and having social contact with other horses was important.

“However, more horse people were likely to think that it was important to the horse to be ridden, to go to competitions and to win them – which feels a bit like anthropomorphism in action.”

Good instincts

Reflecting on the public’s opinions around how horses are trained, Owers said: “The public again appeared to have good instincts about the importance of rewards, the use of a soft voice and light pressure on the reins or sides. But they do not seem to like use of the whip, even for light tapping.

“Horse people were more likely to understand the use of light pressure to train a horse, but worryingly, a notable proportion were also more complacent about using a loud voice, using a whip with force and using fear or pain to train a horse. These practices are of course unethical and rightly not supported by the public.”

The public’s trust

A panel discussion explored the survey results further and asked for their opinions on what might increase the public’s trust that sport horses live good lives, alongside the top three survey answers.

Chaired by writer and editor Lucy Higginson, the panel featured equestrian professionals Dickie Waygood, eventing performance director at British Equestrian; Brad Hill, an equine vet at Nottingham Vet School, and Jenny Hall, chair of the FEI’s Veterinary Committee and their new Independent Welfare Advisory Group. They were joined by communications consultant David Yelland, former editor of The Sun and presenter of the podcast ‘When It Hits the Fan’.

Fielding the first question, Brad Hall acknowledged that those involved in horse sport are on a journey and that he knows of riders who are adopting a positive welfare approach and implementing the 3Fs (Friends, Forage and Freedom). He also acknowledged that measuring positive welfare posed a challenge and referenced work that is being done to develop a positive assessment tool that could be used to measure positive emotions in horses, as well as the work he is doing around using cameras and AI to identify positive behaviours.

Alongside this, Hall felt that understanding how horses learn in the development of ethical training methods was fundamental to ensuring good welfare. He said: “There is evidence to suggest that horses get a dopamine spike from learning, so there is published data on that.

“Horses like learning, so if we can speak their language and get back to that, then not only can we justify what we are doing but we can actually say that there is a sense of enjoyment from the horse’s point of view. I think that’s where we need to be moving towards and I do believe that we are going in that direction.”

Widely articulated

Jenny Hall pointed out that recent incidents that have called into question the welfare of horses in horse sport have happened outside of competition and in training. Citing the FEI’s Equine Welfare Strategy Action Plan, She explained that it’s not that the information isn’t there, but that it needs to be more widely articulated.

Noting the public’s support for mandatory welfare education, the panel also discussed the possible use of licences, examinations and certification around horse ownership and training - though there was a recognition of the challenges these measures presented when it came to resourcing and implementation.

Despite this, most gave a unanimous ‘yes’ to a question about whether coaching should be legislated in the same way the farriery profession is.

Wrapping up the event, Roly Owers said: “Education has been talked about a lot today, quite rightly too, but it is so important to actually walk the talk. There are some within our sector that ‘talk the talk’ and don’t actually implement much, so I think it is so important that we have meaningful substance to what we are doing.”