Welfare of horses used in horse assisted interventions

Last changed: 17 June 2024
Johanna Johansson fills in a protocol that is on a straw bale. A horse stands nearby and watches curiously. Photo.

To gain understanding about welfare for horses used in Equine assisted interventions (EAI) in Sweden, we visited EAI businesses to assess horse welfare and interview EAI practitioners.

Background

EAI is a highly variable field and we aimed to quantify EAI horse welfare. Further aims were to examine risks of injury and practitioners’ horse welfare knowledge.

Happy horse - successful EAI

Ensuring horse welfare reduces unwanted horse behaviour and increases human safety (Luke et al., 2022).

 

Material and methods

  • 28 horses, from seven EAI businesses.
  • Welfare assessment done using adapted version of the AWIN assessment protocol.
  • Eight practitioners, from eight EAI businesses.
  • Interviews about safety in EAI, horse behaviour and welfare.

Results

Good feeding:

  • 85% of horses had access to clean water 24h per day.
  • 59% of horses were overweight and 41% were ideal weight.

Good housing:

  • All uninjured horses could move freely every day.
  • All horses had comfort around resting.

Good health:

  • On 87% of horses, no signs of injuries was found.
  • On 81% of horses, no signs of disease was found.
  • On 92% of horses, no signs of pain was found.
  • On 60% of horses, no signs health issues was found.

Appropriate behaviour:

  • 14% of horses could only see, sniff or nibble other horses.
  • 36% were group housed with other horses parts of the day.
  • 50% were group housed with other horses 24h per day.

None of the assessed horses showed stereotypic behaviour.

Welfare assessment measures, good feeding, good housing, appropriate behaviour, good health. Figure with graphics and text.

Welfare assessment protocol

AWIN welfare assessment protocol for horses

Human – animal relationship

A woman standing opposite three horses. Black silhouettes. Picture.

24 horses were approached and touched on the neck and back as the assessor moved towards the tail. Signs of positive interest, avoidance or aggression was recorded. 

Interviews

During their time in EAI (mean 5.4 yrs, SD=4.4), 5/8 practitioners described incidents when humans or horses, had or could have, been injured.

Incidents leading to injuries were:

•       Stepping on foot/trampling

•       Kicking

•       Biting

All practitioners knew some signs of stress, fear, and pain but failed to mention some common indicators of negative affective states.

 

References

Minero M., Dalla Costa E.,  Dai F., Scholz P.,  Lebelt D. (2015). AWIN welfare assessment protocol for horses. DOI: 10.13130/AWIN_horses_2015

Luke K.L., McAdie T., Smith B.P. & Warren-Smith A.K. (2022).New insights into ridden horse behaviour, horse welfare and horse-related safety. Appl. Anim. Beh. sci, 246. 10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105539

Contact

Johanna Johansson, M.Sc., johanna.e.johansson@slu.se

Petra Boelhouwers, M.Sc., petraboelhouwers@gmail.com

Anna Lundberg, PhD, Senior lecturer in Ethology, anna.lundberg@slu.se

Jenny Yngvesson, PhD, Associate professor in ethology and animal welfare, jenny.yngvesson@slu.se

Facts:

Conclusions

  1. General welfare was good. Horse welfare plus were group housing outdoors and long foraging times.
  2. Avoidance behaviour levels were low and 75% of horses showed positive interest in humans.
  3. Areas of improvement were:

•       Horse body condition.

•       Recognition of negative affective states.

•       Risk management.

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