Harmony in Equestrian Sport: towards an evidence-based understanding of horse–rider interaction
Project overview
Participants
More related research
Short summary
Harmony between horse and rider is widely recognised as an important aspect of equestrian sport and is closely linked to horse welfare. However, it remains challenging to define and assess in a consistent way.
Why this research project?
Although harmony is included in judging guidelines across disciplines, there appears to be limited consensus on how it is evaluated in practice, which may contribute to:
- Inconsistent judging decisions
- Reduced transparency and fairness
- Ongoing horse welfare concerns and public scrutiny
Project aim
- Develop a clear, evidence-informed definition of harmony, grounded in stakeholder perspectives and scientific data
- Identify and agree upon observable indicators used in real-world assessment
- Integrate qualitative and quantitative findings into a structured assessment framework
Ultimately, we aim to move from a subjective concept to a measurable framework that can contribute to improved consistency and transparency in judging, and support ethical, welfare-centred equestrian sport.
Project stages
The project is organised into three interconnected work packages (WP):
WP1 – Defining harmony (Exploration)
- Collecting perspectives on harmony via interviews from key Swedish and international stakeholders (judges, riders, veterinarians, equestrian governing bodies, researchers)
- Using thematic analysis to identify how harmony is understood, described, and interpreted
WP2 – Building consensus on indicators (Consensus building)
- Using findings from WP1 and scientific evidence to develop a first set of candidate indicators and descriptors
- Running an online Delphi consultation with a multi-stakeholder expert panel to evaluate these indicators over successive rounds until consensus is reached
WP3 – Towards measurement and application (Piloting and validating)
- Testing and refining the protocol using competition video clips, where stakeholders assess harmony to evaluate consistency between and within raters
- Comparing harmony scores with independently recorded horse behaviours to examine how well the framework performs in practice
Get involved
If you are interested in contributing or learning more, please contact:
Project leader Dr Elke Hartmann elke.hartmann@slu.se +46 (0)76 832 49 00
🌐 (project link / SLU page)
Research group:
- Dr Susanne Lundesjö-Kvart
- Dr Anna Byström
- Prof Agneta Egenvall
- Prof Inga Wolframm
- Prof Natalie Waran
- Dr Andrew McLean
- Dr Kathrin Kienapfel
Multi-stakeholder reference group
- Elina Åsbjer (veterinarian, Swedish Centre for Animal Welfare, SCAW; Sweden)
- Göran Dalin (chair of Swedish Equestrian Federation’s Horse Welfare Council; Sweden)
- Göran Åkerström (FEI’s chief veterinarian and head of FEI’s Sports Horse Welfare Working Group; Switzerland, Sweden)
- Kyra Kyrklund (former Olympic dressage rider, vice chair of International Dressage Riders Club (IDRC), member of FEI’s Dressage Working Group; UK)
- Mads Hendelowitz (Grand Prix dressage rider competing at the Olympics in 2016; Segersta Equestrian, Sweden)
- Pia Fälth (B-trainer in dressage, international dressage judge 3*, Grand prix dressage rider; Sweden)
- Ylva Rubin (veterinarian specialising in equine dentistry, equipment fitting, member of the Swedish Equestrian Federation’s Equine Welfare Council Reference Group for Animal Welfare, Biosecurity, and Anti-Doping; Sweden)
