RESEARCH PROJECT
Horse welfare of horses in Horse assisted interventions
Updated: June 2025
Project overview
The official name official name of the project:
Horse welfare of horses in Horse assisted interventions
Project manager:
Jenny Yngvesson
Contact:
Jenny Yngvesson
Funded by:
Stiftelsen Lunds Djurskyddsfond
Participants
Project members:
Research groups:
More related research
Short summary
When we started this project our focus was mostly on the negative side of the welfare. Now we are instead moving towards the positive welfare indicators.
The welfare issues in horses used for horse assisted interventions can from earlier research and our own preliminary results be concluded to be factors like overweight, unpredictability and lack of control over the environment.
Positive aspects of welfare can be concluded to be factors like: good opportunity to express natural behaviour, good human-horse relations and demands adapted to the ability of the horse.
There are still a large number of questions around the welfare and training of horses in general and horses in HUI in particular. Some of which are:
- How are and how should horses be trained for this type of work?
- How can housing and management be improved to reduce the issue with overweight?
- How do horses cope with humans with special needs?