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Welfare - Why should we care?
N. Waran
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Animal Welfare has been described as a complex, multi-faceted public policy issue, including important scientific, ethical, economic and political dimensions (OIE 2014). Although traditionally the scientific study of animal welfare, involving measurements of an individual animal’s quality of life has been seen as separate from the ethics of animal use and treatment, there is increasing acceptance that both are inter-connected. Whilst animal welfare assessment has traditionally relied on measures of negative states such as pain, distress, fear and discomfort, it now appears to be accepted that good welfare is not simply the absence of such negative experiences, but also relies on the presence of positive experiences such as pleasure. Horses present a particular challenge due to the nature of their interaction with humans. In these situations, the handler/rider through their actions will likely exert a considerable impact on their horse’s emotions due to the intensive management, handling and focused interaction associated with the process of training, and the physical and emotional demands placed on the animal in relation to performance. Methods which rely on and provoke negative emotions and states such as fear or stress, or where the animal experiences pain, may lead to short term success in relation to behavioural change, but will also produce fearful or stressed horses due to learned behaviours which are not desirable for horse or human safety, nor successful for sustainable performance. Understanding equine welfare assessment is essential for a future-focussed and sustainable equine industry.
Whilst a behavioural response may serve to keep the horse safe when it is free-living, this is often problematic in the domestic situation where horses have much closer interactions with their owners, since these fear responses potentially place both horse and human in danger. When frightened or anxious, horses will show escape responses ranging from agitation involving a raised head and neck to extreme explosions and bolting. A report looking at causes of horse related injuries, stated that of all the self-reported accidents in the UK involving horses, 70% are due to the horse’s behavioural responses, including training issues (Silver et al., 1991). In order to enjoy a safer relationship with horses as well as ensuring that they remain fear free during their interactions with humans, there is a need to understand how to avoid provoking negative emotions in horses during handling and training.
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About
Affiliation of the authors at the time of publication
Eastern Institute of Technology, Napier, New Zealand
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