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Why good equine welfare is good business
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Summary
All activities with horses (and this includes ponies, donkeys and mules) depend on the harmony of horse-human partnership. Compassionate and responsible management, skilled and knowledgeable husbandry, suitable environmental design, considerate handling and transport, and humane end of life decisions are all important elements of this partnership. The intrinsic link between health and welfare must also be valued and the role of the veterinarian and other key professionals included as a vital component of this relationship. As with people, if a horse’s needs are not being met, they are less likely to perform well, produce quality offspring if intended for stud, or milk or meat if intended for dairy or slaughter. If horses do not perform well or produce a quality product their owner will lose money through loss of opportunity or loss of their investment in the horse[i]. Therefore poor welfare is not ‘good business.’ Good welfare underpins good performance and quality production so enabling greater return on investment and acceptance from society that the animal is being treated well and those keeping them are acting ethically, leading to a better reputation for the owner and their industry, allowing both to prosper. This is true whether horses are used in leisure, sport, or as food animals.
You want a good horse, but won’t give it grass to eat
Equidae, like all animals, are sentient beings, capable of feeling contentment, fear, pain, enthusiasm and emotion[ii]. A harmonious horse-human partnership requires mutual respect, and the fulfilling of the animal’s needs to enable them to fulfil the requirements of their owner. The needs of horses can be summarised through the Five Domains: nutrition, health, environment, behaviour and mental[iii]. However, owners require the support of specialists to enable them to effectively meet the needs of their horse and ensure the best possible outcome for their investment. Veterinarians are ideally placed to guide this team and to champion high welfare standards across the equine industry.
Nutrition and Health
Good equine health and welfare begins with their breeding, ideally from healthy stock free from heritable disorders[iv]. High levels of biosecurity and hygiene are essential for maintaining horse health and should be a priority consideration. Disease and its spread can be reduced by implementing simple measures, and it is often appropriate for veterinarians to promote routine practices to owners. In the long-term, treating disease will always be more costly than preventing it.
In riding and horse sport, both horse and human need to be in good physical condition which requires not only appropriate nutrition but fitness and absence of pain, injury and illness. Many factors influence the individual horse’s energy requirements and diets must be tailored to meet their specific needs and promote optimum performance[v]. A horse that is malnourished will not have the energy to perform and may succumb to disease or become injured, taking them away from work and may lead to fatality and the loss of income or return on investment.
A horse who is made lame by excessive work or injury will not perform well, if at all, resulting in a negative financial impact for owners and trainers. Appropriate foot and dental care is an essential aspect of maintaining horse health and welfare. The English sayings ‘No foot no horse’ and ‘No teeth no horse’ are apposite here. Lack of such regular attention by a specialist is a significant welfare problem and devalues the animal, rendering it less likely to perform and more likely to suffer early mortality.
Environment, behaviour and mental
Horses have specific environmental and behavioural needs that must be fulfilled for good performance and welfare. These include the ability to express normal behaviour such as foraging and rolling, and particularly to be in the company of other equines to form social bonds[vi]. Horses denied these opportunities are more likely to suffer poor physical and emotional health, develop sterotypies which negatively impact their health and welfare and render them less able to perform[vii].
Fulfilment of an equine’s behavioural and environment needs is essential to form an effective and trusting partnership. Rough handling, punishment, inconsistency of treatment and lack of respect is not conducive to a productive partnership. Equidae will become stressed, less focused on the task, unpredictable and more prone to injury if they are frightened of their owners. This is equally true of the foal and young horse. A well-handled and trained horse will always carry a higher value than a difficult one in all areas of the equine industry.
Horses destined for human consumption also require respect and care for their welfare up to and during the slaughter process to provide quality meat. Long-distance journeys are proven to negatively impact horse health and welfare, especially those that are made to travel under poor conditions. Welfare issues arising from stress, rough handling and unsafe vehicles create pathological changes leading to much poorer quality meat and bruised carcasses which will command a lower price from buyers who might otherwise have paid more for the same animal had it been treated well[viii].
Importance of welfare in equine sport
On the world stage, equestrian sport and racing have long recognised that to maintain support of the public, the horses involved must be treated with respect and care – and have the highest welfare standards. This is the basis of the FEI Code of Conduct for the Welfare of the Horse, which states that:
“All those involved in international equestrian sport must adhere to the FEI Code of Conduct…and acknowledge and accept that at all times the welfare of the horse must be paramount…and never be subordinated to competitive or commercial influences.”[ix]
Sport like many activities can only operate with a ‘social licence’ – an unwritten contract with society that the industry can operate so long as it behaves ethically and transparently. This is especially true when the sport involves the use of animals as athletes. The public increasingly expects these animals to receive the highest levels of care and will not support entertainment that profits from abusing these animals. Society can and does take action when a sport develops a reputation for being cruel to the animals it depends on. For example the Australian government has banned greyhound racing, and has given serious consideration to banning jumps racing in light of the public’s views that horses are put at unnecessary risk[x].
The FEI has strong rules as well as the Code of Conduct to protect the welfare of horses in competition, and it is estimated that equestrian sport alone brings €100billion to the EU economy each year. The British racing industry – which generates around £4billion for the UK economy alone – too is a global leader in horse welfare standards, including prohibiting doping, and increasingly is developing their aftercare of horses once they have left their racing career. While there remains global concern about whether the welfare of horses is always respected in sport, those sports which actively protect and encourage the highest standards are those which sustain and grow their audiences, whereas those that do not risk societal rejection and the collapse of their industry.
The horse-human partnership has endured across the world in many variations for millennia. As the proverb above recognises, a horse needs their needs fulfilled if they are to be a ‘good’ horse, which performs their role well. Therefore, good horse welfare is essential for all businesses that depend on equidae.
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[1] Seitzinger et al. 2000 Comparison of the Economic Costs of Equine Lameness, Colic, and Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis (EPM)". Proc. ISVEE
[2] Proctor et al. 2013 Searching for Animal Sentience: A Systematic Review of the Scientific Literature, Animals (Basel)
[3] Mellor et al. 2001 Integrating practical, regulatory and ethical strategies for enhancing farm animal welfare, Australian Veterinary Journal.
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