Document type : article published in Cheval Magazine
Author : Marie Fouque
Preview: At the FEI [Fédération Equestre Internationale] 2022 General Assembly held last weekend in Cape Town, South Africa, the FEI Equine Ethics and Welfare Commission announced the results of the surveys it had carried out during the year. These were accompanied by recommendations and proposals for future actions.
A number of topics were discussed, such as horse welfare in sport and the use of certain types of equipment. Following these investigations, questions were raised by the commission over certain uses of equipment.
Professionals from the equestrian world vote for improved application of welfare measures
Two surveys, carried out earlier in the year, set out to ascertain the views of various actors on the welfare of sport horses. The first survey was carried out across 27,710 equestrian professionals (riders, grooms, jockeys, FEI members, veterinarians, etc.). In their view, equine welfare is displayed through mental health (90%), health indicators (77%) and physical condition (63%). 37% of them also view horses as their partners, while 29% consider them to be family members. For equestrian sports, 78% of respondents felt that welfare standards needed to be improved. Moreover, 75% of them stated that they would be concerned over the welfare of horses when used for sport. This result is noteworthy, given that the majority of respondents believe that horses either frequently (46%) or sometimes (45%) enjoy being used for sport. Professional concerns expressed included "training, riding and equipment", "recognising physical and emotional stress", "responsibility, enforcement and knowledge" and "the other 23 hours". For the future of equestrian sport to be protected, several improvements must be made, the study shows, stating that "It is important that there is better enforcement of existing welfare rules, new rules need to be developed that follow the science and a certain level of knowledge concerning horse welfare should exist among those who work and spend time with them,".
