Animal category: Equines

Scientific review concluding that current evidence for equine welfare during human-horse interactions is minimal and relies heavily on the absence of a negative emotional state during enforced interactions.

A scientific article investigating whether horse owners use auxiliary reins correctly. It reports that while most of the horse owners surveyed used reins responsibly, they need clarification and information on the functions of the different auxiliary reins.

Scientific paper showing that stress hormone levels are lower in equine therapy horses ridden by mentally-impaired riders, presumably due to their lesser control over the horses, than by non-mentally impaired riders.

Scientific review revealing wide variations in the occurrence of abnormal behaviours in horses across studies, and identifying poor nutritional management as the main risk factor in the development of such abnormal behaviours.

Scientific paper demonstrating that a simple educational infographic based on the five domains model had a significant impact on riders' assessment of equine welfare, despite the fact that they still found it difficult to assess their horses' emotions objectively.

Scientific paper presenting and validating a behavioural test based on the animal's reaction to approaching, haltering and leading, to describe a horse as broken in or not. This test could be used to determine the status of horses prior to transport, given that transport regulations are stricter for unbroken horses.

Scientific paper investigating the chronic stress levels of recreational horses in relation to their living conditions in order to determine the best management strategy for the welfare of the horses.

Scientific paper demonstrating that ration composition and energy intake influence the incidence of oral stereotypies (especially empty chewing) and redirected behaviours (especially bedding consumption) in working horses (leisure, equestrian, patrol and endurance). Endurance horses are the most sensitive to ration composition.

A scientific review investigating the reasons why most domestic horses have unsatisfactory welfare levels despite being very close to humans. It identifies human subjectivity, human misinterpretation of signals sent by horses, and human desensitisation to welfare situations as the main contributing factors. It proposes the promotion of validated indicators to allow horse welfare to be assessed objectively. 

Scientific article presenting the results of a survey of equine stakeholders on their feelings about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. It shows that the pandemic has affected veterinarians and horse owners due to restrictions on contact and human-horse interactions. However, the pandemic has also led to initiatives to maintain social links between owners as a remedy for isolation.