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Are Horses Misbehaving Or Are They Misunderstood?

8 years ago
1306 views

Posted
12th January, 2016 09h46

Author
Ceva


This question was the title of a recent equine behaviour seminar held at The British Horse Society headquarters in Kenilworth. Leading equine professionals from veterinary schools, universities and colleges, equine charities, behavioural services, welfare and equine professional organisations as well as the veterinary profession, explored this crucial question through a series of five short talks and two workshop sessions. There was also an opportunity for the attendees to learn about the role of equine pheromones in helping to reduce stress in certain situations.

Organised by Ceva Animal Health, manufacturer of the equine appeasing pheromone ConfidenceEQ, speakers at the seminar were Professor Natalie Waran BSc (Hons) PhD, director of Jeanne Marchig International Centre for Animal Welfare Education at the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh; Gemma Pearson BVMS Cert AVP (EM) MRCVS, senior clinical scholar, University of Edinburgh Equine Hospital and veterinary liaison officer, International Society For Equitation Science; Loni Loftus MSc BSc (Hons), companion animal behaviourist and lecturer, and course manager of the equine science and management degree at Askham Bryan College; Nic de Brauwere BVSc MRCVS, chairman of NEWC (National Equine Welfare Council) and head of welfare and behaviour at Redwings Horse Sanctuary and Jo Gourlay, BVM&S MRCVS, veterinary advisor at Ceva Animal Health.

After a thought provoking morning of talks giving insight into multiple perspectives of this universal problem, the attendees split into groups to try and get to the heart of the issue and then start finding solutions.

They were first asked to identify the most common areas of behaviour and welfare affecting the average horse owner in their day-to-day life. Three key points stood out from the in-depth discussions during this session.

Firstly, misinterpretation of horse behaviour. This included not understanding what constitutes ‘normal’ behaviour in the horse and being unable to identify, sometimes quite subtle, signs of fear or pain.

The second point highlighted was the lack of basic knowledge of horse care, ethology or understanding of the Five Freedoms. Many horse owners can ride but don’t necessarily understand behaviour, nutrition, health or equitation principles.

The Five Freedoms are:

•           Freedom from hunger or thirst

•           Freedom from thermal or physical discomfort

•           Freedom from pain, injury and disease

•           Freedom from fear and distress

•           Freedom to indulge in normal behaviour patterns.

Thirdly, that horse owners often believe a higher level of success is possible for both them and their horse than that which is realistic.

In the second workshop session, delegates were then asked what action should be taken to increase both awareness and availability of evidence-based guidance to help both horses and owners.  Attendees agreed that a centralised, cohesive, standardised and accessible information resource should be launched for horse owners to access and utilise in a way that suits their individual needs and learning styles.  The resource should be dynamic and interactive and it should feature a comprehensive database of experts for horse owners to refer to, such as behaviour specialists.

The behaviour and welfare standards – the Five Freedoms – need to be highlighted and behaviour professionals need to recognise that there are different ways of achieving better welfare.

Finally, it was decided that behaviour and welfare training should be embedded in the culture of academic and professional bodies (farriers, vets, students, instructors etc.) with a view to professionals cascading knowledge to owners for recognition of potential behavioural issues.  Equine professionals are key to referral and a multidisciplinary approach is needed to enable the equine industry to respect and understand the knowledge of behaviour and welfare specialists, so guest lectures on tertiary education courses should be encouraged.

Questioning how we interact with horses, to try and ensure horse and human safety and good welfare, is central to all who work with horses. The ultimate goal is to have happier, safer horses and as a result happier, safer owners and riders.

All the morning lectures from the seminar are now available to view at http://www.ceva.co.uk/News-Events/CPD/Equine-Behaviour-Seminar


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