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Animals
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Equine Welfare Assessment
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Equine Welfare Assessment

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Welfare".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 18603

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Gemma Pearson

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
The Horse Trust & Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
Interests: equine behavioural medicine; learning theory; equitation science; horse–veterinarian interactions; horse–human interactions; welfare of ridden horses
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Carol Hall

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
National Equine Welfare Council, Slad Lane, Princes Risborough, Buckinghamshire HP27 0PP, UK
Interests: equine behaviour and welfare; equine perception; equine affective state; equine cognition; equine ethology; quality of life indicators
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the past, concerns relating to equine welfare have focused on working animals. However, more recently, the spotlight has been on the millions of equines kept worldwide for sporting and leisure purposes. The criteria on which equine welfare assessments are based have changed from being predominantly physical indicators of health and resource provision, to including signs indicative of equine positive and negative mental state. The search for validated approaches to assessing equine welfare has been precipitated by the increasing public scrutiny of equestrian sports, as well as the growing body of evidence that the needs of many equines (for friends, freedom, and forage) are currently not being fulfilled. A good quality of life can only be attained if, over time, positive experiences outweigh negative ones. One major challenge to improving equine quality of life is to identify signs on which assessments of equine mental state (both positive and negative) can be based, and how the interpretation of such signs may be context-specific. Only by devising and applying such measures can we move towards a better quality of life for all equines.  

We invite original research papers that address the methodological aspects of evaluating equine welfare, mental state and/or quality of life in general, or as applied to a specific context. They may include behavioural and/or physiological measures of mental state (arousal and valence) and/or quality of life per se, or focus on specific states such as fear, anxiety, and positive or negative anticipation. Additionally, we invite comparative assessments from across other species that may inform measures of equine welfare in future work.

Dr. Gemma Pearson
Dr. Carol Hall
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • equine
  • welfare assessment
  • quality of life
  • emotional state
  • physiology
  • behavioural indicators
  • affective state
  • arousal
  • mental state

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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26 pages, 16307 KiB  
Article
The Welfare of Traveller and Gypsy Owned Horses in the UK and Ireland
by Marie Rowland, Neil Hudson, Melanie Connor, Cathy Dwyer and Tamsin Coombs
Animals 2022, 12(18), 2402; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12182402 - 13 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3088
Abstract
Travellers and Gypsies are recognised ethnic groups in the UK and Ireland. Horse ownership is an important cultural tradition, however, practices associated with poor welfare are often perceived to be linked to these horse owning communities. Despite this, empirical studies on the welfare [...] Read more.
Travellers and Gypsies are recognised ethnic groups in the UK and Ireland. Horse ownership is an important cultural tradition, however, practices associated with poor welfare are often perceived to be linked to these horse owning communities. Despite this, empirical studies on the welfare status of Traveller and Gypsy owned horses are lacking. To determine the welfare status of Traveller and Gypsy owned horses, 104 horses were assessed using a bespoke horse welfare protocol. This protocol assessed animal, resource and management-based measures. In addition, Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) identified horses’ emotional state. Results indicated that 81% of horses had an optimal body condition score, with no horse recorded as very thin/fat. The absence of limb conditions (95%), ocular (98%) and nasal (93%) discharges were evident in most horses, and 81% of horses responded positively to the voluntary animal approach test. The most commonly observed welfare issues were hoof neglect (27%), with hoof cracks/breakages (19%) being the most prevalent. QBA indicated that positive emotional states were more commonplace than negative. A relationship between QBA and other horse welfare measures was observed, e.g., improved mood was associated with better water availability. This research provides novel data in the under-researched area of the welfare of Traveller and Gypsy owned horses and counters perceptions of a poor welfare state in this group of horses. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Equine Welfare Assessment)
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10 pages, 529 KiB  
Article
Assessment of Welfare in Groups of Horses with Different Management, Environments and Activities by Measuring Cortisol in Horsehair, Using Liquid Chromatography Coupled to Hybrid Orbitrap High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry
by Francesco Cerasoli, Michele Podaliri Vulpiani, Giorgio Saluti, Annamaria Conte, Matteo Ricci, Giovanni Savini and Nicola D’Alterio
Animals 2022, 12(14), 1739; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12141739 - 06 Jul 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3751
Abstract
Horses have always been animals used for companionship, work, transportation, and performance purposes over the history of humanity; there are different ways of managing horses, but studies on how horse welfare is influenced by different activities and managements are scanty. Understanding how the [...] Read more.
Horses have always been animals used for companionship, work, transportation, and performance purposes over the history of humanity; there are different ways of managing horses, but studies on how horse welfare is influenced by different activities and managements are scanty. Understanding how the management, the environment, and the different uses of horses can affect the level of stress and well-being is important not only for people associated with horses. Three groups of horses with different management, environments, and activities were selected: (1) stabled horses ridden frequently, (2) horses that perform public order service under the Italian state police, and (3) free-ranging horses. Cortisol analysis was carried out on horsehair samples using liquid chromatography coupled to hybrid orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS/MS), a laboratory technique used for the first time to quantify horsehair cortisol. The selection of horses to be included in the three groups was carried out by including only subjects with positive welfare assessment in accordance with the horse welfare assessment protocol (AWIN). These analyses demonstrated that the cortisol levels detected in the horsehair of free-ranging animals were significantly higher compared to those detected in stabled and working horses. These results may have been a consequence of complex environmental, managerial, and behavioral factors, which should be worth further investigation Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Equine Welfare Assessment)
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Review

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14 pages, 948 KiB  
Review
Social Licence to Operate: What Can Equestrian Sports Learn from Other Industries?
by Janet Douglas, Roly Owers and Madeleine L. H. Campbell
Animals 2022, 12(15), 1987; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12151987 - 05 Aug 2022
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 10737
Abstract
The concept of ‘social licence to operate’ (SLO) is relevant to all animal-use activities. An SLO is an intangible, implicit agreement between the public and an industry/group. Its existence allows that industry/group to pursue its activities with minimal formalised restrictions because such activities [...] Read more.
The concept of ‘social licence to operate’ (SLO) is relevant to all animal-use activities. An SLO is an intangible, implicit agreement between the public and an industry/group. Its existence allows that industry/group to pursue its activities with minimal formalised restrictions because such activities have widespread societal approval. In contrast, the imposition of legal restrictions—or even an outright ban—reflect qualified or lack of public support for an activity. This review discusses current threats to equestrianism’s SLO and suggests actions that those across the equine sector need to take to justify the continuation of the SLO. The most important of these is earning the trust of all stakeholders, including the public. Trust requires transparency of operations, establishment and communication of shared values, and demonstration of competence. These attributes can only be gained by taking an ethics-based, proactive, progressive, and holistic approach to the protection of equine welfare. Animal-use activities that have faced challenges to their SLO have achieved variable success in re-establishing the approval of society, and equestrianism can learn from the experience of these groups as it maps its future. The associated effort and cost should be regarded as an investment in the future of the sport. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Equine Welfare Assessment)
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