Horses and Humans: The Role of Horse Welfare and Human Motivation in Rider Safety and Rider Satisfaction
Creators: name: Luke, Karen
Publisher: name: CQUniversity
Year: 2024
Subjects: classificationCode: 300306
subject: Animal welfare
classificationCode: 529999
subject: Other psychology not elsewhere classified

description: The horse industry is facing unprecedented scrutiny in relation to horse welfare, and
its social licence to operate is under threat. The industry’s record of severe rider injuries and
deaths add to the threat. Typically, the industry dismisses horse welfare concerns as being
misinformed and stresses the inherent and intractable dangers of horse riding due to the
unpredictable nature of horses. This thesis challenges this narrative, reframing horse
behaviour as predictable and an indicator of horse welfare, and rider safety as a problem that
can largely, but not entirely, be addressed through improving horse welfare. Central to this
thesis is ridden horse welfare, how it is conceptualised and its assessment.
The thesis begins with a critical literature review examining horse behaviour deemed
undesirable or inconvenient by owners but may indicate a welfare issue. The review
demonstrates most equine welfare research is conducted using traditional reductionist science
within individual disciplines. Using the undesirable behaviour of crib-biting as an exemplar,
the review highlights many solutions proposed in the literature are anthropocentric short-term
‘fixes’ that lack context and further diminish horse welfare. An alternative scientific
paradigm, systems thinking, is then applied to crib-biting, and the respective strengths and
weaknesses of both scientific approaches discussed. Research based on systems thinking is
suggested as one way to increase interdisciplinarity and identify new solutions to complex
horse welfare issues (Section 4.1). The new systems thinking approach is then applied in
Section 4.2, where the relationship between rider knowledge of learning theory and ridden
horse welfare is investigated. From this study a new approach to horse training, that embeds
learning theory principles within an overarching systems thinking framework, is proposed.
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Despite growing concern, no validated welfare assessment scale exists that covers all
aspects of a ridden horse’s life, including (crucially) when a horse is ridden. Addressing this
gap, a prototype horse welfare assessment scale was developed based on the Five Domains
Model and the published literature. Using this scale, survey items were developed, and
participants’ responses were used to calculate a relative horse welfare score for each study
horse. Significant relationships between the relative horse welfare score and hyperreactive
horse behaviour, rider safety and rider satisfaction were found (Chapters 5 and 6). Riding
horses with a bit (a device placed in the horse’s mouth and used to control the horse) is the
norm, however, their use is increasingly questioned on welfare grounds. This study found
horses ridden bit-free had significantly better relative welfare scores, performed fewer
hyperreactive behaviours and had more satisfied riders (Chapter 7). Rider safety did not
differ between horses ridden with or without a bit. These findings accord with the literature.
Continuing the central theme of horse welfare and its assessment, a rich
understanding of equestrians’ conceptualisation of horse welfare and the motivations
underlying their practices was sought (Chapters 8 and 9). This qualitative research identified
equestrians generally equate horses’ physical health with welfare, which does not align with
the Five Domains Model. Moreover, this research identified where there is tension between
human needs and horse needs, human needs are generally prioritised.
Insights garnered from this research have the potential to overcome prevailing
attitudes that horse riding is inevitably dangerous. The thesis also highlights opportunities to
develop solutions that meaningfully address the challenge of poor human safety by
addressing the fundamental problem threatening the future of all equestrian sport, poor horse
welfare.