Over the past decades, recognised importance of prompt and valid pain recognition and quantification in veterinary medicine significantly increased interest in investigating attitudes and self-rated abilities of veterinarians towards pain assessment. However, giving that the owners are the ones who decide when to call the veterinarian, it is also essential to investigate their attitudes and knowledge regarding pain recognition and management. This is the first research investigating horse owners’ attitudes and self-rated abilities towards pain assessment and management in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The participants were invited via email or social media with attached link to online questionnaire created using the Google Forms platform. Surveyed population included adult sport or pleasure horse owners, and horse caretakers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Study response rate was 33.33% (40 respondents). The questionnaire consisted of sections asking about respondents’ demographic data, general pain assessment and management, and attitudes towards pain assessment done by veterinarians compared with theirs. Study respondents considered their abilities for pain recognition and quantification as sufficient and sufficient/moderate, even though most of them were unfamiliar with pain scales, and only negligible number use them. This study indicates the need and importance of owners' education concerning pain recognition and quantification in horses, and their more effective communication with veterinarians.

In previous years interest has grown in investigating the attitudes and capabilities of veterinarians regarding the recognition, quantification and treatment of animal pain throughout different parts of the world and encompassing various species. This is the first report exploring the attitudes and self-rated abilities of veterinarians in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) concerning recognition and quantification of pain in domestic animals. A study questionnaire was made available to 535 general practice veterinarians throughout B&H and 73 (14%) responded in full. The questionnaire contained polar, multiple choice, ordinal and interval scale questions and consisted of sections asking about demographic data, attitudes to pain recognition and quantification, use and availability of analgesics, estimates of pain intensity during specific surgical procedures, and the perceived need for pain assessment and continuing education programmes for analgesia. Half of the respondents considered the recognition and quantification of pain to be difficult while 89% did not make use of pain assessment scales. Of the respondents, (33/73; 45%) felt a certain level of pain to be advantageous since it reduces the activity of the healing animal, whereas 52% (38/73) did not agreed with this concept. Cost was a consideration when deciding whether or not to use analgesics for 58% (42/73) of the respondents with the most commonly used types being NSAIDs (72/73;99%) and opioids (60/73; 82%). Practitioners in B&H displayed awareness of the importance of pain assessment and management however a significant proportion were unaware of pain scales and relied upon physiological indicators of pain.