Determining a Welfare Prioritization for Horses Using a Delphi Method

Abstract

Simple Summary: Horses are used for a wide range of different purposes and may be vulnerable to a large number of different welfare issues, some of which are unique to equines, such as responses to being ridden or trained. Compared to farmed livestock, their welfare has received less attention, but concern for their welfare is increasing. Welfare issues can arise from the environments in which animals are kept, how they are treated by their human caregivers and their health. To determine which of the issues are most important and may need the greatest attention in terms of research effort or owner education, we used a process of eliciting expert opinion. Through a series of surveys and ranking of issues, we determined that, in the opinion of equine experts, the most important issues for horses were poor disease prevention, issues arising when old or sick horses are not promptly euthanized, lack of owner knowledge of welfare needs of horses, fear and stress involved in horse use, inability of owners to recognize pain behaviour, obesity and inadequate feeding practices. Prioritizing different welfare issues can help to focus attention on the most pressing or severe issues causing the greatest amount of suffering.Abstract: Equine welfare issues are receiving increasing attention in the UK, but welfare problems can arise from a wide range of causes. In order to identify the most important welfare concerns for horses, we used a Delphi method with 19 equine welfare experts. An initial list of 84 equine welfare issues was generated using an online discussion board and NVivo thematic analysis. Subsequently, experts ranked these welfare issues for perceived prevalence, severity and duration of suffering associated with each issue on a 6-point Likert scale. All issues with a mean score of 3 or above (n = 37) were included in subsequent rounds. Finally, a subset of experts attended a two-day workshop to determine the final priority list of welfare issues. The welfare issues perceived to be most prevalent were lack of biosecurity, delayed euthanasia, lack of owner knowledge of equine welfare needs, fear and stress from use, and obesity. The issues considered to cause greatest suffering for individual horses were delayed euthanasia, lack of recognition by owners of pain behaviour, large worm burdens, obesity and being fed unsuitable diets for equine feeding behaviour. These outcomes can help to focus research and education interventions on the most pressing welfare issues for horses.

Prioritisation of animal welfare issues in the UK using expert consensus

“…For some issues, it was undoubtedly diicult for our experts to rank the issues simply because there iares limited scientiic or empirical data available on the extent of the welfare issue. There is always the possibility that very diferent results might ensue, depending on the panel of experts participating, 44 although our study in horses 15 showed good agreement with other studies using diferent types of experts. Additionally, consensus methodologies make assumptions on the quality of the expert panel's decisions.…”

“… †See online supplementary materials for the full list of dog welfare issues. ‡See Rioja-Lang et al 15 for the full list of horse welfare issues and ranking. §See Rioja-Lang et al 12 for the full list of rabbit welfare issues and ranking.…”

“…Delayed euthanasia decisions were a welfare issue across both companion and farmed species and may cause prolonged suffering where pain cannot be alleviated. The reasons why this may occur has already been discussed [13][14][15] for cats, farmed species and horses respectively. Reasons for delay vary from feelings of guilt or grief for the death of old or sick companion animals (and some farm animals), 'giving the animal a chance', unrealistic expectations of pain management, inexperience or an inability to recognise suffering or economic reasons.…”

“…These can contribute to the problem behaviours or social behaviour issues discussed previously, and contribute to ongoing or chronic health issues such as lameness in farmed animals. Some aspects of the welfare issues with poor environments have already been discussed, [12][13][14][15] and these are issues that have different root causes in different species. Domesticated dogs and cats, in particular, have shown remarkable adaptation to human environments, 41 but human management of all species is largely directed to achieving human goals, and the requirements of different species are often overlooked.…”

An Ethnographic Account of the British Equestrian Virtue of Bravery, and Its Implications for Equine Welfare

“…This is particularly the case when riders are placed, or have placed themselves, within positions of deferral, subservience, and self-ridicule, since it is difficult from this position to evaluate information clearly and decide upon the best course of action. Horsemen et al [ 63 ] (p. 21) and Rioja-Lang et al [ 64 ] (pp. 10–11) identify caregivers’ misrecognition of equine pain as a key welfare challenge facing British equestrianism at present.…”