Horses and Humans: The Role of Horse Welfare and Human Motivation in Rider Safety and Rider Satisfaction

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. ii 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.