The Equine Behaviour Vet

02/09/2025

Join us on Wednesday 17th September for a thought-provoking webinar in partnership with Human Behaviour Change for Life.

Together we’ll explore Horse Sense - our new project using data and collaboration to tackle challenges and improve equine welfare across the UK 🐴

The session will share fresh insights, practical tools, and opportunities to reflect and connect with others who care deeply about equine wellbeing.

Join us and be part of the journey towards a better future for equines: https://bit.ly/45JjBwD

17/08/2025

Very grateful and proud to be part of this….

Picking up this thread - what do you want from your relationship with your horse and how do you think they feel about it?

LET'S KEEP HORSES' NEEDS AT THE CENTRE OF THE CONVERSATION!

Last weekend we hosted our fourth Understand Horses Live event, this year at Nottingham Trent University — and what an inspiring, supportive, and thought-provoking gathering it was.

A huge thank you to my wonderful colleagues who shared their knowledge so generously, and to everyone who came along and contributed to such an open and engaging atmosphere. The feedback from attendees has been fantastic, but the comments that have really made me proud are: "What a friendly, supportive and non-cliquey event", "No discussion was off the table”, “I honestly didn't think I'd find a safe space to ask questions in the equestrian world – now I have".

That was exactly the spirit we hoped to create — a place for open and honest conversation, curiosity, and collaboration.

I've shared one of my favourite slides of the weekend from Dr Jo Hockenhull’s superb presentation on horse-human interaction: “What do people want from horses? A dog". Jo discussed how her research had found that horse owners want their horse to be loyal, affectionate, attentive, cuddly, comes to call and wants to be with you all the time. But of course, horses are not dogs, they are horses. The equestrian world often seems to forget that. I want my horses to have a good life – healthy, relaxed and happy in their environment with their equine friends. Their wellbeing should not just depend on what humans want from them, but on recognising and meeting their needs as horses.

Here’s to more open dialogue, evidence-based practice, and putting horses first. See you next year!

Massive thanks to Trudi Dempsey: Equine Trainer and Behaviour Consultant, The Equine Behaviour Vet, Emma Lethbridge Horsemanship, Samantha Couper - Equine ABCs, Rosa Verwijs, Jo Hockenhull, Holly Gallacher, Kelly Yarnell, Carol Hall, Nicola Gregory, Hani Sparks, Tanyel Dede and David Taylor.

10/08/2025

Just home from an amazing weekend at Understand Horses Live hosted by the fabulous equine team at NTU. Two days packed full of learning and chatting to fabulous people about horses, what could be better!

30/07/2025

Super interesting read and open access for anyone that’s interested in the human aspect of horse welfare!

“But my horse is well cared for”: A qualitative exploration of cognitive dissonance and enculturation in equestrian attitudes toward performance horses and their welfare - Volume 34

18/07/2025

And yet more great free sessions!

FAB Advice for Veterinary Professionals! As part of our support for Veterinary practices the FAB Clinicians Veterinary Subcommittee will be running a series of Q and A sessions for veterinary professionals. Each session will focus on a particular topic and after a short introduction we will open up....

18/07/2025

Excellent free webinar!

FREE Webinar: Changing Lives: Advancing Equine Welfare Through Research, Co-creation and Action
September 17th, 7-8.30 pm (UK time)

We’re delighted to invite you to a dynamic and thought-provoking webinar hosted by Human Behaviour Change for Life, spotlighting a pioneering two-phase project commissioned by the RSPCA, to better understand and improve equine welfare across England and Wales.

In this interactive session, we’ll guide you through Phase 1 (research), which used a systems-based approach to map the equine welfare landscape. You’ll discover how a wide range of data sources from across the sector were brought together to uncover key challenges and opportunities, and hear the headline findings that have sparked meaningful conversations within the equine community and next steps for the project.

Next, we’ll delve into Phase 2, which focused on an exploration of the skills needs across the sector to improve equine wellbeing. This work culminated in the development of a practical, stakeholder-informed toolkit for change to support people to treat equines as sentient. This innovative, collaborative co-creation approach ensured the tools are rooted in real-world experience and designed to support lasting, positive impact.

During the webinar, we’ll be inviting your thoughts and reflections, mirroring the collaborative spirit that shaped this work. Whether you’re an equine professional, policymaker, passionate advocate, or have an interest in equines; this is your chance to explore how these insights and tools can support your efforts to improve the lives of equines.

Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a shared journey towards meaningful, lasting change.

Book a ticket through Eventbrite below to be sent the link (and later the recording) for the webinar:
https://Equinewelfare.eventbrite.co.uk

24/06/2025

Really looking forward to running this fantastic course again this year - last year we had such brilliant debate and discussion that could only lead to improved horse welfare! If you are interested in this fascinating topic (or know any vets and vet nurses that are) then please share, sign up and come and join us! Spaces are filling up fast!

Chronic pain in horses is complex, it's not just about lameness or discomfort but about how pain affects the horse's wellbeing. But there is a way to better understand it, and that's with our BEVA Approved: An Introduction to Equine Chronic Pain course, taking place on Thursday 30 - Friday 31 October 2025.

This course will discuss pain scoring systems and ethical decision-making frameworks, equipping you with the practical tools to evaluate, manage and monitor chronic pain to provide the highest level of care.

Find out more and book your place, with discounts for BEVA members -
https://bit.ly/3QJsIov

21/06/2025

Rapid and effective cooling can literally make the difference between life and death for any animal, including horses, experiencing heat stroke so make sure you know the latest evidence on what to do if you are faced with this emergency situation!

🔥𝗟𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗿𝘂𝗴𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘄𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲

Your horse doesn’t cool down by drying off - they cool by evaporation.

Scraping water off or trapping heat under a sweat rug undermines cooling and puts your horse’s health at risk. This isn’t opinion — it’s basic thermoregulation.

Sweat scrapers and sweat rugs are outdated dogma. And yet, disappointingly, some large equine clinics are still promoting their use today.

In 34°C heat, that advice is not just wrong — it’s dangerous.

Follow the science. Choose vets who understand equine physiology, not just tradition.

✅ Soak.
✅ Shade.
✅ Repeat.
❌ No scraping.
❌ No rugs.

14/05/2025

I am so grateful that I have the most amazing clients who are some of the few that absolutely do put the needs of their horses first. I know this is sadly still not always the case and I just wanted to say a huge thank you to you all because you make my job so much easier and rewarding as a result.

No one wants a horse they can’t ride.

This simple fact promotes a lot of harm within the horse world.

Saddle fitters feel pressured to fit saddles to underdeveloped and atrophied top lines because owners don’t want to hear that the saddle cannot be fit and that the horse should not be ridden until they have more back muscle.

People feel entitled to riding — they don’t want to have to be “sidelined” on the ground, especially if there are other professionals who will give them the answer that they are looking for, the one that tells them they can continue on riding without issue.

Trainers experience something similar.

Client horses who are not completely physically sound, or are mentally struggling, owned by clients who don’t want to hear that they need to slow things down and not ride or take things way slower under saddle.

Humans are creatures that often seek instant gratification, and when this involves another animal like a horse, that desire to seek out the more fun destination often comes at the expense of the Horse.

It also pressures professionals to take shortcuts and enable things that they know deep down are not the best for the horse.

This is so insidious in our industry.

It is the pressure behind a lot of bad decisions that end up permanently damaging horses or dooming horses to lives where they are forced to work through pain.

Riding should not be viewed as a right.

It should be seen as a privilege.

And, when owning a horse, it should be seen as a given that that doesn’t mean that you are perpetually entitled to riding them.

It means that part of your duty as their caretaker and advocate may involve not always having your desire to ride come first.

It may involve taking breaks as needed for the betterment of their physical and mental well-being.

This should be the standard, but it isn’t.

It is so incredibly common to see people putting off their permanently lame horses onto other people because they are not willing to pay for them when they are not rideable.

This is so normalized that people will even say that they don’t want to pay for a horse that they cannot ride.

And while I understand, that horses are expensive, we can’t really skirt around the fact that, for far too many people, horses lose all value to them when they are not rideable.

People no longer want to keep their horse safe or pay to care for them if they cannot sit on their back.

This fact inevitably results in a lot of unwanted horses.

And there simply are not enough homes that want to take on the unrideable horse.

This is an uncomfortable conversation that needs to be had.

How many professionals can think back to a situation where they felt pressured to keep a horse in work when they knew it wasn’t the best option?

How many of them bit their tongue and didn’t tell the owners what they wanted to say because they knew it wouldn’t be listened to?

How many of us have had to sacrifice our morals at some point in order to get a paycheque to pay the bills?

I know that I have. It was necessary to do so in order to further my career, because no one wants to be told not to ride, especially when they are paying you to solve their problems.

But, sometimes it is necessary to forgo riding to solve the root of the problem.

Yet, very few people are open to hearing that.

Has anyone else experienced this?

23/04/2025

Amazing opportunity for someone!

9-10 August 2025 at NTU Brackenhurst. A unique equine event - a weekend of lectures plus practical demos & workshops on horse behaviour, training, physiology, equine science and welfare at NTU Brackenhurst, Nottinghamshire.

19/04/2025

Our three campuses are located on the outskirts of the towns of Antrim, Cookstown and Enniskillen. The spacious rural estates offer the perfect settings for students to explore.

07/04/2025

Equine vet behaviourist Roxane Kirton, behaviourist Justine Harrison and vet physio Holly Gallacher host this unique online course of lectures, live sessions, discussions and case studies to help you understand and assess equine pain.