RSH Equine

13/08/2024

06/08/2024

I’ve seen a LOT of claims that it’s just the “arm chair trainers” who are concerned about horse welfare in upper level sports and that there’s no reason to think elite sport horses have any welfare implications.

But, that’s not true.

The concern for welfare and desire to reform horse welfare in sport is evidence based.

There have been many studies showing trends of stress, many of which repeatedly being linked to the same factors.

There’s also been evidence that horse people, as a general rule, aren’t accurately reading horse behaviour and often misinterpret stress as “excitement.”

Even professionals.

The push to make evidence based changes to modern horse sport isn’t coming from a lack of experience.

Or made up beliefs.

There is merit to it.

Sources:

Effects of different head–neck positions on the larynges of ridden horses

https://wiley.scienceconnect.io/api/oauth/authorize?ui_locales=en&scope=affiliations+alm_identity_ids+login_method+merged_users+openid+settings&response_type=code&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fonlinelibrary.wiley.com%2Faction%2FoidcCallback%3FidpCode%3Dconnect&state=Dps2IO0LOrpSUAYYguc7KtuRrf28v6p%2BGQvmml7isNKO0VnuBDd35w6GCizpVGErUtI4QyX%2BZcnMNMLj97hGCMvzOnDpuKx%2BMLPIip2%2BY0nAIScrXBD3nhnhbfu8SqyYeqSHqcd4bg1nyrqmNf%2FBRQ%3D%3D&prompt=none&nonce=GKquhZCnqBQuiWMSI6MrsYR1vTcedRyg7%2B3IjVv9t4U%3D&client_id=wiley

Is the welfare of sport horses assured by modern management practices?

https://agro.icm.edu.pl/agro/element/bwmeta1.element.agro-288b0b64-bb47-4837-add7-fce405e4b318

Indicators of stress in equitation

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159117300692

Determining International and National Equestrian Expert Opinions on Domains and Sub-Domains Essential to Managing Sporthorse Health and Welfare in the Olympic Disciplines

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/13/21/3404

Tools of the Trade or Part of the Family? Horses in Competitive Equestrian Sport

https://brill.com/view/journals/soan/22/4/article-p352_2.xml

Investigating Equestrians' Perceptions of Horse Happiness: An Exploratory Study

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34416986/

Untangling the Complex Relationships between Horse Welfare, Rider Safety, and Rider Satisfaction

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08927936.2023.2176589

Horses Could Perceive Riding Differently Depending on the Way They Express Poor Welfare in the Stable

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0737080620302975

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293195838_Potential_Effects_of_Stress_on_the_Performance_of_Sport_Horses

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293195838_Potential_Effects_of_Stress_on_the_Performance_of_Sport_Horses

Equestrian partnerships: A qualitative investigation of the relationship between horse and rider in elite equestrian sports

https://researchoutput.csu.edu.au/en/publications/equestrian-partnerships-a-qualitative-investigation-of-the-relati-3

Comparison of head–neck positions and conflict behaviour in ridden elite dressage horses between warm-up and competition

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159124000509

New insights into ridden horse behaviour, horse welfare and horse-related safety

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159121003269

Does work affect personality?:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3036583/

Conflict behaviour in show jumping. Horses:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0737080617300552

Do horses enjoy jumping:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787812001931

Effect of horse age and number of riders on horse behaviour:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787820301362

Stress and temperament affect working memory: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347213004302

Conflict behaviour in elite dressage and show jumping horses: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787814002226

Ridden horse pain ethogram: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787822000685

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787816301848

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787816301848

Objective Pain assessment in horses: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090023318306245
Conflict behaviour in dressage horses: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1558787822000843

Influence of stress level on performance: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0034528817308305

Welfare improvement in sport horses: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159120300502

Effects of hyper flexion: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031938414000419

Ridden horse welfare: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159121003269

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0749073910000659

Correlation of common training gadgets and conflict behaviour: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S155878782100157X

Assessment of ridden horse behaviour: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787812000779

Can pain be determined by facial expression?: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1558787817300199

Bit related studies on discomfort:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1558787822001344

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1090023308003316

Comfortabilitt to new stimuli socially transmissibale: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159118301059

Welfare improves rider safety: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0168159121003269

Impact of stress on performance: https://vet.arioneo.com/en/blog/stress-in-horses-what-impact-on-health-and-performance/

Equitation science minimizing risk/:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4810043/

Detecting welfare in non verbal species: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/11/8/2249

05/08/2024

05/08/2024

The journey on podcast summit to say that it exceeded expectations would still be an understatement. The energy was so powerful and the experience so healing. The presenters were funny, mind blowing, thought provoking, vulnerable, real, brave and more! It was such a gift to spend the weekend with open minded humans with open hearts having real conversations. Feeling huge gratitude to been able to have been part of this special event.

30/07/2024

08/06/2024

Maybel ❤️🦄

07/05/2024

31/01/2024

The following is an edited extract from an email by Pip Easton in 2010 to EA. I record it here to keep as a reminder. “Australia aligns itself closely with the German Training Scale and I do …

24/01/2024

11/12/2023

11/12/2023

What a day! Taking my beautiful boy down the beach sadly timing wasn’t the best with tides but we had fun anyway. Querida loaded like a dream! Now everyone is out together munching 🤞🤞🤞🦄🦄❤️🦄❤️🦄

01/12/2023

The big freeze begins but this face makes smashing ice at 7am totally worth it!

23/10/2023

A pot of gold a they end of the rainbow they say. (Unfortunately rainbows are circular so this can’t be true. But there was some chicken of the woods so close enough for me!). .

13/08/2023

Perfect when there’s snacks for both of you ❤️🦄.

22/07/2023

Beautiful tree on my ride yesterday ❤️🌳.

29/06/2023

Link here to read this brilliant response by Dr Eva Van Avermaet - published in an easy-to-read blog: https://concordiaequestrians.org/dr-eva-van-avermaet-replies-to-anna-ross/

Published by the Concordia International Equestrian Magazine and supported by the Alliance for Horse Welfare in Sport (AHWS) https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092105391896

23/06/2023

It only takes a minute let’s get the voices hear for the horses ❤️🦄

04/06/2023

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334899054541?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=0zwfeAMqQb-&sssrc=0&ssuid=0zwfeAMqQb-&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for strada saddle at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

02/06/2023

Enforce Welfare Rules for Horses Paris Olympics 2024

07/05/2023

So well said

‘When done well’

This is a criticism I hear levelled at the school I currently study with - ‘Oh when done well it’s great’. Implying that when not done well, it’s really not. It’s a criticism shared about many ‘approaches’ to horse training.

And that is basically the universal truth of everything anywhere. Because the only way for anyone to get better at anything js to allow them to be not good. To improve your skill and understanding you must be supported to make humdinging mistakes, : sometimes for long periods of time. It is impossible to start at the ‘When done well’ stage. Most ordinary people have to begin at the beginning.

It must also be acknowledged that some people are going to be better at understanding and executing something than others. Not everyone can be brilliant. That doesn’t mean they can’t give things a go.

It also doesn’t mean a system is inherently flawed. It just means there is a fluctuating spectrum that we’re all on. Some of us will have natural aptitude and various other things in our favour that means we fall into the ‘When done well camp’, with enough time and practice. Others will never quite get there. That’s life.


Anything you want to get better at is going to require giving people the grace to be ‘bad at something’. Sometimes for long periods of time.

This seems to be much harder for people to allow in the horse world compared to anywhere else. My running club applaud me for being slow and rubbish at running because I’m giving it a go. That doesn’t appear to be the case in equestrian spheres.

Of course where horse training is concerned there is the additional sentient being of a horse involved. That can feel very tricky.

But the truth is lots of people do have horses and do want to ride them. Making people feel crap about themselves rarely helps them improve.

I have yet to see any approach to training horses that doesn’t have a ‘When done well’ version and a ‘When done not so well version’. A bit more understanding about that inevitable truth could go a long way.

04/05/2023

The more I read/listen about this fascinating nerve the more I think everyone needs to know about it! Looking forward to understanding bio hacking further!

25/04/2023

Just finished listening to this! Wow! Such a beautiful story a real one read by the author himself about the magical journey on which he and family travelled in Outer Mongolia in search for healing for his son. Looking forward to watching the film!

05/04/2023

What a weekend that was, starting the Masterson Method journey! Truly inspiring whilst using the lightest of touch at the same time achieving such deep results within the body! After pondering this, I have liked it the ripple effect of stone being thrown into a lake, the skeleton being the stone in this example. So beautiful to watch learn and be part of. Looking forward to practicing my skills and coming back to learn some more in the future! Countryside horses and lovely people what more can you want 🦄❤️

04/04/2023

So over the moon right now! I have just received the best email to say that Gento and I have been accepted to the up and coming légèreté instructors training course!!! 🦄❤️.

21/03/2023

So nice to be back teaching these two again! ❤️🦄.