04/01/2025
University of Guelph researchers Caleigh Copelin and Katrina Merkies conducted an preliminary study targeting owners, managers, and coaches of Canadian riding lesson facilities.
The study found that facilities with fewer than six lesson horses reported lower ratios of horses exhibiting reactive behaviours when being tacked up such as biting their handlers and pinning their ears.
This suggests that smaller facilities might be able to provide more individualised care, potentially reducing stress and conflict behaviours in horses.
Lesson horses from respondent facilities worked an average of 2 hours per day.
Longer working hours were associated with higher incidences of horses bucking under saddle. Additionally, facilities with larger herds (13 or more horses) had longer maximum working hours per horse compared to those with smaller herds.
The use of restrictive equipment was also linked to conflict behaviours.
Facilities that reported greater use of side reins saw increased frequencies of reactivity when tacking up, as well as pawing, kicking, and pinning ears while under saddle.
Similarly, the use of flash nosebands was associated with higher incidences of horses bucking under saddle compared to other types of nosebands.
Conversely, facilities with a higher proportion of horses not wearing nosebands reported fewer horses who bucked.
Previous studies have already shown that riding lesson horses have poorer welfare compared to pleasure horses, when comparing incidences of abnormal behaviours, physical injuries, health issues, aggression towards humans, and “depressed-like” postures.
The variability in injury and death rates among lesson horses across different barns suggests that management practices play a significant role in their health and longevity; with larger lesson facilities reporting higher injuries and deaths.
Details on the survey can be found here: https://thehorseportal.ca/2024/12/study-looks-at-welfare-of-lesson-horses/
