Chief executive Roly Owers addresses the conference.

Inspiring talks highlight the importance of research and education.

Equine charity World Horse Welfare (WHW) held its annual conference last week, focusing on the question 'What is a good life for a horse'.

The event at the Royal Geographical Society in London (7 November) was attended by over 750 delegates, who gathered to listen to an inspiring line-up of speakers and panel discussions.

Among the speakers included renowned researchers and leading equestrians, who challenged some of the most widely-held beliefs and traditions about what horses need to live a 'good life'.

In his opening speech, WHW chief executive Roly Owers emphasised how the journey of providing good equine welfare has evolved with experience and scientific understanding.

He said: “Over the past decade and more, this understanding has been turbocharged by mounting scientific evidence of what makes animals, including horses, tick. Only if a horse feels content in themself, from their own individual perspective, can their welfare be good.

“As we now know, depriving our horses of the Three Fs – Freedom, Forage and Friends - is depriving them of a good life. However, is this synonymous with how normalised certain attitudes and practices are in the horse world?”

Next, Professor Natalie Warar, director of the Good Life for Animals Centre and former chair of the independent Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission for the FEI, explored the emerging evidence of the positive emotional responses of horses. She emphasised how it is important to consider a horse's life from birth to death, as well as all of its experiences.

She said: “Most people and animals go through life with a mix of positive and negative experiences. So, for a 'good life', what we are looking for is a life where those negative experiences are minimised and the experiences across all contexts of an animal's life tend to be mainly positive. And that we work hard to ensure that, that is the case."

Dr Lisa Dickle, a post-doctoral researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, spoke about horses from an evolutionary ecology perspective. Meanwhile, WHW's regional coordinator in Latin America, Lorena Barrantes, discussed the challenges faced by working horses, donkeys and mules and how these could be improved.

She said: “We improve the lives of working equids where it is needed. Sometimes these improvements require extra resources but very often they just require the sharing of knowledge. They just require us working hand-in-hand with the communities, which is the most sustainable way to ensure long-term change.

"We don’t just heal animals; we transform entire communities. We lift generations and we prompt a better future for us all, humans and equids.”

The day culminated with a lively panel debate, chaired by Sky News and Sports editor, Nick Powell. Among the panellists were Battersea Dogs and Cats Home chief executive Peter Laurie, racehorse trainer Lucinda Russell, the Household Cavalry’s regimental veterinary officer, Major Dan McRink and the British Equestrian Veterinary Association’s veterinary projects officer Lucy Grieve.

The full conference is available to watch on the World Horse Welfare website.

Image (C) World Horse Welfare.