Hartpury University academics have joined forces with their international peers to investigate how racehorses express positive emotions during their interactions with humans. The project will ultimately produce practical tools that will enable those working with horses to become more informed about how their horse is feeling - potentially improving welfare and performance outcomes.
The study will use a mixture of research approaches, including a Delphi study to assess horse welfare and a series of field-based experiments to evaluate positive equine emotional state in controlled and industry conditions.
Hartpury University will be joined by academics from Charles Sturt University in Australia as well as researchers from EITITe Pūkenga in New Zealand. The project is being funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) Equine Welfare Foundation. The foundation strives to improve the quality of life for the thoroughbred racehorse through research, supporting projects like this and the application of knowledge to drive practical change.
Hartpury is committed to driving an agenda of change to improve the welfare and quality of life for all horses, reflected by its involvement in a number of projects in this area. These range from assessing fitness and methods to reduce injury in racehorses, through to understanding rider biomechanics and improving saddlery fit.
Dr Jane Williams, Associate Professor at Hartpury University said: “How ‘well’ a racehorse is doing is no longer judged simply on how fast it runs, how many races it wins, or how much prize money it earns, but also considers the horse’s health, their behaviour and interaction with humans. We must now consider their quality of life from the horse’s perspective, both during their careers in racing and beyond. This is something we’re already doing with our own horses right here at Hartpury”
Prof Hayley Randle, Professor of Equine Science and Acting Head of the Charles Sturt School of Agricultural, Environmental and Veterinary Sciences, is grateful for the funding from the HKJC and for this team to be able to carry out this study.
She said: “Providing funding for this kind of research demonstrates the commitment of the HKJC to supporting rigorous research that seeks to provide objective evidence of positive emotions in horses,” she said.
“This is particularly important as the way that welfare is measured is changing. People are taking horses’ mental wellbeing much more seriously than ever before, and this means that the industry and everyone working in it has to as well.”
Professor of One Welfare Natalie Waran of EIT in New Zealand said: “HKJC have generously provided our team with a unique opportunity to gain insight into how horses’ feel, and this work will contribute in a practical way to help advance our knowledge of how to advance the wellbeing of all horses used in leisure and sport.”
Dr Cathrynne Henshall, who’s just completed her PhD at Charles Sturt investigating the effect of stress on a horse’s ability to learn said: “We really need evidence-based tools to help us decide if a horse is experiencing something we do with them as positive, as well as if an experience is negative. This is exactly what this project is aiming to find out.”
Hartpury University has previously been engaged with research projects within para-equestrian, shaping equine rehabilitation and devising guidelines for the use of water treadmills, addressing staffing issues and wellbeing, and understanding fitness and methods to reduce injury in racehorses.
