A Good Life For Racehorses

Following is a synopsis of a presentation from the International Society for Equitation Science conference entitled “A Good Life for Horses” presented by ISES in New Zealand in March 2024. The study was conducted by Rachel Annan of the University College Dublin, Ireland, and Leah Trigg, Jo Hockenhull, Kate Allen, Deborah Butler, Mathilde Valenchon and Siobhan Mullan of the University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.

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Racehorse welfare continues to attract increasing public attention; however, scientific evidence of welfare assessment of racehorses is lacking.

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To develop a better understanding of racehorse welfare, it must be measured and monitored. The aim of this study was first to investigate welfare measures which could be used in the first welfare assessment protocol for racehorses, second, to understand the effect that a racing and training season had on individual racehorses and third, to identify risk factors for both good and poor welfare.

Behavioural observations along with individual environmental and animal-based welfare measures were recorded for 353 horses in 13 training yards in England, both at the beginning and the peak of the Flat and Jump racing seasons. Yards were selected for variability in terms of size, location, and level of racing.

Each of the welfare measures were modelled as an outcome variable against potential risk factors for good or poor welfare outcomes in racehorses, using binomial Generalized Linear Mixed Models (GLMMs) and linear mixed-effects models for binomial and continuous measures respectively. The horses were generally in good physical health: 94% of horses recorded as an ideal body condition score, no horses had signs of hoof neglect and 77.7% had no nasal discharge.

The overall prevalence of external Mouth Corner Lesions was 12.9% and was significantly higher (p<0.01) for Flat racing than Jump racing horses.
The majority of horses (67.5%) showed positive horse-human interactions. When stabled, 54.1% horses had physical social contact and nasal discharge was not associated with increased physical contact (p>0.05).
The training season significantly increased Horse Grimace Scale scores (p<0.01) and time spent resting, (p<0.01), while positive Human Reactivity Tests (p<0.01) and time spent feeding (p<0.01) decreased over the course of the season.
A total of 14.5% of horses displayed stereotypic behaviour on at least two occasions. Horses with windows in their stables spent significantly more time surveying their surroundings than those horses without windows.
Overall, the racehorses in this sample spent around a third of their daytime feeding (33.7%) and a further 22.6% standing resting. Horses were observed lying down more often when they had physical social contact with other horses.

Behavior response categories for Human Reactivity Tests.

The welfare assessment protocol used in this study is suitable for use in industry to measure and monitor equine welfare. This can ultimately identify challenges to welfare in addition to highlight areas of good practice to help ensure that racehorses experience a Good Life.

Take-home message

Measuring and monitoring equine welfare can ensure that racehorses experience a Good Life. The welfare assessment protocol used in this study proved to be suitable for industry use to collect welfare data on racehorses in a training yard environment. When assessing racehorse welfare, using a holistic assessment protocol which encompasses both environmental and animal-based indicators ensures a full picture of welfare can be gained.

If racehorses are expected to work at the upper limit of equine athletic ability, it is important that, overall, they experience many positive experiences in order to achieve a positive welfare balance, and a good life.