Our research projects

The research we invest in strives to cover a range of key issues impacting horses all over the world.  We look to cover topics relating to responsible ownership of horses, horses in sport, working equids and long distance transport to slaughter.  This helps to provide the backbone to our work and investing in and delivering research on key equine welfare topics is a priority. 

Below are just some examples of research we have supported and collaborated on. 

Responsible ownership 

• The influence of rider:horse bodyweight ratio and rider-horse-saddlefit on equine gait and behaviour: A pilot study 
• Horses in our hands – World Horse Welfare 
• Equine Grass Sickness 
• Laminitis 
• Horses’ behaviour during tacking up and mounting: do horse owners recognise abnormal behaviour? (UK) 
• Assessing the impact of best practice guidelines on the recognition and diagnosis of horses with clinical signs of colic  

Horses in sport 

• Changing Hearts and Minds in the Equestrian World One Behaviour at a Time
• Ethical framework for the involvement of horses in sport. 
• Review of the use of the whip in racing
• How Happy Are Equine Athletes? Stakeholder Perceptions of Equine Welfare Issues Associated with Equestrian Sport.   

Working equids 

• Investigating the role of the Agrovet and worming protocols in treating Panamanian working equids (Panama)  
• Validation of welfare assessment tool for evaluating the health and welfare of working equids  
• Pulling people from poverty: improving the socioeconomic status of working equid owners in Latin America  
• The impact of World Horse Welfare’s Farrier and Harness Projects on equine welfare and owner attitudes towards equine welfare (Senegal)  

Long distance transport and end of life 

• Journeys, journey conditions, and welfare assessment of broken (handled) horses on arrival at Italian slaughterhouses. 
• Journeys, journey conditions, and welfare assessment of unbroken (unhandled) horses on arrival at a slaughterhouse in Italy 
• Validation of Qualitative Behaviour Assessment (QBA) for the evaluation of horse behaviour during loading for transport 
• Quantifying factors associated with the welfare of equids destined for slaughter during long-distance transportation