Equine positive welfare provision — enrichment that allows curiosity, play, and social engagement — is increasingly recognised as essential beyond the Five Freedoms minimum standard.
Horse positive welfare science has advanced significantly: we can now measure positive emotional states through heart rate variability, behavioural indicators, and cognitive judgement bias tests. Horses that are allowed social interaction, environmental exploration, and play express positive states that enrich their welfare beyond the mere absence of suffering. The welfare implication is that horses need not just veterinary care and adequate nutrition but environments that actively support positive experience — social companionship, turnout time, and environmental variety.