Horses occupy a unique position as both sport and leisure animals and as working animals in developing countries. Their welfare across these contexts varies enormously.
Horses in competitive sport face welfare challenges from training methods that prioritise performance over comfort, management systems incompatible with their social and dietary needs (stabling, restricted hay, high-concentrate diets), and disciplines that involve significant pain risk. Racing fatalities attract public attention, but subclinical welfare problems including gastric ulcers, stereotypies (crib-biting, weaving), and chronic musculoskeletal issues affect a majority of sport horses. Working equines in developing countries face entirely different but equally severe welfare challenges — overloading, harness sores, exhaustion, and minimal veterinary care. Organisations like the Brooke and SPANA work specifically on working equine welfare.