An estimated 100 million horses, donkeys, and mules work in agriculture, transport, and tourism worldwide, with welfare standards varying enormously across different contexts and countries.
Working equid welfare presents a distinctive challenge: in the contexts where welfare problems are most severe, the animals are also most economically essential to human families with no access to alternative power sources. Simplistic advocacy that focuses only on eliminating working equid use can damage the livelihoods of some of the world's most vulnerable communities. Effective welfare intervention in these contexts requires community-based approaches that improve working conditions, nutrition, and veterinary access while respecting the centrality of equids to rural economies. In wealthier contexts — horse-drawn carriages for tourists, racing, and recreational riding — there is less economic constraint and greater scope for welfare improvement through regulation and consumer pressure.