Therapeutic riding uses horses to support physical and psychological rehabilitation in people with disabilities, requiring careful management to protect horse welfare alongside human benefit.
Therapeutic riding creates potential welfare challenges for horses because the work involves constant close proximity to unpredictable human behavior from riders who may have physical or behavioral conditions that horses find stressful. Repeated exposure to startling movements, involuntary sounds, and unbalanced riders requires horses with exceptional temperaments and excellent training. However, the work is also compatible with good welfare when horses are selected appropriately, given adequate rest, monitored for stress signals, and retired promptly when signs indicate the work has become aversive. The welfare principle is that horses should not sacrifice their wellbeing to provide human therapeutic benefit — program success depends on horses that are genuinely willing partners rather than animals coerced into tolerating stressful conditions.