Horses and donkeys used in equine-assisted therapy and activities (EAA) have specific welfare needs arising from their therapeutic role. Balancing client benefit and animal welfare is essential in ethical EAA programs.
EAA animal welfare requires explicit attention because the therapeutic context can create pressure to prioritize client outcomes over animal welfare - a compromise that ultimately undermines both. A stressed or unhappy therapy horse who communicates discomfort may have those signals ignored in service of client needs, creating an ethical failure and potentially compromising the therapeutic relationship. Welfare-positive EAA programs integrate animal welfare monitoring into program design, limit session numbers and duration to protect animals, provide regular welfare assessment by qualified equine welfare professionals, rotate animals to prevent overwork, and plan proactively for retirement. Animals in therapeutic programs deserve welfare protection commensurate with the service they provide.