An estimated 100 million horses, donkeys, and mules work in low-income countries. Their welfare is often poor and directly affects the livelihoods of millions of people.
Working equine welfare is a unique challenge at the intersection of animal welfare and human development. Animals are worked to exhaustion because their owners depend absolutely on their productive capacity and may lack alternatives. The welfare of the animals and the welfare of the human families they support are inextricably linked. Effective interventions work through communities rather than against them: training owners in basic veterinary care, providing affordable farriery, distributing appropriate harness design information, and establishing community animal health worker networks all produce measurable welfare improvements while respecting the socioeconomic realities of working equine owners.