Horses used in therapeutic riding and equine-assisted therapy programmes face specific welfare challenges related to repetitive work, multiple unfamiliar riders, and high emotional demands.
Therapy horses are asked to tolerate unusual movement patterns from riders with physical disabilities, unpredictable behaviour from participants with psychological challenges, and frequent changes of handler. For horses that are well-matched, well-trained, and properly monitored, this work can be engaging and within their welfare capacity. For horses that are unsuited, overused, or inadequately managed, therapy work creates chronic stress. The asymmetry of welfare assessment — where therapeutic benefit to humans is documented rigorously but horse welfare is monitored informally — is a structural risk. Programmes that invest equally in horse welfare monitoring, regular veterinary and behaviour assessment, and retirement planning demonstrate that therapeutic benefit need not come at horse welfare cost.