Equine assisted therapy (EAT) uses horses to support human psychological and physical therapy. The welfare of therapy horses requires careful attention to prevent exploitation.
Equine assisted therapy presents a complex welfare situation: horses can provide genuine benefit to human clients while simultaneously experiencing the demands of therapy work as stressful. Repetitive handling by anxious or unpredictable clients, irregular schedules, and high-stimulus environments can compromise therapy horse welfare. Well-managed programmes incorporate regular welfare assessment of horses, clear thresholds for removing horses from work when showing stress indicators, appropriate rest and turnout, and positive reinforcement-based training. Horse welfare should be integral to EAT programme design rather than secondary to human therapeutic goals. Welfare-conscious EAT benefits both the horses involved and the quality of therapeutic outcomes.