Horses used in equine-assisted therapy provide significant human health benefits but require welfare protections specific to their therapeutic role and workload.
Therapy horse welfare requires the same rigour applied to any working animal - the value of their work to humans does not reduce their welfare needs or the organisation's responsibility to meet them. Therapy work involves patient riders who may have difficulty with balance or unexpected movements, repetitive exercises that can cause cumulative musculoskeletal strain, and high human interaction that can be stressful without adequate rest. Welfare-focused therapy programmes monitor horse behaviour for stress indicators, rotate horses to provide adequate rest, conduct regular health assessment, and plan retirement before welfare is compromised. Rider safety and horse welfare are complementary rather than competing objectives.