Equine Therapy Horse Welfare - Standards and Monitoring

Welfare standards and monitoring approaches for horses used in equine-assisted therapy, including workload limits and behavioral assessment.

Key Facts

Equine-assisted therapy horses work with vulnerable human populations including children with disabilities and trauma survivors
Therapy horses show elevated stress indicators including cortisol and behavioral changes with intensive use
UK charity Horse Sense provides welfare guidelines for therapy horses used in educational settings
Burnout and learned helplessness have been documented in over-used therapy horses without adequate recovery time
Behavioral assessment tools like the Horse Grimace Scale can identify pain and distress in working therapy horses

Welfare Considerations

Horses used in therapy programmes face unique welfare challenges: they cannot choose whether to work, may encounter unpredictable or distressing human behaviors, and are often selected for calm temperament that may mask stress responses. Active welfare monitoring including behavioral assessment, workload limits, and provision of genuine rest periods is essential to prevent chronic stress in these animals.

What You Can Do

Ask therapy programmes about their horse welfare monitoring protocols before participating
Support organisations that publish horse welfare standards and audit results
Advocate for industry-wide welfare standards for equine-assisted therapy programmes
Learn to recognize stress indicators in horses when observing therapy sessions
Donate to organisations researching welfare in equine-assisted therapy