Assessing the welfare of horses in the field: available protocols, conditions and limits of use

Abstract

Welfare of horses is among the concerns of their owners and users. Optimizing welfare requires being able to evaluate objectively their physical and mental state before, using validated protocols to adapt the practices implemented. This paper presents the three main assessment protocols available. The first (SEBWAT) is suitable for animals used in low and middle-income countries. It only includes indicators observed in animals, with few mental state indicators. It can only be carried out by trained assessors. The other two (AWIN Horse and Cheval Bien-être) are more adapted to high-income countries and are intended for all owners. They include indicators observed on animals and in their environment. The most recent, the Cheval Bien-être protocol is in French and has integrated new indicators of negative mental state. These two protocols could be improved by adapting some of their indicators and integrating positive mental state indicators.