In November 2023, Prof Nat Waran, Companion Animals New Zealand’s Director of ‘A Good Life for Animals’Centre, visited Mexico City to submit a 50 page final report proposing a vision of a Good Life for Horses in Sport. This represented the culmination of an 18 month period of work commissioned by the FEI, the international body responsible for equestrian sport at the highest level, to address issues related to the ongoing acceptability of horse use for sport. Whilst the main focus of the Commission’s work was on sport horses and their welfare, the Commission members were also mindful of the need to produce recommendations that related to general horse use, including the welfare of leisure horses. The final report with 30 Recommendations, titled ‘A Good Life for Horses’, provides a blueprint for ensuring that the welfare of horses involved in sport and leisure is safeguarded, risks to welfare are addressed and mitigated, and the horse’s interests are prioritised at all times across its lifetime.
In June 2022, the FEI (Fédération Equestre Internationale), the international governance body responsible for establishing regulations and approving equestrian event schedules worldwide including all Regional and World Championships and Olympic Games, established an independent Commission to address growing societal concerns about the uses of horses in sport.
Professor Nat Waran, an internationally respected expert in equine behaviour and welfare based in New Zealand, was invited to become the Chair of the committee of 10 members drawn from various countries and with different areas of expertise.
The Commission’s objectives were to ensure on going social acceptability regarding the involvement of horses in different sporting disciplines under the jurisdiction of the FEI, through providing evidence-based recommendations and advice to not only address current welfare concerns, but also safeguard future equine welfare underpinning the FEI’s commitment to the welfare of the horse being paramount.
Over an 18-month period, the Commission gathered information through large scale public and equestrian surveys, stakeholder engagement workshops,presentations and webinars as well as delving into the research literature to produce a 50-page final report for the FEI Board. The report titled, ‘A Good Life for Horses’–A vision for the future involvement of horses in sport,outlines six priority are as of focus identified as being of importance to equestrian stakeholders in relation to equine welfare. The main area of concern being described as; training and riding, tack and equipment, as well as recommending that all equestrians show their commitment to, and responsibility for their horses’ welfare through signing an Equestrian Charter.
The 30 Recommendations provided by the Commission call for the FEI to provide direct and indirect leadership through developing and implementing the proposed vision for ‘A Good Life for Horses’, to influence transformative change in relation to strengthening social licence. The Recommendations address various areas of horse use both inside and outside of competition and include the creation of a ‘voice for the horse’ –a permanent internal FEI Equine Ethics and Wellbeing body to advocate specifically for the welfare interests of the horses. They also suggest there is a need for greater accountability through establishing an Independent Horse Welfare Advisory Committee to act as a ‘critical friend’ and provide an external perspective and independent advice related to the welfare of horses in sport.
During her final address to the 2023 General Assembly held in November in Mexico City, Prof Waran reminded those present including representatives from the 136 National Equestrian Federations, why there is a need to demonstrate good leadership by being proactive and responsive, and that it’s not possible for those within the horse sports community to ‘award their own social licence’. She urged the FEI to adopt the “precautionary principle”, by prioritising horse welfare in decision-making and giving horses ‘the benefit of doubt’ where a welfare risk is identified but research evidence may be lacking or disagreed with. Understanding that ‘absence of evidence does not necessarily mean, evidence of absence’.
She finished her address to the international audience in the room, and online, by observing that ‘all equestrians are responsible for the future of equestrian sports. We need to optimize and prioritize equine welfare and most importantly, be seen to be doing so’.
In receiving the Final Report from Professor Waran, FEI President Ingmar de Vos commended Professor Waran and the Commission for the important body of work and stated that the work would contribute to a larger strategy and concrete measures that will be presented for discussion at the April 2024 FEI sports forum in Switzerland.
The Recommendations and associated documents can be found here: https://equinewellbeing.fei.org/key-documents.html
