Equine-assisted interventions in Germany: animal welfare knowledge and practices among equine-assisted professionals

Abstract

Background

Numerous studies have shown the positive effects that horses in equine-assisted interventions can have on a variety of recipients. The importance of animal welfare and implementation of animal welfare practices in equine-assisted interventions has not yet been extensively researched.

Aim

The aim of this exploratory study was therefore to investigate the understanding of animal welfare from the perspective of equine-assisted professionals and how it is ensured by them.

Methods

111 equine-assisted professionals in Germany were surveyed about their knowledge of animal welfare and the individual implementation of animal welfare practices with their horses using questionnaires with closed and open questions. The quantitative data were analysed using the statistical software SPSS and Microsoft Excel and the qualitative data were analysed based on thematic coding with category formation.

Results

The analysis of the collected data shows that most equine-assisted professionals (96,6%) assign a very high level of importance to animal welfare during equine-assisted interventions. The knowledge of aspects relevant to animal welfare among equine-assisted professionals is varied. To ensure animal welfare, consideration is given to the common physical and psychological needs of horses and stress-related communication signals. At the same time, the focus on more obvious stress signals from the horse shows that there may still be a need to improve the recognition of more subtle behaviours.

Conclusions

Animal welfare is very important to equine-assisted professionals. More studies are needed to assess further animal welfare-relevant aspects in equine-assisted interventions and to investigate the implementation of animal welfare-related measures by professionals.