“If dressage is the highest expression of horse training, dressage judging should be a transparent and systematic system for de-constructing that training”. Horses and People Editor, Cristina Wilkins, speaks with Andrew McLean about his proposal to align the dressage judging system with evidence-based horse training (learning theory) as a meansRead More →
A team of researchers from Italy, Germany and England successfully developed and validated a standardised scale to recognise pain in horses based on their facial expressions. Called a Horse Grimace Scale, the scale is easy to teach and will assist in pain detection in horses. It will have a positiveRead More →
When a horse presents with persistent or intermittent haemorrhagic nasal discharge (bleeding from the nostrils) your vet may investigate for an uncommon but problematic ethmoid haematoma. So what is it? what causes it? and how can it be treated? Veterinarian, Sarah Van Dyk explains… Anatomy A part of the horse’sRead More →
During the Victorian era, many people had little empathy for their beasts of burden, but all that changed when ‘Black Beauty’ was published in 1877. This was the first book to be written specifically to encourage people to stop deliberate cruelty to horses. The spark for horse welfare Author AnnaRead More →
A debate on the use of whips was a highlight of the 2010 Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) Annual Conference. Andrew Harding, CEO of the Australian Racing Board (ARB) and Dr Andrew McLean, from the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre (AEBC) were invited to expose their views on this contentious topic. TheRead More →
