In an open letter, the International Society for Equitation Science (ISES) asked World Horse Welfare (WHW) to publicly rectify “a number of incorrect claims and insinuations” made by Olympian and WHW trustee Richard Davison regarding noseband research at their recent conference. Roly Owers, MRCVS, WHW chief executive responded and praised RichardRead More →
Improving your understanding of the inbuilt instinct for survival in the horse – how it is triggered and what it looks like – will improve your training methods, reduce the instances of injury to both, you and other people around the fearful horse and the horse himself. A question ofRead More →
Many horse owners rug their horses all year round, however, a preliminary study, warns that the ambient temperatures expected and the type of rug needs to be carefully considered as horses can easily overheat. It has become routine (and even fashionable) for many domestic horses to be rugged all yearRead More →
In this article, you will find six basic principles you can incorporate into your daily interactions with your horses to help you prepare for extraordinary events and improve your horse’s natural disaster survival and resilience. Since 2010, Dr Kirrilly Thompson has been researching the ways in which animals and animalRead More →
Is the equine science of embryo transfer ethical? The practice of equine embryo transfer is becoming more and more accessible to breeders as a way of obtaining offspring from mares who might be compromised through age, fertility problems or injury in their ability to produce a healthy foal, or fromRead More →
The Cycle of Disaster Resilience When it comes to extreme weather events or the possibility of an emergency animal disease outbreak, it’s not so much a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’. Every year, somewhere in our region is impacted to some extent by a natural disaster – be it cyclonesRead More →
In this article, Dr Rachel O’Higgins examines the current understanding of stereotypies – a group of behaviours which are commonly referred to as ‘stable vices’. As Dr O’Higgins explains, horse owners must change the way they think about stereotypies; instead of being offensive, they need to be recognised as aRead More →
Eventing is a sport enjoyed by many Australians, but what are the risks? alan feebery/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND Kirrilly Thompson, CQUniversity Australia The death of 17-year-old horse rider Olivia Inglis in March 2016 rocked the global equestrian world. The hashtag #rideforolivia went viral. Not two months later, 19-year-old Caitlyn Fischer diedRead More →
Horse Bit and Bridle – As horse owners, we have a responsibility to ensure the well being of our horses. Every time you ride, your position, posture and aids have a direct impact on your horse. But, how can you successfully communicate with your horse if your tack is creatingRead More →
Flip the Lip: Bits and Bitting Demystified If you want a topic to spark a conversation, generate some controversy or perhaps motivate someone to produce the collection of bits they’ve bought and tried over the years, then this is certainly it… Whilst I make no claims to be an expertRead More →
