BY WANDA KRUPA1, JADWIGA TOPCZEWSKA2, ALEKSANDRA GARBIEC1,
MIROSŁAW KARPINSKI1
TABLES: THE AUTHORS
The aim of the article was to identify potential adverse circumstances in the breeding, keeping, training, and use of horses in sports, which could negatively impact their well-being. The review identified numerous consequences of errors in nutrition, housing, training and use, as well as exposure to stress, pain, injury, and disease.
A significant number of sport horses are diagnosed with health disorders, including stomach ulcers, pain, injuries of the back and mouth, lameness, and stereotyped behaviour. This can significantly reduce the horse’s quality of life. There is a need for more flexibility in the management of sport horses, including diet and supplementation, improved housing, selection of equipment, and riding aids, which will ensure horses’ welfare. There is also a need to educate those involved in the horse industry. This should lead to real improvements in the level of well-being and comfort of sport horses.
Introduction
According to the European Horse Network, about 20,000 equestrian sporting events take place yearly, with annual revenues from the industry estimated at 100 billion euros (europeanhorsenetwork.eu). Approximately 3.5 million horses are used in various equestrian sports in Europe. The United States equine industry as a whole generates approximately $122 billion in overall revenues, with the racing sector accounting for 42% and other horse competitions for slightly less. The horse population in the United States is estimated at 7.2 million (Economic contributes £8 billion a year to the economy (statista.com)). In Australia, horse racing contributes more than $1.14 billion to the economy each year (horsecouncil.org.au).
The best horses are valued not only for their performance, but also for their ability to generate enormous incomes, both for the nation and for the equestrian federations within the ‘equine industry’. International and national governing bodies and organizers of horse competitions, such as Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI), emphasize the importance of the welfare of horses through applicable regulations (www.fei.org). This suggests that horses competing in races and other competitions should have high levels of welfare.
However, the findings of many studies indicate the occurrence of irregularities in aspects of the use of horses for sport, including nutrition (Williamson et al., 2007; Brunner et al., 2012; Brunner et al., 2015; Pratt-Phillips, 2016), housing (Werhahn et al., 2011), training methods (Warren-Smith and McGreevy, 2008; Valenchon et al., 2017), observable injuries (Greve and Dyson, 2013; Trump, 2014; Cook and Kibler, 2019; Tuomola et al., 2019), and excessive stress (Górecka-Bruzda et al., 2015; Jastrzebska et al., 2017; Redaelli et al., 2019). Horses living in natural conditions forage for a significant part of the day, eating multiple times and covering considerable distances (Harris, 2007; Ransom and Cade, 2009; Górecka-Bruzda et al., 2020).
Modern horse management practices involve keeping them in stalls and feeding them limited amounts of roughage and large amounts of concentrates, with limited frequency of meals (Jansson et al., 2006; Williamson et al., 2007; Direkvandi et al., 2016). This may reduce feed digestibility and contribute to the development of stomach ulcers and colic, as well as stereotyped behaviour (Andrews et al., 2005; Cooper et al., 2005; Thorne et al., 2005)...
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