The inability to accurately assess quality of life can be harmful to horses, as owners may potentially sacrifice equine welfare due to a lack of understanding of the factors that influence that quality of life. Though multiple quality of life models exist, most don't consider a horse's mental health and are difficult to apply in real-world situations.
Quality of life is often only considered when horse owners are faced with the decision of when to euthanize a horse. A recent report, however, suggests that quality of life should be assessed multiple times in a horse's life.
The report, which was published by the Advancing Equine Scientific Excellence (AESE) project, involved students from several institutions throughout England. This team used surveys, interviews and literature reviews to understand how equine quality of life was perceived, as well as how it could be measured.
Using existing quality of life models, the research team found a marked disparity between what researchers considered feasible and what horse owners considered feasible, with regard to ease of incorporation into a daily routine.
Any tool used to measure equine quality of life would have to be practical and effective; the tool should assist owners and caretakers in the assessment of management and training, as well as the horse's response to treatment if he is injured or ill.
Any successful assessment tool will need to be developed by both researchers and real-life horse owners and caretakers so that its use is feasible. Supported by World Horse Welfare and The Horse Trust, this project is the first step in the development of a usable quality of life tool, which will help to improve equine welfare.
Read more at HorseTalk.
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