Heads up, horse owners. It’s time to take a good look at how you are treating your steeds. It used to be that if you provided water, feed and shelter, you received a passing grade. But under a revised Code of Practice, you may be expected to demonstrate that your horses are indeed healthy and happy, says Dr. Ed Pajor, a professor of animal behaviour and welfare at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.

Pajor will be speaking about animal welfare in the horse industry at this year’s Horse Owners and Breeders Conference held in January in Red Deer, as part of the Fred Pearce lecture series.

The Code of Practice for the care and handling of horses is being updated to address animal feelings, says Pajor. This means that horse owners must be due diligent in being able to prove their horses are receiving proper care, from showing medical records to keeping their environment safe. “There may be sharp edges on the pen, or maybe cleanliness isn’t as good as it could be,” Pajor says.

The horse industry has a number of issues that make it public and vulnerable, from transportation and slaughter facilities to Thoroughbred racing and rodeo activities, he noted.

“There is strong evidence that concern about animal feelings and their mental states will increase in the future and be a driving force in the development of animal welfare policy,” Pajor says, noting that a new definition of animal welfare is being proposed by the World Organization for Animal Health.

While training methods may be results-oriented, this new “state of the animal” approach will consider what the horse experiences while being trained, he says, noting that an animal’s feelings are now becoming part of scientific investigation.

Studies underway in Europe will indicate whether a performance horse is stressed in doing its job, whether it be show jumping, cutting horses, or bucking in a rodeo arena. “Most horse owners will tell you their animals like to perform, that they like to go to work. If that’s true, then the behavioral and physiological data collected will support that.” These studies will indicate, for example, whether a horse’s heart rate remains elevated throughout a show, even after it has performed, he says.

Pajor would welcome similar studies in North America. “There’s lots of opportunity and the need to do it,” he says. “To say ‘trust me’ isn’t good enough anymore. You have to be able to demonstrate that you have programs in place.”

If owners and organizations can show they are following specific procedures and codes of practice to address an animal’s state of mind, then it will be easier to combat animal activists who protest such activities as rodeo or Thoroughbred racing. “It’s hard to fight against data,” Pajor says.

Other issues the horse industry must be aware of is the public’s dislike of pain, such as castration or branding without pain control, he added. “Most people can accept these practices if pain is mitigated.”

Much of the public’s discontent around treatment of livestock is a result of the gap between consumers and the source of their food, says Pajor. Also, pet owners are projecting their treatment of dogs and cats onto farm animals, including horses.

And it isn’t just large organizations like rodeo stock contractors who are being scrutinized, Pajor says. Even the owner of a few horses on an acreage can expect to be under observation. “Those are the horses people see when they are driving around. They look at them and wonder if they are being properly cared for.”

In fact, a third of calls received by the Alberta SPCA are horse-related, says Tim Battle, director of education. “Often it’s just a case of educating the owner. They may need help in determining the right kind of feed, or how to care for an elderly horse. Or maybe they don’t know the feet need to be trimmed.”

The Fred Pearce lecture series, established in 1995, focuses on equine welfare issues. It is named after Fred Pearce, a farmer near Huxley, AB, who had a passion for horses and left his estate to the Alberta SPCA after he died in 1993. During his life, he worked teams of horses long after tractors replaced draft horses. “From what we were told, he was a quiet guy,” says Battle. “He kept horses to the end and buried them on his property.”