Horse welfare reforms refer to changes in laws, regulations, industry practices, and cultural norms aimed at improving the treatment and well-being of horses in various contexts, including sport, work, and companionship.
Many reforms have emerged in response to growing public concern over equine welfare, scientific research on animal behavior, and pressure from advocacy groups and professional organizations. Examples include the prohibition of tail docking in certain jurisdictions, the regulation of training techniques such as rollkur in competitive dressage, and the implementation of welfare standards by equestrian federations. While not always coordinated under a single movement, these reforms reflect a broader trend toward enhancing the ethical treatment of horses across disciplines and regions.
Overview
Debates about the welfare and abuse of horses are recent. In the nineteenth century, when the sight of a horse dying while working was commonplace, the first wave of awareness was born with the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the publication of the novel Black Beauty in England. France followed suit with the creation of the French League for the Protection of the Horse and the passage of the Grammont Law in 1850. Similar concerns over animal welfare developed in the United States. The debate intensified and extended throughout North America and Europe over the next century, particularly regarding the use of the horse during war, the use of horses as working animals on city streets, sports training, horse slaughter, and conditions of horse breeding and keeping. In the United States, the practice of soring resulted in the passage of the Horse Protection Act of 1970 and various organizations protested against abuses in horse racing and rodeo. In the early twenty-first century, these issues remained in the public eye and new controversies arose, especially about training methods such as Rollkur, problems in the field of endurance riding, stable confinement, and the presence of carriage horses in modern cities such as New York City.
The definition of "well-being" is complex as regards the horse. Horses are very quiet and show few signs of discomfort, which makes the detection of pain particularly difficult. Theorists in the Western world once went so far as to consider the horse as incapable of feeling pain. The horse is also a sociable creature, designed by evolution to spend most of it time grazing in a natural setting. Horses develop stereotypic behaviors and other problems when kept in isolation, unable to graze, or if subjected to prolonged confinement in a stable.
The International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) now prohibits certain specific training methods, including poling and Rollkur, as have several countries, notably Switzerland. Many nations have passed assorted laws to protect horses from practices that include tail docking, transportation for excessive lengths of time, and artificial aids in horse racing or other equestrian competitions are subject to bans or national or European limitations. Transportation to slaughterhouses is regulated. In the context of increased research on equine welfare, new practices such as natural horsemanship, barefoot hoof care, and even refusal of riding have developed. These suggest a major concern for the welfare of the horse will continue into the future.
History
The domestication of the horse enabled mankind to use this animal for a variety of tasks: labour, transportation, war. Once the horse loses its usefulness, it could even be slaughtered and turned into food for humans. Even, from the anti-species point of view, developing the species in slavery to be a worker. Pierre Enoff suggests that globally, this situation is more akin to a bondage that imposes prison-like conditions on the horse, as opposed to a symbiotic relationship between human and animal. The Italian ethnologist Sergio Dalla Bernardina explains the horse's situation by the desire of part of the human population to be "master" and to tyrannize living beings. "Those who like total submission prefer dogs or horses. Those who prefer light submission pick cats". The injuring, mutilating and putting to death of horses (witness the sacrifices, horse slaughtering, horse baiting, and the organization of stallion fights) are extensively documented in numerous regions of the world. Horses were routinely killed on the field of battle, branded, cut on the ears in order to facilitate quick recognition, spurred, or docked (have their tails amputated) from the 17th century to prevent the tail from becoming stuck in the harness. However, along with this treatment develop beneficial horse-human interaction for the animal, with many examples of worship. The detention of a horse implies the need to support themselves. From the perspective of the scientist David W. Ramey, the human-horse relationship has been beneficial to both species.
The consideration of equine welfare as a concept is recent in history. The Western religious and philosophical conception of animals has long denied that they have any sensation of pain, following the theory of the animal machine described by René Descartes in the 17th century. However, Islamic civilization of the period held a strong respect for the horse, according them (among other things) the possibility of spending the night in their masters' tents. At the beginning of the 21st century, the horse is largely recognized by biologists (and by the scientific world generally) as being a "sensible being". The horse is now idealized by many cultures. This evolution accompanies that of all of Western society, beginning from the mid-20th century with the animal welfare movement, having a greater recognition for their individuality. A common error is the belief that advances in respect for equine welfare arise from ethical and scientific considerations. In reality, these advances are derived almost exclusively from demands of activists and the general public.
19th century
England The first awareness of the cause of horses arise in England at the end of the 18th century. A law prohibiting the abuse of horses was proposed in the 1820s, but was not adopted. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was created in 1824 in London, in response to animal suffering. Its logo represents an angel come to punish a man beating his horse.
The novel Black Beauty, published in 1877 in Victorian England, is known as the first work that addresses equine welfare. Its originality is in giving voice to several horses who recount their daily suffering, in the form of an autobiography. It raises a strong awareness for the cause of the horses. The author, Anna Sewell, shows herself to be ahead of her time in terms of animal protection: her novel takes a stand against checkreins, blinkers, and tail docking. According to Amélie Tsaag Valren, the novel "prefigures in a certain way the disappearance of the horse in the city. Anna Sewell shows that this animal of flesh and blood, who feels pain and sadness, does not have a place in the urban environment and the industrial society of London". The novel provoked controversy in England upon publication. It was only over time that it became a best seller. Anna Sewell, who died five months after publication, affirmed that her goal was to improve the lot of horses in this country. The result exceeded her expectations, as the publication of the novel in the US in the context of equine suffering allowed the debate to foment in that country. The multiple translations of the novel even provoked debate elsewhere in Europe.
United States
American documents relate several cases of horse exploitation leading to abuse, notably in bus and tram companies. These horse-drawn vehicles were often overloaded, and the horses pulling them were beaten and subject to hard labour.
The first definitions of horse maltreatment centred on the withholding of food and care, and the act of hitting them. The courts of New York were pioneers in this area, publishing a law that punished those who kill or deliberately torture animals (like horses) in 1829. The Court of the State of New Jersey tried a case of a man who beat his horse to death in 1858, but concluded that it was not illegal to beat one's own horse, despite the problem of the public spectacle it created. In 1860, Pennsylvania fined those who beat horses $200, double that charged to mothers who beat their children under 7 years old. Horse theft and mutilation of the animals of others was severely punished, reflecting financial and societal motives. Beating one's horse without a good reason was considered to be wrong and contrary to good morals, but the suffering felt by the animal was not taken into account. The punishment of those who mistreated their own horses was not immediately on the agenda, as the law could only be applied if proof was provided that the horse was beaten with bad intentions. The concept of animal torture was introduced in American law at the end of the 19th century, with the case of a man who applied acid to the hooves of his horses. The trend was also evidenced by lawsuits involving omnibus owners accused of exploiting their horses.
France At the beginning of the 19th century, mistreatment was common, particularly for draft horses in the era of the July Monarchy. The phrase "swear like a trooper" was coined to refer to frustrated carters, quick to use the whip and scream at their horses. When the horse falls while in harness, the carter often tried to make it stand up with a kick to the stomach. Horses often died of exhaustion at work, in the middle of the street. Multiple sources, including a Victor Hugo poem written in 1838, demonstrated the pervasiveness of the public abuse of workhorses. The rise of capitalism led to crueler treatment, particularly where horses that are unable to work are sent to the knacker. Considered useless, these horses were sometimes made to wait for days before being shot, and as a result died from hunger or thirst. This contrast between the condition of workhorses and the horses of the bourgeoisie and the wealthy caused discomfort in French society. In 1845, the Société Protectrice des Animaux was created to protect horses from abuse. Jacques Philippe Delmas de Grammont, a former cavalry officer, created a league for the protection of the horse in 1850 and helped to pass the law that bears his name that year, prohibiting the deliberate abuse of animals. However, a debate arose in France at the end of the century regarding bullfighting (notably horse hernias), which were counter to the Grammont Law.
Other countries In 1885 Leo Tolstoy published his story "Strider", narrated by a piebald horse named Surveyor. He recounts his castration, his start under the harness, and his racecourse abilities, until his bloody death at the hands of the knacker.
20th century There were more changes in the perception of equine welfare in the second half of the 20th century than in any other period of recorded history. According to Jean-Pierre Digard, awareness of the treatment of horses passed from respect to veritable love, bringing with it a new problem. While maltreatment was previously done by those who physically exploited horses, the 20th century saw the birth of mistreatment by ignorance of the needs of the animal, as anyone could become a horse owner for leisure purposes. Jean-Pierre Digard also thought that the feminization of equestrianism contributed significantly to the development of this phenomenon.
Anti-docking movement