horse health connection
[email protected] a negative eff ect on equine welfare for a variety of reasons, including im- Unlocking the peding the horse’s ability to breathe, causing injury to the horse’s neck, im- Science of Riding pairing the horse’s vision, and caus- ing stress or pain. Only one study sug- More fi ndings from the International Society for Equitation Science gested positive eff ects on welfare. An interesting aspect was that the prob- By Hilary M. Clayton, BVMS, PhD, Diplomate ACVSMR, MRCVS ability of a study reporting negative welfare eff ects was unrelated to the horses’ level of dressage training, their n my October “Horse-Health Con- Horse Science familiarity with working in a hyper- nection” article, I summarized a fl exed position, or the length of time number of presentations from the Hyperfl exing horses’ necks: they spent in hyperfl exion. I Meta-analysis and cost-benefi t With regard to the eff ects of hyper- 2015 International Society for Equita- tion Science (ISES) annual conference. evaluation fl exion on the horse’s athletic perfor- With its theme of “Ethical Equitation Uta König von Borstel, University of mance, 26 percent of the studies report- for All Equestrian Disciplines: Break- Göttingen, Germany; Kathrin Kienap- ed benefi cial eff ects, including higher ing Barriers and Building Bridges,” the fel, University of Bochum, Germany; competition scores, larger ranges of mo- Andrew McLean, Austra- tion in the joints of the back and limbs, lian Equine Behaviour and an increase in the amount of work Centre; Christina Wilkins, performed.