Living the ‘Best Life’ or ‘One Size Fits All’—Stakeholder Perceptions of Racehorse Welfare

摘要

Simple SummaryBritish horseracing industry stakeholders were asked to discuss their perceptions of racehorse welfare. From the discussions held with stakeholders eight different areas that would have an effect on welfare were pinpointed, with health as the most important. Two strands ran through all eight identified areas. These were health-related factors and the horse-human relationship. In their view, to live the ‘best life’ possible a horse in training should be treated as an individual whereas a ‘one size fits all’ approach best fitted a life lived where minimum welfare standards were in place. Participants highlighted some of the challenges racehorses face in terms of welfare together with any innovative or uncommon practices they had seen used. Health was seen as the most important challenge to welfare as well as being the most innovative, for instance, the continued growth in specialised veterinary treatments. The results from this study can be combined with practical animal welfare evidence to produce the first British racehorse welfare assessment tool.