Animal Welfare Risk Assessment Plan for Sport Ponies at an Equestrian Facility in The Netherlands

Abstract

With the lack of legislation and the proven welfare problems within the equine industry, there is a need to monitor and improve the welfare of horses. The aim of this RAP was to identify environmental risks regarding housing and nutrition that may affect the welfare of six performance ponies housed at a Dutch equestrian facility. On the basis of the guidelines of The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), risk assessment consisting of exposure assessment, consequence characterization and risk characterization was done. Within a certain period of time, on site data were collected describing housing and husbandry factors to which the ponies were exposed. On the basis of literature, the potential hazards, benefits and their consequences on horse welfare are explained and discussed. The hazards at this facility regarding housing and nutrition with the highest priority were ‘individual housing’, ‘box housing’ and ‘order of feed’. The benefits at this facility regarding housing and nutrition with the highest priority were ‘automatic drinking device’, ‘overview through barred walls’, ‘high ceiling’ and ‘straw bedding’. Factors both listed as a hazard and a benefit were ‘automatic drinking device’, ‘feeding times’, ‘overview through barred walls’, ‘straw bedding’, ‘group turnout’ and ‘ground distribution’. Except for ‘feeding times’, the benefits of these factors outweighs the risks. The results of this RAP can be used as a science based framework to implement changes in housing and nutrition management to improve the welfare of the ponies at Steenhof Stables.