Horse welfare legislation

General legislation guidelines

• All people in charge of horses have a legal responsibility to care for them
  
• The care of a horse is expensive and often not budgeted for adequately
  
• Horses cannot be maintained in good health just on any old block of vacant land.

The children’s classic Black Beauty (1877) was a lone cry in the wilderness by its author, Anna Sewell, for horse welfare reform. It was a fictional story, read and loved by millions since its publication well over a hundred years ago, but it was also a protest against many of the wrong but accepted practices of the time, particularly the use of the bearing rein on carriage horses to make them keep their heads up and look pretty. Some horses were forced to work for hours in these devices, including having to try to pull loads uphill. Of course in modern times there still are dubious devices used on horses to alter their appearance or action, but the bearing rein was particularly cruel and senseless.

Black Beauty was a book well ahead of its time, because it is only in the last few decades that there has been much real public awareness of animal welfare issues, due largely to the communications technology boom and vast improvements in information dissemination and education. Another factor, many people say, is the increasing influence of women in policy making decisions regarding animal welfare. But even in times gone by, very few people had any desire to be deliberately cruel or unkind to animals, except for the “sickos” that have always been in society. Using practices that cause unnecessary distress, discomfort or pain were and still are mainly due to ignorance or extreme lack of concern.

It was once thought that animals do not suffer pain, which of course is totally wrong. Pain is a protective mechanism common to all vertebrates, and even invertebrates use evasion tactics which may or may not be an attempt to avoid or minimise pain - the jury is still out on whether invertebrates feel pain. Pain has a biological cause as well as an emotional response. Anticipating pain makes it worse and animals including horses will not have this emotional response until conditioned to associate certain cues with previous painful experiences. Individual humans and no doubt animals vary in their pain threshold and tolerance of pain, but both parameters are lowered by anxiety and stress. Animals certainly suffer from these emotional states, which they respond to by exhibiting personality changes or developing abnormal behaviours. Some of the abnormal behaviours of the horse under stress have already been discussed, particularly stable vices.

Model codes of welfare

The commonwealth government department DAFF and many of the states of Australia have model codes of welfare specific to species, some of which cover horses.  While a breach of one of these codes is not an offence in itself, if it causes animal suffering it may become an offence under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The following is based on some of the recommendations made in these codes:–

• Horses in a confined group situation, e.g. those kept in a yard for a period of time, require six square metres of personal space each. Animals disadvantaged by sex, old age, injury, advanced pregnancy or illness should be segregated.

• Closely confined horses, eg those kept in stables or stalls, must have room to stand, turn around, roll, stretch and lie down. They must be exercised twice a day by being led, ridden or driven, or freed to get their own exercise. They must be fed at least twice daily and/or always have hay available, and should not be kept in total isolation. Access to and intake of water should never be restricted except on veterinary advice.

• Paddock horses must have adequate grass to maintain condition. If pasture is inadequate but still providing some nutritrion, horses should be fed at least once daily or moved to a bigger area with better grazing. In southeast Queensland the recommended stocking rate for natural pastures under normal conditions of rainfall is no more than one horse per hectare (two and a half acres) all year round. A hectare is a large area of land in comparison with the average house block and not always bargained for by people either seeking agistment or offering it. Consequently the weed-infested agistment paddock overrun with too many half-starved horses is an all too common sight, especially in near-city areas. Adding to the problem has been the real estate marketing ploy of advertising semi-rural “acreage” blocks (which may not even be half an acre) as having “room for a pony”.Paddock horses should be checked regularly for reasons other than their condition. Water troughs frequently malfunction and dams and creeks can dry up. Horses have been known to die of thirst from being caught in paddock hazards or fences.

• Horses must have access to shade (trees or a shelter shed) and not be kept in paddocks with no windbreak protection. Paddocks should not be entirely on the side of steep hills with no flat areas where the horse can lie down.

• It is the duty of all who own or handle horses to familiarise themselves with the signs of injury, ill health, ill thrift and disease. This requires a basic understanding of common causes and ways to minimise their occurrence. Help must be sought or given promptly to any sick or injured animal.

Queensland has no specific separate code for the welfare of horses, although according to the DPI website there is one under development (Nov 2006).  But horses are covered under the Duty of Care provision in Section 17 of the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001. Any person who owns or is in charge of a horse is legally obliged to provide adequately for the animal's needs in regard to –

• food and water
• accommodation or living conditions
• ability to display normal behaviour
• treatment of disease and injury

• handling and related

These provisions must be appropriate to the type, age and circumstances of the animal and according to climatic conditions. Overrugging of horses is a glaring and frequently seen example of inappropriate care in relation to climate. Even in winter in southern Queensland, it is rarely cold enough to leave a heavyweight rug on a horse all day. To do so prevents the evaporation of sweat from the body surface which is how horses cool themselves. Consequently body heat builds up, horses may breathe rapidly (“pant” through the nostrils) in an effort to lose heat, also stand in water if available. They may be soaked with sweat under the rug. Keeping paddock horses adequately fed is far more important than rugging them unless it can be properly managed according to ambient temperature. An exception is clipped horses, they should never be turned out in a paddock in the middle of winter without a rug.