Horse-keeping practices in Australia: findings from a national online survey of horse owners.

The research provides an overview of general horse-keeping practices in Australia, highlighting certain areas of potential concern that could inform public guidelines and vet-client interactions.

Survey Method and Respondents

• The researchers conducted an online survey with a total of 505 horse owners across Australia.
• Owners were asked to respond considering one ‘representative’ horse in their care to gauge the most common practices.

Main Findings

• 83% of the horses were managed at pasture, with 26% of those being housed alone and another 27% with one other animal.
• For horses in stables or small yards, the primary form of exercise was riding (accounting for around 65% of the reported practices). Of these, 60% were ridden on a daily basis.
• Over half of the horse owners surveyed provided water in a trough or drinker with an automatic refill system (58%).
• A significant majority of horse owners (82%) provided supplementary feeding in the form of hay, in combination with grazing.

Areas of Potential Concern

• One noticeable area of concern pointed out by the study is the lack of social and physical contact for stabled horses. About a quarter of these horses were not allowed unmediated social and physical contact with other horses.
• Another area of concern was that one-fifth of stabled horses were exercised less than daily.

Conclusions and Recommendations

• The research concludes that the horse-keeping profile developed from this study should be used in the communication of public guidelines regarding horse management.
• The study also urges veterinarians to consider these findings in their interactions with clients, as these practices reflect common horse-keeping routines in Australia.