How to know if your horse is happy

with Professor Natalie Waran, Christa Lesté-Lasserre and Lizzie Bird

For this webinar we were joined by Professor Natalie Waran who has been investigating equine welfare, ‘happiness’, and quality of life for many years. Nat talks about the factors that have the greatest impact on horses’ quality of life, how we can meet horses’ most important needs, and what can go wrong when those needs are not met.

Following her presentation, Nat is joined for a panel discussion by Christa Lesté-Lasserre, a scientific writer with a passion for horses whose work brings to life the stories generated by equine science, and Lizzie Bird, Assistant Centre Manager at World Horse Welfare’s Hall Farm, who has many years of experience rehabilitating horses and watching their quality of life change as they journey from rescue to rehoming.

For more educational content please visit these links:

Relevant papers provided by Nat Waran:

Paper: “What is animal happiness?” Webb LE, Veenhoven R, Harfeld J.L, & Jensen, M. B. (2019). Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1438(1), 62–76 – https://nyaspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nyas.13983

Paper: “Use of Qualitative Behavioural Assessment as an indicator of welfare in donkeys.” Minero et al. (2016). Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 174, 147-153 – https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Use-of-Qualitative-Behaviour-Assessment-as-an-of-in-Minero-Costa/bb34bb6ceec3fc969af5b1a56e458171fb749a41

Relevant articles by Christa Lesté-Lasserre:

https://thehorse.com/159036/are-horses-optimistic-or-pessimistic-a-new-test-could-tell/

https://thehorse.com/1101876/do-horses-like-to-work/

https://thehorse.com/149450/researchers-link-behaviors-with-type-intensity-of-emotions/

https://thehorse.com/161475/welfare-over-winning-protecting-show-horse-welfare/

https://thehorse.com/149900/why-equitation-scientists-love-dressage-star-valegro/

https://thehorse.com/149657/weg-dressage-medalists-on-ensuring-good-equine-welfare/

https://thehorse.com/156723/can-horses-tell-us-if-theyre-happy-have-good-welfare/

https://thehorse.com/113789/is-your-horse-happy-in-a-stall/

https://thehorse.com/112963/is-that-horse-happy-or-sad-his-whinny-will-tell/

https://thehorse.com/115036/researcher-strive-to-recognize-happy-horse-behavior/