The second Equine Health & Welfare Conference took place at the Keadeen Hotel in Newbridge, Co. Kildare on Friday last, following on from the conference held in May where the possibility of the formation of a nationwide Equine Welfare Council had been explored.
That theme was examined in closer detail by Sharon Newsome, co-founder of the Irish Horse Welfare Trust (IHWT), who made a plea to all welfare organisations to form a single umbrella group that could share resources, skills and knowledge. She was ably assisted in this by vet Nicolas de Brauwere who, since 2009, has chaired the National Equine Welfare Council, the UK’s umbrella organisation for equine welfare charities and other organisations.
Nicholas introduced the conference with the hope that many more would follow, pointing out that, “The lessons learned in one place can have benefit elsewhere and this will open doors for coordination and serve as a resource.” A special thanks went out to Kevin Smith, instrumental in initiating the idea of a collective Council.
Sharon highlighted many of the problems faced by frontline equine welfare officers and reminded us that the IHWT has re-homed 600 horses since its foundation in 1999 and is currently caring for 90 equines, which at one stage had risen to 100, with only a staff of four – two full-time and two part-time. This often goes unnoticed as people look to the IHWT for help. The IHWT has overseen many successful education projects, including travellers’ groups, and these projects are in huge demand, but there is only one education officer and the IHWT can only afford to pay her expenses.
“We must recognise the need for a multi-agency function to enable individual groups to cope,” Sharon urged, “we have the will to do this and the back up available from very experienced people in the field. We hope this will include all the industry bodies, veterinary associations and welfare and charity bodies, and all have agreed to this, which is fantastic. If we don’t get our act together charities will close.” The aim is to draw up a Code Of Practice, covering such points as identification, fairs and tethering. “The registration of establishments is a huge step forward,” Sharon pointed out, “and we’re happy to support that. But the only long term solution is education and there’s no way we can provide it without money.”
Sharon also called for the regulation of horse pounds and of individual equine charities, some of which are operating without knowledge and back up, and pointed out that disease control measures are failing and Strangles is becoming a serious issue in Ireland. “A proper Health & Welfare Equine Council could address these needs,” she said.
Jo White is Campaigns Advisor for World Horse Welfare and was awarded the 2010 BEVA Equine Welfare Award for her campaigning work to end the long-distance transportation of horses for slaughter in Europe. Jo gave an absorbing presentation on travel and its affects, which proved of interest to everyone in the audience, not least the revelation that one hour travelling in a horsebox is the direct equivalent of one hour of walking exercise. Jo provided footage of a horse constantly positioning its feet and bracing itself in a slow-moving vehicle and reminded us that we often drive too fast for the comfort of the horse when pulling a trailer. She suggested that drivers should allow themselves one journey travelling in the trailer with the horse, to experience at first hand the effect of speed and movement.
World Horse Welfare recommends horses travel only forward facing, backward facing or herringbone, but never at 90 degrees. Jo discussed her research and findings and highlighted dehydration and exhaustion as the biggest welfare issues in transportation, recommending the maximum journey at least be halved from the current 24 hours. She warned private individuals to provide plenty of water and forage before and after every journey and to stop for rest after four hours, again offering forage and water. She emphasised the need for bio-security, keeping the trailer clean and disinfected, and also advised not hanging hay nets at head height, forcing the horse to inhale dust throughout the journey and leading to respiratory problems.
“Try to use haylage instead of hay, which has a higher moisture content and less dust,” Jo recommended, “and don’t over rug – the travelling horse is constantly expending energy and getting hot. Don’t tie the horse’s head too tight or it will be unable to clear mucus from the airways.” Information on all transportation issues can be found on the WHW website.
Carrie Humble MBE, founder and Ambassador of The Thoroughbred Rehabilitation Centre, discussed its role and the specific problems facing ex-racehorses. She warned anyone considering taking on an ex-racehorse to consider the length of time spent in training and the type of racing involved, reminding them of inherent problems of soundness, wind, gastric ulcers and common back injuries and chronic low grade injuries. “The unrealistic expectations of an average rider lead to a spiral of sales and often the horse becoming a welfare issue,” she warned, “free to a good home is the very worst case scenario.”
She quoted trainer Ian Balding who found that during the 1970s 90-95% of his two-year-olds made it to the racecourse, 75-80% during the 1980s and only 65-70% in the 1990s, while 30% of NH horses break down. “Racehorse welfare is specific,” Carrie said, “they are bred to race and asking them to rethink has to be done carefully with common sense.”
On that note it is worth remembering that the Department of Agriculture currently funds equine welfare by €1.25 million. IHWT receives €25,000 a year from the Department of Agriculture, €60,000 a year from Horse Racing Ireland and €10,000 a year from the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association, as well as some help from the Irish Racehorse Trainers’ Association, which donates a percentage of prize money annually, and the Racehorse Owners’ Association. 80% of the horses at IHWT are non-thoroughbreds, but IHWT receives nothing from the sport horse sector.
The next speaker was Steve Goody, Director of External Affairs with The Blue Cross, who spoke at length on the findings of a National Equine Health Survey, which set a benchmark in equine welfare, pinpointing problems and identifying health changes to enable disease prevention and back up existing Codes of Practice.
The Blue Cross and BEVA surveillance schemes were first run as pilots in 2008 and 2009 with the help and support of equine charities, setting out to establish a snapshot of disease prevalence. “We asked the question – how is your horse today,” Steve explained. “It is an owner reported disease surveillance system, web based, so very easy to fill in and anonymous. We are trying to engage with as many owners as possible.” A survey is held twice a year, one in May and one in November, and the results are then used to form a picture of health among UK equines. In November 2010 3,210 equines were recorded, rising to 5,443 in May 2011, and Steve revealed that 85% of those were mainly private owners.
The figures highlight specific areas of problem that can then be addressed with targeted education. Many of the results were unexpected and Steve gave a quick run through of the most common health issues recorded. “The highest reports were 14.3% of horses had skin problems, while 11.8% were suffering from lameness. The real surprise for us as a welfare organisation was that 7.4% of lameness was due to problems other than the foot. A lot of the educational literature we produce is more on the foot, so there are lessons here on how we can better help and support owners.”
Also higher than expected was that 8.1% were identified as overweight, with a body condition score in excess of 4. Only 3% were recorded with laminitis in the May census, which was lower than expected. Of the skin complaints, 3.5% had sarcoids and 2.7% melanomas. “We were not expecting that to be so high,” Steve said, “making us ask, what can owners do and is there enough information out there? In five years time as we run through these snapshots we’ll get a clearer picture.” Steve recommended setting up a similar scheme in Ireland.
Other speakers included Sarah Fisher, who gave a presentation on the TTouch method, showing how it has been successfully used to correct problem behaviour and assist in the rehabilitation and re-homing of horses. Sarah is a TTouch instructor and equine behaviourist and trainer, lecturing internationally for a variety of organisations, and is the author of Know Your Horse Inside Out.
Dr. Andrew Waller, Head of Bacteriology at the Animal Health Trust, discussed Streptococcus equi, better known as Strangles, and why it has spread so effectively to become the most frequently diagnosed infectious disease worldwide. There are 600 outbreaks a year in the UK. With fatality rates as high as 10%, it can be spread by direct horse contact, shared housing, water and feed, utensils and tack, and personnel, including vets. The Streptococcus equi bacteria can survive in water, so spreads rapidly through shared troughs.
“Carriers of Strangles have been known to shed bacteria for five years and of 56 new horses to three yards sampled, seven were carriers,” Andrew revealed. “In Ireland, we sampled 119 horses for Strangles at unregulated events and 58 were positive (49%).” Andrew recommended a 3-4 week quarantine period for all new horses, with blood tests taken at the start and end of that period, before allowing them to enter the herd. “There have been no outbreaks of Strangles where this is in operation,” he pointed out. He reminded owners and staff not to attend sick or quarantined horses first as personnel will then spread disease to the herd.
Nicolas de Brauwere brought the conference to a close by examining welfare and the issues surrounding it, particularly from a veterinary aspect. “There are only so many times you can fix things before you need to prevent them,” he pointed out. “The way forward is respect and inclusion. We need to learn more about people. Without entering into dialogue we will never affect a change.”
