Health is one of the components used in horse welfare studies to assess horse well-being. Health encompasses several factors, including avoiding injuries, illnesses, and pain. Pain can result from injury or illness, but it can also be caused by the equipment that is being used on the horse. Pain is one of the most significant …
There has been a lot of talk about the horses’ tongues and mouths recently, ranging from the Adreas Helgstrand documentary to Patrick Kittel’s horse repeatedly showing a blue tongue in competition. After the 2024 World Cup Finals in Riyadh, a Eurodressage-article also presented multiple photographs of top-level horse-rider-combinations, where the horses clearly have their mouth …
How using bits affects equine welfare The use of bits in equine sports has been a long-standing topic of discussion within the equestrian community. In Finland, issues related to bits have been raised in disciplines such as harness racing (Tuomola, Mäki‐Kihniä, et al., 2021a) and eventing/cross country (Tuomola, Mäki-Kihniä, et al., 2021b). Internationally, this topic …