THE International Society of Equitation Science (ISES) held their 20th annual conference in Billund, Denmark on August 11th-13th. Equitation science examines the welfare of horses during training, competition and management. The goal is to evaluate training techniques objectively, thereby establishing an evidence base that both enhances horse welfare and improves the horse-human relationship.

ISES supports the sharing and application of scientific knowledge in relation to the way horses are trained, managed, housed and cared for. The organisation aims to connect researchers with the broader equine community that they serve.

That last point was a really striking feature of this conference: the theme was ‘the nature of horses’ and the audience of over 250 attendees from 30+ countries included people from multiple disciplines and backgrounds, united by a common interest in working with horses. As well as academics and researchers, you could find yourself chatting over lunch or a coffee with an equine behaviourist, psychologist, sports regulator, parasitologist, nutritionist, trainer, ecologist, educator, student, equine therapist or a social scientist.

Projects in action

It’s impossible to give more than a brief overview of the content here. The conference opened with a keynote presentation on the potential contribution of horses to projects to support biodiversity in the Danish countryside. The EU Nature Restoration Fund aims to reverse ecosystem decline, and horses as large grazing herbivores can contribute to this process. Horses’ ability to graze close to the ground combined with their capacity to digest tall, stemmy grasses that ruminants struggle with, helps facilitate greater variation in plant ecosystems.

Day two of the conference included the chance to see some of these projects in action, with trips to observe groups of hardy Exmoor ponies, Konik, Icelandic and Przewalski horses in a variety of extensive grazing and management systems. Perhaps future visitors to Ireland will someday admire Connemara ponies in similar scenarios.

AI-based software

The horse management session included updates on the impact of housing design on equine sleep patterns - it’s not just a matter of providing a suitable sleeping area, as the horse also needs to feel comfortable enough both physically and socially to lie down and fully relax in each 24-hour period.

A researcher from the Nottingham veterinary school presented a recently developed AI-based software programme that can rapidly evaluate camera footage and flag horses that aren’t getting enough rest or may be exhibiting abnormal behaviour.

A really striking feature of this presentation was video footage from a camera in the stall of a colicing horse. Bouts of restlessness, pawing and flank watching were apparent on the film, but as soon as a person approached the stable door the horse immediately moved towards them and ceased to exhibit any sign of abnormal behaviour, meaning that the software could detect the issue well before the caregiver.

Other sessions examined the impact of various weaning practices on mare and foal welfare and updates on pain management. While there is no one universal ‘gold standard’ means of evaluating pain (especially in prey animals such as horses that are good at hiding it), an international working group on equine pain assessment has reviewed the current guidelines and identified the Equine Pain Scale (EPS) as the best available option, especially for horses under veterinary care.

The EPS was developed by a Danish research team at the University of Copenhagen and combines the horse’s facial expression with other behaviours, posture and interaction with people and the environment to detect and quantify pain, enabling the need for and efficacy of pain relief to be identified. Work is still underway to develop tools that can be reliably used to quantify pain associated with chronic conditions and in the ridden horse.

Inspection protocols

The final sessions of the conference reviewed training and equipment practices and updates on how horses learn. Mouth injuries associated with bits and nosebands remain a concern across multiple disciplines, with regulators seeking to identify them via updated pre-competition inspection protocols.

When it comes to training, the key message across the studies is that it’s not just about what people are doing, but what the horse is actually experiencing. The conference also included over 50 research posters summarising studies on everything from human drug residues in Dutch horsemeat to physiotherapy in sports horses, the benefits of equine-assisted therapy for people with depression, reviews of various training methods and equipment and the use of learning theory by coaches and trainers.

Every presentation and poster included a summary of the study findings in plain language, ensuring that you didn’t have to be an expert in every discipline to interpret the results.

The local organising committee went to great efforts to ensure that the whole event was well organised and highly enjoyable. The venue for 2027 was revealed at the end of the conference: the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Lisbon, Portugal from July 14th-16th, 2027. Anyone with an interest in training or working with horses can join ISES, with membership options for researchers, professionals, horse trainers, coaches, equine charities and organisations, owners or riders and students of equitation or veterinary-related programmes.

For more information, see equitationscience.com and hopefully you can make it to Lisbon next year.