DURING lockdown I had the pleasure of interviewing Roly Owers, the World Horse Welfare chief executive. One of my abiding memories of this, even though it was carried out online, was his palpable passion for his work.

I witnessed the same passion and belief on Thursday in London when he spoke during the opening session of their annual conference. The topic was a tough, complex one, namely ‘When does use become abuse?’

You might imagine that the answer is always clear, but it has many more shades of grey than it is black and white.

While I was in the privileged position of being present at the conference, I will be taking advantage of the opportunity to watch the presentations again, and you can too on their website. The address is at the end of this editorial.

What I particularly like about Roly Owers’ take is that he is hugely pragmatic in his approach to any matter, and he does not shy away from the difficult questions. In this he echoes the approach of World Horse Welfare’s president, Princess Anne, The Princess Royal. As a highly accomplished equestrienne she understands the issues being faced by everyone who has an association with horses, be they thoroughbreds or for other equestrian disciplines.

Acknowledging that there are a mix of views, both outside and within our sectors, is needed, and we must be aware of the very changed times in which we live. Things that were acceptable when I was a teenager are no longer so.

We are also under the spotlight more and more when it comes to welfare issues.

As Roly pointed out on Thursday, the need for the particular topic was threefold. Firstly, thanks to the digital world, the debate about animal welfare, not just equine welfare, is more visible. This has led to society in general placing a greater emphasis on the issue, and we are much more in the public eye, whether we wish to be or not.

Thirdly, and as a veterinary surgeon himself, Roly is keen that we become aware as participants that greater scientific knowledge has led to a change in the landscape of what good horse welfare looks like. What horses need, and how what we do impacts on them, is a very different picture today to 20, 30 and 40 years ago.

There is a lot of work to be done, and in weeks to come I will address ways in which the sport horse and thoroughbred sectors can combine for their common good.

Worldhorsewelfare.org/conference