A Question of Equine Ethics…Social License to Operate in Horse Sport
INTRODUCTION
I begin writing this whilst watching the Paris 2024 Olympic Dressage Freestyle competition. I have enjoyed watching Great Britain exceed all expectations over the past week, with medals in every event so far. To me, the British horses have looked willing and happy, with moments of stress and tension handled well by our riders, who have ridden to an exemplary and confident standard throughout. The past few weeks have been monumental for horse sport for all of the wrong reasons, with one of the greatest online scandals in equestrian history. We are not going to specifically touch on isolated incidents here, as I do not believe that one individual should be held responsible for an entire sport.
I have been aware of the rumblings surrounding horse sport for a while, so with this in mind I recently attended a CPD event held by my governing body the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Animal Therapy (ACPAT), which talked about the assumptions, reality and the future of social license in horse sport. To build on my current knowledge within this blog, I am going to explore the current recommendations and investigations into social license for horse sport, and discuss how I think that we can keep our horses safe and treat them with the respect that they deserve, as we progress forward as a sport into a new future.
WHAT IS A SOCIAL LICENSE TO OPERATE?
Kenton (2023) talks about the meaning of social license to operate (SLO), which is the acceptance of a company, industry or governing body to continue to operate and its procedures and practice carried out by employees, stakeholders, members or the general public. Kenton (2023) notes the ever increasing standards held by SLO; for example, practices such as child labour which may have been acceptable over 100 years ago are now outlawed in many nations. Within horse sport, SLO has been in discussion for a few years now, with conversation sparking in the 2000’s when media outlets began to comment on the number of fatalities in National Hunt racing. The SLO response was to review safety within racing (such as height of fences and number of starters) and most recently, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) reported an annual fatality figure decrease from 219 in 2021 to 158 in 2023 (Racing Post, 2024).
Diagram to right depicts four pillars of SLO (Duncan et al., 2018) ->
Duncan et al. (2018) aptly argue that no one has ever seen, smelt or sensed a social license, it is merely an entity which we perceive as permission from the greater good to operate. In my opinion, that is exactly what it is, a social construct, and a very real threat at that. As a species, we operate off of social constructs, and ostracisation is ever present- particularly in a social media era of “cancel culture”. A structure has been created in response, with the four pillars of SLO being trust, credibility, legitimacy and transparency. Duncan et al.(2018) have outlined the process of achieving a social license, with transparency being the key foundation. If we are transparent within the public domain, we will be accepted as a sport. To maintain our social status, we must practice legitimate and credible practices, to build an identity based on trust. To do this, SLO research within horse sport must continue to develop equine safeguarding, with welfare at the forefront. In theory, this should not be hard; as long ago as 335BC, Xenophon wrote the earliest known book about the art of horsemanship. But the world is ever evolving, and we must evolve with it.
THE GOLDEN QUESTION: HOW DOES HORSE SPORT MAINTAIN SLO?
Technology is humankind’s greatest invention, but may also be our greatest weapon. Organisations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) who largely oppose horse riding have huge followings on social media, with further influence in the media. An online survey commissioned by World Horse Welfare (WHW) in 2022 showed that 1 in 5 people do not support the involvement of horses in sport. A point of view I recently heard, during an online snippet of an interview on ITV’s This Morning, was that horses are exploited as they cannot verbally consent to being ridden. An equestrian might point out that consent does not have to be verbal (as someone like myself who has worked with learning disabilities in people will know!) and that certain physical behaviours are an indication of consent- take the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (Dyson, 2022) as an example. Perhaps then, the argument should not be that horses cannot consent but that we do not always listen to them, and we as a sport need to be better at implementing this and demonstrating this to the general public. But the golden question- how?
The short answer: Teaching, learning and understanding. I grew up with a passion for horses. I spent every spare moment around them, and every other spare moment was spent reading books about horses. This has carried on throughout my lifetime, as we never stop learning- the more you know, the more you realise you don’t know! I thought I knew everything there was to know about equine behaviour, then I realised how much I did not know when I completed my Master’s degree module about animal behaviour. The truth is, we have barely scratched the surface, and I simply feel that we can’t keep up with the rapid technological advancements in breeding programmes, competition standards and equipment. Have we lost the basic foundations of equestrianism which I used to read about in my books when I was a child? We may be a sport, but we must not forget that at the centre of this sport is a sentient being which deserves our upmost respect.
I have just been musing over the 24 key recommendations put forward by the Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission (2023), developed to act as a “critical friend” to the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI). They have developed some fantastic diagrams and resources for equestrians to study, such as the Good Life for Horses vision (2023) and the 6 Priority Areas of Focus (2023), but my question is- how many people know that these resources exist? I have certainly not seen this discussed either online or in person, other than during events or on forums for professionals within the industry. I often wonder; do other professionals know about the 2024 FEI Be a Guardian scheme? How can we take action as individuals when we are not aware of the resources available to us? As our overarching competitive governing body, the FEI should be actively investing in teaching all of those involved in equestrian sport in order to better implement this into competition at International level. This can then filter down to national organisations, such as British Dressage/Eventing/Showjumping, who also need to be aware of their social and online status and their influence in the sport. We must not forget… transparency is the foundation of SLO.
HOW CAN WE AS INDIVIDUALS PROTECT THE EQUESTRIAN SLO?
As stated, I was fortunate enough to attend a CPD event hosted by ACPAT about SLO in equine sport, which was hosted by Jane Williams who has written a fantastic article summarising SLO in horse sport (Williams, 2023). Through this, I have developed a much deeper understanding of SLO and what I can do personally to help maintain our status as a sport through improved welfare of the horse. Whether you are an amateur competitor, a professional within the industry or simply a horse lover, you have autonomy. Think about your locus of control (Rotter, 1954); what do you have personal control over and what is out of your control? It may be frustrating to see things go wrong in the sport for the world to see (think Tokyo Olympics for example), but we can all take the time to familiarise ourselves with equine behaviour and take the responsibility to implement this with our own horses or those we ride, treat or look after. But how can this be achieved?
1: Self responsibility
As a physiotherapist (and even as an amateur competition rider), I have an entire section of my business plan dedicated to ethics and sustainability. How can I protect my future and the future of those around me? The first thing I can do is recognise that I am not perfect, I have made mistakes- as has everyone else- and I must continue to evolve and be malleable to whatever path the industry takes for the better. Taking a personal interest in new research about equine behaviour and biomechanics is a good place to start. In the past few years alone, we have been introduced to a number of equine behaviour ethograms; a quick google scholar search has brought up multiple studies related to equine behaviour patterns (Dyson, 2022; Gleerup et al.,2015; Kelly et al., 2021; Torres Borda et al., 2024). As an individual, would you be happy to publicly promote your ethics, morals and behaviour with the horses in your care? This point can relate to a multitude of professionals, across the aspects of groundwork, ridden work, training or treatment.
2: Societal awareness
We must learn to be brave as a profession. If you see something that makes you uncomfortable, speak up. We are the advocate of the domestic horse. If you are a rider or trainer with a social media platform (either professional, amateur or the newly coined term influencer), are you happy with the products and training techniques that you are promoting? If you are a professional within the industry, do your ethics and morals align with the riders you treat or support? We need to be an example to the younger generation, with whom vicarious reinforcement is so critical. I like to relate this to Bandura’s social learning theory, who has shown that children will pick up behaviour displayed around them during their critical stages (Bandura, 1977). This takes me back to my earlier point; teaching, learning, understanding. The younger generation are after all, our hope for the future.
3: Self reflection
Those of us within the equine industry will all have had personal experience with horses, and this may either be a positive experience or a negative experience. As a physiotherapist, even from my very first term at University I was taught reflective practice techniques, using templates such as Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle (Gibbs, 1988). But what is reflective practice? It is “the ability to reflect on one's actions so as to engage in a process of continuous learning” (Schön, 1983). Now I’m not suggesting that we all sit down every day and complete a journal entry, but I feel that it is beneficial to take the time to self-reflect on days when things went well, and days when things maybe didn’t go so well. Some questions to ask yourself:
- What did I do today that allowed things to go well?
- What happened differently today that caused things to not go so well?
- How can I react in the future to achieve a more positive outcome?
- What can I take away from this experience to improve the care and welfare of my horse?
TO CONCLUDE
Within this article, I have barely scratched the surface of the complexities of SLO. Even within the time it has taken to complete this blog, the Telegraph have released an article which has caused a whole new spate of debate. It is imperative that now more than ever, we take the responsibility to individually do better, so that the collective improves as a whole. Wherever you live, and whether you agree with horses in sport or not, it is your responsibility, my responsibility and the responsibility of others that we act as our horse’s guardians and protectors, as I truly believe that it is a privilege that they allow us to build a relationship and friendship with them.
References…
Bandura, A. (1965) Social Learning Theory. For description, see: https://www.simplypsychology.org/bandura.html.
Douglas, J., Owers, R. and Campbell, M. (2022) Social Licence to Operate: What Can Equestrian Sports Learn from Other Industries? Animals, 12, (15).
Duncan, E., Graham, R. and McManus, P. (2018) ‘No one has even seen… smelt… or sensed a social licence’: Animal geographies and social licence to operate. Geoforum, 96, 318-327.
Dyson, S. (2022) The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram. Equine Veterinary Education. 34, (7), 372-380.
Gibbs, G. (1988) Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle. For description, see: https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle.
Gleerup, K., Forkman, B., Lindegaard, C. and Andersen, P. (2015) An Equine Pain Face. Veterinary Anaesthesia and Analgesia, 42, (1), 103-114.
International Federation for Equestrian Sports (2023) Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission [including 24 key recommendations, good life for horses vision and 6 priority areas of focus]. Available at: https://equinewellbeing.fei.org/assets/documents/EEWB%2024%20Draft%20Recommendations.pdf [Accessed August 2024].
International Federation for Equestrian Sports (2024) Be a Guardian. Available at: https://www.fei.org/stories/lifestyle/horse-human/guardians [Accessed August 2024].
Kelly, K., McDuffee, L. and Mears, K. (2021) The Effect of Human–Horse Interactions on Equine Behaviour, Physiology, and Welfare: A Scoping Review. Animals, 11, (10).
Kenton, W. (2023) Social License to Operate (SLO): Definition and Standards. Available at: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/social-license-slo.asp [Accessed August 2024].
Racing Post (2024) Marginal drop in equine fatality rates recorded in British racing last year. Available at: https://www.racingpost.com/news/britain/marginal-drop-in-equine-fatality-rates-recorded-in-british-racing-last-year-axFI37w5bO0Y/# [Accessed August 2024].
Rotter, J. (1954) Locus of Control. For description, see: https://www.usmcu.edu/Portals/218/What%20is%20Locus%20of%20Control%20by%20James%20Neill.pdf
Torres Borda, L., Kelemen, Z., Auer, U. and Jenner, F. (2024) Video Ethogram of Equine Social Behaviour. Animals, 14, (8).
Schön, W. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner. Massachusetts.
Williams, J. (2023) Equestrianism's social license to operate: assumptions, reality and the future. UK-Vet Equine, 7, (5).
World Horse Welfare (2016) Horses in Our Hands. Available at: https://storage.googleapis.com/worldhorsewelfare-cloud/2019/09/14b98a4b-horses-in-our-hands_august-2016.pdf [Accessed August 2024].
World Horse Welfare (2022) Equestrian sport should be brave and proactive on welfare to maintain public acceptance. Available at: https://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/news/equestrian-sport-should-be-brave-and-proactive-on-welfare-to-maintain-public-acceptance#:~:text=Around%2060%25%20of%20the%20general,in%20sport%20in%20any%20circumstances [Accessed August 2024].
Xenophon (350BC) The Art of Horsemanship. Originally published 1893. W. Cowes and Sons.
RELEVANT FURTHER READING…
1. Social License to Operate (SLO): Definition and Standards (Kenton, 2023)
2. Equestrianism's social license to operate: assumptions, reality and the future (Williams, 2023)
3. Social Licence to Operate: What Can Equestrian Sports Learn from Other Industries? (Douglas et al., 2022)
4. Horses in Our Hands (World Horse Welfare, 2016)
5. Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission (FEI, 2023)
6. Be a Guardian (FEI, 2024)