Friends, forage, freedom: The Use of Alternative Grazing Systems for Horses (2021)
Overview
Equine management is built on the foundations of tradition. However, the role of horses is evolving, and the change in horse use but not horse management sometimes contributes to welfare issues, such as obesity. This talk considers “alternative” management systems for horses, which purport to fulfill the horse’s ethological needs of “friends, forage, and freedom”. While no one system provides a panacea for horse care, these systems are commonly used for managing health conditions such as equine metabolic syndrome, laminitis, arthritis, and gastric ulcers, and hence knowledge of these strategies could prove invaluable for veterinarians.
Presenters
Dr. Tamzin Furtado PhD
Tamzin is a social scientist with a background in global health, and has a specific interest in the interconnections between human and animal health and wellbeing. She completed a PhD at the University of Liverpool studying how we can improve the management of obesity in horses, particularly focusing on horse-human relationships and human behaviour change. She now works on projects covering a wide range of aspects of understanding human behaviour in order to improve companion animal welfare, and in using social sciences to find out more about how we can help people to change. She is working with BEVA on their equine obesity initiative, and frequently gives lectures and talks about applying behaviour change principles to help equine professionals and owners manage weight.