‘We have to stand up for the horses’: welfare stewards coming to a show near you

A growing army of equine welfare stewards appearing at shows across the country hope the scheme will make a difference – to benefit horses and all of us who ride them.

There are now about 30, including vets and saddle-fitters, who have undertaken training for the voluntary role, and they have been booked for a number of events this summer – and other shows have been urged to follow suit.

H&H reported that the Royal Three Counties Show (pictured) brought in a rule last year that everyone had to be suitably mounted, and that a welfare officer was brought in, resulting in 12 people being asked to dismount.

That officer was Amanda Stoddart-West, livestock and entries coordinator for the Great Yorkshire Show (GYS) who has been instrumental in a number of welfare-related rule changes, who then took the idea further.

“We attended about four shows last year,” Mrs Stoddart-West told H&H. “Then over the winter, we wanted to expand the idea. At the Association of Show and Agricultural Organisations conference in November, we announced that we were forming a group and working with the [British Horse Society] BHS, which had agreed to help with training.”

So far in 2024, welfare stewards have been at the Royal Cornwall and the Three Counties again. They will be at the GYS, Equifest, Kent County, Ashbourne and the Festival of Dressage.

“It’s not just showing, it’s across the board.” Mrs Stoddart-West said, adding that although the stewards consider rider-to-horse weight ratio, they are looking at every aspect of equine welfare.

“It’s riding, handling, equine obesity; all of it,” she said. “And rather than being seen as negative, whenever we see good welfare, we approach those people and tell them.”

She said the group would like to be able to give awards for good welfare, and if a sponsor were to be found this could happen, and possibly gilets or tops to identify who the stewards are.

“Hopefully it will become more and more normal to see us at shows,” she said. “Someone recently said that in four years, the show that doesn’t have [stewards] will be the odd one out. We want to promote this as a positive, and for people to see a friendly face. At the Three Counties we were encouraging people to participate and a couple of exhibitors came up with their ponies and asked to be weighed, which was brilliant.

“That’s exactly what we want; people putting their horses first and I hope we’re starting to make a difference. We can’t turn a blind eye to what goes on; we have to stand up for the horse.”

Three Counties show secretary Betsy Branyan told H&H the show takes animal welfare “very seriously” and had been concerned about some poor standards.

“This year, we invited Amanda and Cathy Hyde to attend as welfare stewards,” she said. “Cathy is a former RSPCA chief inspector and now works as a welfare officer for the BHS.  We were delighted with the success of this initiative. Many competitors voluntarily asked to be weighed with their tack to ensure that they were under the 20% ratio; riders who were deemed borderline or potentially over were also invited to be weighed and the majority were happy to comply.

“The good news for animal welfare is that we had far fewer oversized riders this year and the vast majority of riders want to be a part of improving standards of equine welfare. I would love to see this being adopted more widely at shows as this is the only way that standards will improve. We are a very long way from winning the battle for suitably mounted riders but I feel more riders now accept this as a vital step to ensure equestrian sports continue.”

A BHS spokesperson told H&H prevention of poor welfare via education is “something we strongly believe in”.

“Appropriately trained, independent volunteers play a huge part in promoting and supporting positive welfare at events, as well as guiding and educating equestrians at every point of their journey with horses,” she said.

With the ever-increasing spotlight on social licence to operate, and to help facilitate this support at equine competitions, we are pleased to have been given the opportunity to provide training to the volunteers who wish to fulfil the role of welfare steward.

“It’s been great to start this training with topics such as how to correctly fat-score, as equine obesity is a major welfare issue, as well as motivational interviewing and how to deal with sensitive conversations. Nearly 30 volunteers from a wide range of equestrian backgrounds, including vets and other equine professionals, have taken part. The volunteers will then become part of a mentoring programme with ongoing support and training for the role.”

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