Everyday Excellence – How to improve the life of your event horse

Mar 6
By Sam York FBHS, Fellow of the BHS
Every rider loves their horse, but are we truly doing everything to improve their daily life? Event horses give us their strength, focus, and loyalty. In return, we owe care, consideration, and compassion that extend far beyond the competition arena.

Nutrition is the foundation. Horses require tailored diets based on breed, workload, and temperament, including high-quality forage, balanced concentrates, and appropriate hydration and electrolytes, particularly during intense training or travel. But welfare goes beyond feed charts.

Fitness programmes should be progressive, consistent, and individualised. Horses pushed too hard too soon may underperform, associate work with discomfort, or risk injury. Cardiovascular fitness is just one element; mental readiness and muscular resilience are equally important.

Rest and recovery are critical. Horses need downtime to relax physically and mentally. Low-stress days, varied activities like hacking or polework, and changes of scenery help maintain engagement and prevent burnout.

Routine is powerful. Consistent feeding, turnout, grooming, and warm-up schedules reduce stress and risk of colic or ulcers. Social interaction is also vital—horses are herd animals. Turnout with a friend, mutual grooming, or relaxed in-hand walks reduce anxiety and promote wellbeing.

If full turnout isn’t possible, creative solutions help. Shared paddocks, playpens, or yard systems allow horses to express natural behaviours safely. Even small stable design changes, like lower partitions, viewing windows, or carefully selected companions, improve social contact and reduce isolation.

Transport is another key welfare area. Calm driving, avoiding harsh braking or tight turns, and travelling with a companion reduce stress and heart rate. Many horses dislike trailers not because of the equipment but because of the journey itself.

Enrichment makes a big difference. Hay balls, hidden treats, varied textures, and track systems encourage movement, curiosity, and mental stimulation. This doesn’t need to be expensive – creativity and attention are key.

Small, consistent improvements in daily management, social contact, exercise, and enrichment cumulatively enhance welfare. Happy, healthy horses are more willing athletes, better partners, and long-term teammates. When welfare comes first, performance naturally follows.

BE Prepared Checklist – Everyday Welfare:
✅ Provide balanced nutrition tailored to workload, breed, and temperament
✅ Include appropriate hydration and electrolytes
✅ Implement progressive, individualised fitness programmes
✅ Schedule rest and low-stress days
✅ Maintain consistent routines for feeding, turnout, grooming, and warm-up
✅ Provide daily social contact and companionship
✅ Use creative turnout solutions if full pasture isn’t possible
✅ Make stable adjustments to reduce stress and encourage natural behaviour
✅ Transport calmly, ideally with a companion
✅ Offer enrichment to stimulate mind and body
✅ Observe and respond to your horse’s behaviour regularly

Meet the Professionals

Janet is an equine vet with a background in clinical practice, research, and education. She works for the charity, World Horse Welfare, where she is primarily involved in their work with equestrian sport. She is a member of BE’s Equine Welfare Committee and is also on the Pony Club’s Horsemanship Committee. Janet has published scientific papers and organised conferences that focus on the public acceptance of equestrianism, and on strategies that may facilitate behaviour change within the equestrian community – change that is vital if equestrian sport is to rise to the challenges currently posed by its detractors.
Janet DOuglas
Brad is an equine vet who has spent most of his career in first opinion practice before joining the equine teaching team at Nottingham Vet School. During his time in practice, he realised the importance of understanding equine behaviour coupled with horse handling and restraint. He has embedded the teaching of equine behaviour including equine learning theory into the curriculum at Nottingham and continues to champion a greater understanding of positive equine welfare in the wider equine industry. He has published research, notably looking at weaning and what the effect of weaning related stress may have on the emotional health of horses.
Brad Hill
After being a very busy freelance coach, much of Sam’s additional consultation work involves working hard in protecting the equestrian industry from the current challenges it is seeing. Her work includes encouraging a great deal of strategies and support to help to positively evolve equestrian organisations and their individual’s social attitudes, behaviours and especially their coaching techniques and use of language. This is all leading to a united effort to improve equestrian sustainability, futureproofing and safeguarding, firstly for the horse but also for all stakeholders involved around the horse and all equestrian sport.
Sam York FBHS