Changing Rein

For our extended bumper Christmas edition we have a very special guest, Dr Mette Uldahl. Mette is a Danish veterinarian who until earlier this year was veterinary advisor to the Danish Equestrian Federation. She resigned from that role  in September 2024 and is now chief consultant to Dyrenes Beskyttelse (Animal Protection Denmark). Mette has devoted her career to being a voice for animals. As well as her work with DEF, Mette is a Past President of the Federation of European Equine Veterinary Associations and is currently 1st Vice President of the European Veterinary Association. Mette also regularly take part in research projects and publications of peer-reviewed papers, many of which she discusses in this episode.   This episode is particularly fitting as we wind down to the holiday season because Mette touches on so many of the topics that have been raised by the guests on Changing Rein over the past six months. What is more Mette brings her own unique perspective, whether it is thinking about horse behaviour through understanding neurodiversity, or the language we use about and around horses and its impact on welfare. How should vets balance their roles as advocates for horses while also having to satisfy client demands and expectations? What is the intrinsic value of horses? And if we are to use horses in sport, how much compromise is acceptable? And we touch on the mind games we play in our interactions with horses, we talk about blue tongues and oral lesions and knee rolls, we discuss the role of governing bodies, and Mette shares her profound wish for horse sport into the future.   We hope that wherever you are that you enjoy this extended edition of Changing Rein and we look forward to continuing our journey with the podcast and our listeners in 2025.   You can find Mette’s research output at https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mette-Uldahl  

Life with horses is complicated, because we take on responsibility for another sentient being- and if we humans want to improve horse welfare, we need to find common ground with one another. Tamzin Furtado BA(Hons), AdvDip, PhD is a social scientist with a background in global health, and a specific interest in the interconnections between human and animal health, and well-being. She completed a PhD at the University of Liverpool studying human behaviour change in relation to obesity in horses, particularly focusing on horse-human relationships. Tamzin works on projects across the equine welfare spectrum, including: studying people’s perceptions of sport horse wellbeing, livery yard management, and anthelmintic resistance. In this episode we talk about barriers and enablers of change, at both individual level and organisational leve. We also hear about Tamzin's novel work on the tricky topic of equine obesity. We discuss the welfare of livery yard owners and managers, and we chat about uncertainty. Tamzin’s publications can be found at this link https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Tamzin-Furtado

Should riding bit-free be an option for all equestrian sports? Should racing include whipping horses to make them run? What is the most important project in the realm of sport horse welfare right now? Listen to this episode of Changing Rein and find out from arguably the world's most influential person in horse sport welfare, Roly Owers, CEO of World Horse Welfare (WHW). Roly Owers has huge influence in sport horse welfare because alongside his World Horse Welfare CEO role, he is a director of British Equestrian the peak body for equestrian sport in Britain, and affiliated with the FEI. Plus he is an advisor to other national and international organisations including the British Horseracing Authority and the International Horse Sports Confederation What he says matters! Think all the fuss about horse welfare is overblown? Or maybe you think the opposite, that not enough is being done...either way you want to know what Roly Owers thinks. Our conversation covers not only the important changes we have seen in sport horse welfare but what is needed in the future. There are some predictable bits and some surprises...but don't take our word for it...jump in and have a listen!

We're taking a few weeks break, and we'll be back before you know it with some great guests and great new content. Before that we thought we'd share with you some of the highlights of Season 2 - now is your opportunity to catch up on listening to some really interesting guests discussing all things horse sport and equine welfare. Thanks for sharing our journey - and be sure to share with your friends how much you are enjoying Changing Rein!

Dr Jo Hockenhull is Head of Research at The Donkey Sanctuary. Jo has had a wide-ranging and varied career in animal welfare science – her particular interests include horse behaviour and welfare, human-animal interactions and the possibilities inherent in the science of Human Behaviour Change to improve the welfare of animals.   Jo’s research output can be found at this link: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jo-Hockenhull/research Dr Jo Hockenhull is Head of Research at The Donkey Sanctuary. Jo has had a wide-ranging and varied career in animal welfare science – her particular interests include horse behaviour and welfare, human-animal interactions and the possibilities inherent in the science of Human Behaviour Change to improve the welfare of animals.   Jo’s research output can be found at this link: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jo-Hockenhull/research

Background - about Meredith Meredith Chapman was appointed as Equestrian Australia's (EA) first National Health and Safety Manager. This role was actioned following the tragic deaths of two young eventing horse riders in 2016. Meredith’s primary role was to lead the implementation of all 31 coronial recommendations following a coronial inquest. Meredith worked extensively with all Australian State, Territory, and disciplines specific committee representatives, including the Olympic High-Performance executive team reviewing, developing, and implementing improved Health, Safety, and Welfare (HSW) management systems, whilst maintaining sport operations. Her role required extensive consultation, evidence-based research for best-practice standards, cultural and industry change management, widespread member and stakeholder engagement and training. Meredith developed EAs first National HSW policies, a Minimal Medical Response Framework, post incident response and crisis management plans, concussion in sport protocols and she navigated EA through the COVID pandemic. Meredith represented EA at 3 annual international FEI conferences,l and various stakeholder meetings. Meredith also developed and hosted EA first on-line National HSW conferences (2021 & 2023). Meredith’s business management experience and academic achievements have enabled her to maintain regulatory (Australian Sports Commission), EA Board and HSW committee communications on all matters pertaining to equestrianism HSW as required. Following Voluntary Administration, she was influential in re-establishing EAs stakeholder funding and resuming sport operations. Meredith participated EA recruitment, management and training of new team members, was accountable for HSW reports, budgets, identification of training needs, insurance and legal liaison, the development and delivery of safety compliance management processes and more. Meredith has provided expert HSW leadership to assist EA in achieving a nationally aligned strategy during structural reform. You'll find Meredith's academic publications on Researchgate

Upskilling instead of conditioning - coaching expert Marianne Davies shares her dynamic approach to coaching and training that has coaches, riders AND horses wanting more Marianne Davies is an expert in coaching riders and developing equestrian coaches. She is a senior coaching developer for UK Coaching and runs her own coaching business, Dynamics Coaching and in her spare time she is completing a PhD and leading ground breaking research in coaching science. This week she shares her dynamic approach to coaching that sees both the horse and rider as active participants in the learning process, which is quite different from behaviourist approaches, such as those used in equitation science. Marianne explains the science behind her approach, and in the second half of the episode she gives some really practical advice for riders and explains how to set up training situations to help your horse learn. It’s a great conversation, we hope you enjoy it! Terminology Affordance - opportunity to do something that a horse or person perceives - when coaching and training our horses, we can change the environment to make it easier for the horse (or the rider) to recognise an opportunity so they can attempt a desirable movement or posture. Constraints-led approach to learning - introductory article https://adaptivemovement.net/blog/brief-introduction-to-the-constraints-led-approach/ Blog posts by Marianne Behaviourism and Ecological Psychology Do humans and animals need different theories of learning? Recommended reading de Waal (2016) Are we smart enough to know how smart animals are? Papers mentioned in the podcast Wulf & Lethwaite (2016) Optimizing performance through intrinsic motivation and attention for learning: The OPTIMAL theory of motor learning https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26833314/ Scott Kelso (1995) Dynamical system theory and human movement and learning. https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-VlkX4YAAAAJ

To say Vicky Leonard is brave is probably an understatement. Back in 2017 she published a series of blogs where she outlined the threat poor horse welfare poses to the racing industry. It caused quite a stir. Since then she has been advocating for change in the industry because as she sees it, horse welfare is the one issue that could bring racing down. In the seven years since that post, she has led hard conversations all over the world to help the industry grasp the risk to their reputation, their bottom line...their future. Like most horse people, Vicky is an optimist and a doer. She not only sees the dangers, but also the opportunities to make things better, and the many positive changes that are already happening. Vicky gives us a glimpse into the world of racing and her insights are valuable for everyone interested in the future of horses in sport.

While Prof Madeleine Campbell was in our virtual studio we took the opportunity to record a second episode with her - this one is about the ethical aspects of horse breeding (her previous episode, Ethical Equestrianism, is definitely worth a listen). Without breeding, horse sport would not exist, but ethical consideration has been lacking. Are we breeding the right horses, at the right time, in the right way? Prof Campbell is a registered specialist in equine reproduction, a horse breeder and also a veterinary ethicist (she is Professor of Veterinary Ethics at the University of Nottingham) so she is uniquely qualified to discuss this sometimes controversial topic. We discuss natural cover, whether applying a limit to the number of mares bred to a stallion should be considered, and potential ethical and welfare issues involved in Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ARTs) in horses. Some of Maddy's publications in this area include: Campbell M. (2014) Does the current regulation of assisted reproductive techniques in the UK safeguard animal welfare? Animal Welfare. 23(1):109-118. doi:10.7120/09627286.23.1.109 Campbell, M. L. H., & Sandøe, P. (2015). Welfare in horse breeding. Veterinary Record, 176(17), 436-440.   Campbell, M. L. (2021). Ethics: use and misuse of assisted reproductive techniques across species. Reproduction and Fertility, 2(3), C23-C28.

Control or communication? It's an interesting question and how we answer it tells us a lot about how we see the world and our relationship with our horse. This week we talk to Hungarian dressage rider Krisztina Szucs, founder of My Way to Dressage. Krisztina started her dressage career as many people do, as a junior, and achieved gold medal success at the national level as a young rider. After a break from horses and riding she found she still wanted to compete, but something had changed. She found herself concerned about some of the common dressage practices and their effect on horse welfare. This concern inspired Krisztina to investigate bit free riding. She is now an ambassador for World Bitless Association, and a campaigner for rule changes to allow bit free riding in dressage competition at all levels. We hope you, like us, find Krisztina's gentle but determined approach to promoting positive change inspiring. “Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” (H.Keller)

Dr Camie Heleski has worked in horse management and welfare research for over 25 years. She recently served on the FEI Ethics & Wellbeing Commission and she is an Honorary Fellow of the International Society for Equitation Science. Additional information  D. Wayne Lucas - famous US racehorse trainer inducted into both Racing and QH Hall of Fame - Camie mentions him in her journey. Heleski, C. (2023) Social License to Operate–Why Public Perception Matters for Horse Sport–Some Personal Reflections, Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 124, May 2023, 104266, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0737080623000576 Heleski, C. & Anthony, R. (2012) Science alone is not always enough: The importance of ethical assessment for a more comprehensive view of equine welfare, Journal of Veterinary Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jveb.2011.08.003 Luke et al (2022) New insights into ridden horse behaviour, horse welfare and horse-related safety. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 105539, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2021.105539 Mellor et al (2020) Five Domains Model of Animal Welfare, Animals, https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/10/1870 A peek into the animal welfare competition developed by Camie Heleski https://www.avma.org/events/animal-welfare-assessment-contest

This week on Changing Rein Karen and Meta talk to Fran Berry, a premier jockey from Ireland who rode more than 1300 winners across a career spanning 23 years. Fran was born into a racing family and has ridden horses all over the globe, making him the perfect person to help us learn about the world of racing and explore opportunities for creating a more sustainable horse industry built on horse welfare. As with all of our guests, you may find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with some of the ideas we discuss, so this week we have introduced the Changing Rein Challenge. Listen to learn about the challenge, and as always, we are keen to hear what you think.

The ethics of using horses in sport has never been more topical. Join us as we talk to vet, horsewoman and Prof of Veterinary Ethics Madeleine Campbell and we discover that ethics is something everyone loves to talk about.

Lee McLean has spent a lifetime with horses. She describes herself as a ranch wife, horse trainer, lifelong writer and stroke survivor, and in this episode we learn about her childhood with her sister riding their ponies bareback on the family ranch in British Columbia, her training in classical dressage, and about her day to day work with horses at Keystone Equine with her husband Mike. In  our conversation Lee reflects on her journey from a traditional and utilitarian approach to riding to a more horse-centric, empathetic approach. We discuss matching riders to horses, fear and gear, riding as we age and the importance of a horse having a purpose in life. We also discuss her very philosophical approach to end of life decisions faced by every horse owner.  Website: https://www.keystoneequine.ca/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/livingwellridingbetter

In this bonus episode we chat to one of our Season 1 guests, William Micklem, about how and why he developed the Micklem Bridle and Girth.

Video released this week showing high-profile Olympic rider, Charlotte Dujardin, whipping a horse has sparked a huge reaction around the globe. This week on Changing Rein, Karen and Meta ask the question - could this be the catalyst to spark much needed change in the horse world? Background information for this episode: Ludger Beerbaum - show jumping (German Olympic medallist) https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/ludger-beerbaum-accused-of-poling-horses-in-german-tv-expose/ “I can’t watch anymore” by Julie Taylor https://www.amazon.com.au/Cant-Watch-Anymore-Dropping-Equestrian/dp/8797354309 Feb 2022 Mark Todd - eventing (New Zealand Olympic medallist) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jfs-QQGVeo November 2023 Operation X - dressage (Danish Olympic medallist) https://www.eurodressage.com/2023/11/30/danish-riding-instructor-association-expels-four-riders-based-operation-x May 2024 Danish politician introduces law changes to protect horses in sport https://www.facebook.com/NfuglsangEP/posts/pfbid0NqFXRXLATkSdbVsHnNc5CQBQn9JWqgLUoLTMvdnapgv7U2Z2WhqcMeQ8wLoCVzqHl July 2024 Danish politician posts on Olympic hopeful being removed from the Danish equestrian team for ‘making a mistake’ in training her horse https://www.facebook.com/NfuglsangEP/posts/pfbid0FsW3CG5NHMJ5DD6a9nfQKaVgmGuQeLoEcSYkA4jriTzo2yXfdVZW8jhXzyCC2Xjbl Member of public removed from event for recording and pointing out horse abuse to FEI official - Falsterbo Horse Show (Denmark) https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/a/6336ee/jenny-larmade-om-blodande-hast-polis-tillkallades Charlotte Dujardin - dressage (British Olympic medallist) https://www.thesun.co.uk/tv/29433244/gmb-viewers-beg-stop-charlotte-dujardin-horse-video/ ‘Dressage is in trouble’ - Paul McGreevy, The Guardian https://www.theguardian.com/sport/article/2024/jul/24/dressage-is-in-trouble-where-is-the-line-between-horse-abuse-and-training Research on rider motivation and understanding of horse welfare Broms et al (2020) Super equestrians – the construction of identity/ies and impression management among young equestrians in upper secondary school settings on social media https://doi.org/10.1080/13573322.2020.1859472 Cousquer (2023). From domination to dialogue and the ethics of the between: Transforming human–working equine relationships in mountain tourism. https://doi.org/10.4067/S0719-81322023000100035 Hogg &Hodgins (2021) Symbiosis or sporting tool? https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11051352 Luke et al (2024) Investigating the Motivational Priorities Underlying Equestrians’ Horse-Keeping and Training Practices, https://doi.org/10.1080/08927936.2024.2303228 Luke et al (2024)  How equestrians conceptualise horse welfare: Does it facilitate or hinder change? https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2023.79

In Part 2 of our conversation with Dr Jake Veasey we discuss his approach to understanding the needs of particular animals, and using the tiger as an example, Jake explains how by knowing what is important to an animal, can transform the way we care for them. We then talk about the needs of horses, how current horse-keeping aligns (or doesn't align) with those needs and what changes we could make in the future. If you would like to read Jake's research, you will find most of it here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jake-Veasey If you have suggestions for guests or topics you would like us to cover, please email us at team@changingrein.com.au

Dr Jake Veasey, passionate animal welfare and conservation innovator talks caring for endangered species and horses. Karen Luke and Meta Osborne interview Jake Veasey, founder and CEO of Care for the Rare, an organization specialising in the welfare and conservation of some of the world's most endangered animals. They discuss the importance of perspective and different approaches to animal welfare and conservation. Jake shares his passion for conserving species, as well as his belief in the need to prioritize the happiness of animals in our care. They also explore the tension between managing physical well-being and providing psychological opportunities for animals in captivity, and the sometimes bizarre unintended consequences of focusing too much on measuring welfare. The episodes concludes with Jake emphasizing the importance of offering animals meaningful choices and the one key need he has identified that seems to be important to all animals. You can read Jake's research here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jake-Veasey You can learn more about Jake's work here: https://www.carefortherare.com/

In this episode we chat to racehorse trainer John Berry, whose interests range beyond the day to day of training horses and include the history and heritage of horseracing and his involvement in local politics (including a stint as Mayor of Newmarket). John has intriguing things to say about how he runs his ‘free-range’ yard, and forthright opinions on the use of intra-articular medication in racehorses. We discuss wind problems and the fads in headgear use in racehorses, and not surprisingly, John has strong views on these subjects too. We hope you enjoy!

This week on Changing Rein, co-hosts Karen Luke and Meta Osborne, chat with Dr. Andrew McLean, a pioneer in studying horse welfare, behavior, and training, and a founder of the International Society for Equitation Science. Dr. McLean shares his journey from zoology to equitation science and the pivotal moments that shaped his research. And Karen and Andrew realise they both owe their start in psychology to same professor! The role of culture in horse training practices is explored, along with the need to prioritize self-carriage (where the horse is able to continue their pace and direction without influence from the rider) in dressage. Andrew shares his roadmap for the future, which includes a reevaluation of judging criteria and the acceptance of alternative equipment, such as allowing bit free and bridleless horses in competition. (If you are curious about exploring bit free and bridleless riding, visit World Bitless Association) In this conversation, Andrew McLean discusses the importance of ethical and humane training for horses. He emphasizes the need for horses to have enrichment in their lives and highlights the role that AI will likely play in the future for measuring horse welfare both during competition and at home. Andrew also advocates for the inclusion of tests of self-carriage in competition to improve the well-being of horses in sport. He also stresses that education and journalism are key in translating scientific research into practice and promoting sustainable equitation. Andrew McLean runs Equitation Science International, a registered training organisation offering courses, lessons and training.