Welfare, Performance & Longevity Series, with internationally respected FEI Veterinarian Dr Mike Tomlinson

This is a series that Equestrian NSW have put together for all Equestrian Australia members [thank you to all the organising team & ENSW for funding this, and Dr Mike for his wonderful presentation]. A great turnout with well over 100 people on the call, it was fantastic conversation.

Talk 1 - Equine Recovery, Welfare & the Future of Horse Sport

🐴 The five step "how can I do better" framework: Listen>Acknowledge>Change>Act consistently to build trust>Accentuate the positive/make learning fun

🐴 "The other 23 hours" - welfare is about management outside of training/competition, "plus-positive" welfare (not just the absence of suffering)

🐴 The incentives argument: welfare problems are incentive problems more than knowledge problems. If Judging rewards tension and economics reward pushing horses, reform will only stay cosmetic

🐴 Dressage-specific: behaviours scored negatively (mouth opening, tail swishing) are most often signals of pain, discomfort or stress - not resistance or disobedience (Dr Mike cited research for this & took questions from the floor about perceived disobedience - Dr Mike's statement was "no" to disobedience and always to a reason why the horse is saying no)

🐴 The judging flashpoints: tension is mistaken for power, compression is mistaken for collection, spectacular movement is rewarded over relaxation

🐴 Any time you're putting anything (gear) on your horse "why do I need this? Do I need this for me?"

🐴 We wore top hats 15 years ago and now we don't anymore because it's better not to. We know more about horses now too.

🐴 Travelling is very underestimated with stress, hydration and electrolytes. Recovery takes longer than we realise

🐴 Re-establish normal feeding when travelling or at events. Don't change anything from home. The GI tract is very sensitive Recovery should include digestive stability too

🐴 Listen to your horse - know what is normal for your horse

🐴 Support mental decompression. Competition can be cognitively and emotionally demanding

🐴 "How much time off does a horse need from competition and does a horse need time off during the year" - it's not a physiological issue, it's mental time off. Working 1 hour per day 7 days per week for months - how is their brain? How are they coping mentally? Do they need time off or a change of pace in their training? If you stay in the arena, do you maybe need to go out around the block and let them kick their heels up? I don't always see body issues - I see mental ones

🐴 The post-competition audit list: heat/swelling, digital pulses, back sensitivity, saddle/girth rubs, mouth commissure irritation, hooves

🐴 Protect the young horse: over showing and pushing collection too early are major longevity risks - conservatively developed horses often last longer

🐴 More therapy isn't always better. More ice, more wraps, more devices. Focus on water, walking, forage, and turnout - they are more important.

🐴 Cumulative burden is underestimated. Over shown, over exercised.

🐴 Microtears rather than overt tears. Microtears is how you get stronger. But rest for tissue to recover is paramount

🐴 Structural damage and pain do not always correlate. X-rays do not always show pain. Horses have evolved with kissing spines and the amount of pain is not correlated to the damage

🐴 Use cross training - regardless of your discipline

🐴 Repetitive arena circles will age horses

🐴 Variation with preserve bodies

🐴 Train less, recover better - more horses need more recovery 

🐴 Few horses need more training than we already do

🐴 Always look for the small things early

🐴 Prioritize mental welfare. Burnout exists in horses, a sour horse often becomes physically compromised

🐴 A horse that enjoys work, often lasts longest

🐴 Preserve curiosity and willingness

🐴 Horses that are happy, work harder

🐴 Turn out, social contact, forage based feeding, hoof balance, saddle fit, dental care - all of these things are important

🐴 Once you know better, do better

If you're doing right by the horse for a long, enjoyable life, you're already doing right by recovery and competition, and you don't need to personally worry about social license.