Project Background

The number of older horses in the UK has been increasing, however little is known about how owners and other care providers make decisions about the care and management of a horse as they age. At the University of Liverpool a multidisciplinary research team are exploring this journey and the ways in which a person’s relationship with a horse, as well as wider social factors, impact on the decisions made around care in later life.

We know that owners value their older horses and are reported to make accommodations for their horse over time, for example relating to feed, supplements, housing and workload. However, this can also be paralleled with reductions in the provision of routine preventive health care measures and veterinary involvement. We know that as a horse ages they are at increased risk of a number of chronic conditions such as pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID, also known as Cushing’s disease), laminitis, osteoarthritis, dental disease and neoplasia. Previous studies have found discrepancies between owner and veterinary surgeon reporting of clinical signs of disease. A significant number of owners reported changes in their horse to be a benign sign of ageing, in other horses changes went unnoticed. However, some of these signs were associated with diseases amenable to veterinary intervention. And so, there is opportunity to help people to provide further care for their horses as they age.

Sociological studies have highlighted the multifaceted ways in which people recognise signs of disease as illness, and then navigate health care seeking and treatment. We know that the human-horse relationship, as well as an owner’s experiences, knowledge and beliefs, impacts on their horse’s health and welfare. As an owner is key to facilitating the care that their horse receives, we aim to understand more about an owner’s process of decision making around management choices and health care seeking.

Studies have shown that owners value the veterinary surgeon as a source of information and advice around management decisions, treatment options, as well as euthanasia in older horses. However, in practice an owner’s understanding of the changes in their horse can impact on treatment seeking behaviours, as well as their relationships with providers of health care services and adherence to treatment protocols.

In addition to the role of owners, we are interested in the experiences of veterinary surgeons, their beliefs about the ageing horse and how they approach care. We will explore these understandings and how they translate into practice, as well as how they align or contrast with owners. In this research we will develop an understanding of the decision making process for each care provider, as well as the nature of the vet-owner relationship and the impact this may have on care provision.

We have adopted a qualitative approach to research and there are three stages of this project:

Part 1: Exploratory research

Initial exploratory research began with data collection from an online discussion forum in order to gain an insight into examples of everyday conversations and issues of concern for owners of older horses. See the Exploratory Research page for further details.

Part 2: In-depth interviews

We are currently speaking to horse owners and their corresponding veterinary surgeon in individual in-depth interviews. We are discussing their experiences and how they make decisions around management and health care for their older horse. This is enabling us to understand what is important to people involved in care, the challenges they face, and how they navigate changes over time. See the Taking Part page for more details about being involved.

Part 3: Workshops

Over the next year (2021-2022) we will be holding workshops to discuss with relevant stakeholders how our findings might be best translated into practical initiatives.

Research outputs will be published in due course, so please return for further updates.