Horse welfare is complex, partly due to the myriad uses, values, and husbandry arrangements for horses. They’re backyard pets, ridden and driven in competition, raced, raised for meat, and used for therapy, recreation, and rodeo. Horses are regularly transported, kept in rural and urban areas, stalls, pens, fields, and pastures, plus managed according to their use. Many horses live on individual properties and their welfare relies on individual owners, making poor welfare difficult to identify.

"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed."-Antoine de Saint-Exupéry - When Dorothy Brooke, the wife of a British army major general, arrived in Egypt in 1930, she became aware of the fate of thousands of former war horses that had faithfully served the British army during World War I. Born in the United Kingdom, these horses were shipped overseas to serve in the war and had not returned home. Those that survived were now living a life of crippling hardship as working horses on the streets of Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt. She decided to do whatever was necessary to ease their suffering.

A drug that has been widely used in Thoroughbred racehorses in North America could increase the risk of sudden death, according to a new study. The research also identified other risk factors associated with sudden death, relating to the circumstances of the race and individual histories of the horses.

Podcast host Alexa Linton sits down for a conversation with Kareine Vandeborre, founder of Horsefulness Training. Karine has 25 years experience working with horses, including severely traumatized horses that she helps gain self-confidence and trust in humans again.