'I want to be the sort of owner that he wants me to be': Rationales for biosecurity implementation among British horse owners.
Authors: Spence Kelsey L, Rosanowski Sarah M, Slater Josh, Cardwell Jacqueline M
Journal: Equine veterinary journal
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Horse Owners' Biosecurity Decision-Making Effective disease control hinges on horse owners adopting biosecurity practices, yet their motivations and barriers remain poorly understood. Kelsey and colleagues conducted semi-structured interviews with 23 British horse owners of varying experience and management situations, analysing responses using critical realist thematic analysis to uncover what drives (or hinders) their biosecurity choices. Three major themes emerged: owners experience genuine moral conflict when biosecurity measures like quarantine appear to compromise their horse's welfare and happiness; poor biosecurity has become normalised in shared yards and competition venues, making individual implementation feel futile; and owners consequently invest extra vigilance to compensate for collective inaction—a burden the researchers termed 'caring double'. The research reveals that messaging around biosecurity is most likely to gain traction when framed as aligned with equine welfare rather than as external compliance demands, and highlights the critical need for industry-wide behavioural change rather than targeting isolated individuals. These findings suggest that veterinary professionals and yard managers should explore how to establish biosecurity as a shared social norm, whilst acknowledging and addressing the genuine welfare concerns that currently create perceived tension between disease prevention and horse care.
Read the full abstract on PubMed
Practical Takeaways
- •When advising clients on biosecurity, emphasize how measures protect horse wellbeing and welfare rather than leading with disease risk messaging—this aligns with owners' primary moral obligation to their horse's happiness
- •Recognize that individual biosecurity implementation is undermined by social norms at shared facilities; advocate for venue-level or collective adoption policies to reduce burden on conscientious owners
- •Acknowledge owners' genuine dilemma between welfare and biosecurity; work collaboratively to identify measures that satisfy both (e.g., modified quarantine approaches that allow social contact)
Key Findings
- •Horse owners experience moral conflict between implementing biosecurity measures (e.g., quarantine) and perceived compromises to their horse's happiness and comfort
- •Low biosecurity uptake is normalized at shared yards and competition venues, creating collective action problems that burden individual owners
- •Owners compensate for industry-wide poor biosecurity by practicing heightened vigilance ('caring double'), suggesting individual motivation alone is insufficient without systemic change
- •Framing biosecurity as aligned with horse welfare and care (rather than disease risk) may improve uptake among horse owners