The relationship between working horse welfare state and their owners’ empathy level and perception of equine pain
Authors: Luna D, Vásquez RA, Yánez JM, Tadich T
Journal: Animal Welfare
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Owner Empathy and Working Horse Welfare Luna and colleagues examined 127 working horses and their 100 owners in Chile, using standardised questionnaires to measure owners' animal-oriented empathy, human-oriented empathy, and their perception of equine pain, alongside direct welfare assessments of the horses themselves. The findings revealed a striking relationship: owner empathy towards animals accounted for over 60% of the variation in horse welfare outcomes, with horses owned by more empathetic individuals showing significantly better physical condition and behavioural states. Notably, 15.7% of horses in the study population exhibited poor welfare status, yet this welfare deficit was substantially correlated with lower empathy scores in their owners; additionally, owners who perceived equine pain more acutely maintained horses in better condition. The data suggest that empathy—particularly towards animals, which itself correlated with broader human-oriented empathy and pain perception—represents a modifiable psychological factor that directly influences management decisions affecting horse health. For equine professionals working with owners of working horses, these findings support targeting education and welfare interventions at building empathetic capacity rather than focusing solely on technical knowledge, as an owner's genuine emotional connection to horses' capacity to suffer may be the most powerful driver of improved daily care standards.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Educating horse owners about empathy and pain recognition may be one of the most effective ways to improve working horse welfare, given that owner empathy explains >60% of welfare variation
- •Training programmes should focus on developing owners' ability to recognize equine pain signals, as this directly correlates with better daily welfare management decisions
- •When assessing welfare problems in working horses, consider the psychological attributes and education level of the owner as a key intervention point
Key Findings
- •15.7% of working horses studied had poor welfare state according to objective welfare index
- •Owner's animal-oriented empathy explained over 60% of the variation in horses' welfare conditions
- •Higher owner empathy levels and pain perception were significantly correlated with better horse welfare outcomes
- •Owner empathy towards animals was positively correlated with both human-oriented empathy and perception of equine pain