An Ethnographic Account of the British Equestrian Virtue of Bravery, and Its Implications for Equine Welfare

Approximately 60% of the UK’s leisure horses are kept at livery yards under the management and oversight of a livery yard owner or manager (LYO/M), yet their role has received little research attention. This study used the COVID-19 pandemic as a lens through which to view LYO/Ms’ decisions around equine care and management at a time when changes to usual practice were necessary. Qualitative research methods were used. Up to 3 interviews were conducted with 24 different LYO/Ms over nine months (n = 48). Discussion threads from open-access UK discussion fora were also analysed. All data were anonymised and analysed using a Grounded Theory methodology. Prior to the pandemic, equine care and management practices varied greatly across yards, and yard cultures were a product of LYO/Ms’ construction of good equine care, their business model, and the need to balance human and equine contentment. The role of the LYO/M was to maintain an equilibrium between those interlinked factors. During the pandemic, LYO/Ms adopted new measures designed to influence the movement of horse owners and other people on yards to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission. During this time, LYO/Ms reported prioritising equine wellbeing by limiting change to equine routines and management wherever possible. Instead of altering equine management, there was an expectation that the lives of humans would be moulded and re-shaped to fit with the government COVID-19 guidelines. These results highlight the importance of routines, traditions and cultures in each individual yard. Maintaining the standard of care for the horse was prioritised regardless of who provided that care.

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Equine Management in UK Livery Yards during the COVID-19 Pandemic—“As Long As the Horses Are Happy, We Can Work Out the Rest Later”

Furtado

Perkins

McGowan

et al. 2021

“…However, it is more likely that the higher median age of this sub-sample means that they have potentially been around equines for longer and may therefore be expected to have accumulated more equine-related injuries than younger respondents (who are typically at lower risk of contracting COVID-19). The culture of UK equestrianism where taking risks is normalised may also contribute to this finding [ 21 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of UK Horse, Pony and Donkey Owners to the Early Stages of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Hockenhull¹,

Bell²,

White³

et al. 2021

In the UK, March 2020 was a time of great uncertainty as COVID-19 became increasingly widespread. The government responded by making suggestions about how people could reduce the risk of spread on 16 March, moved swiftly into closing schools on the 18 March before announcing a mandatory lockdown on the 23rd March. This was a challenging time for UK equestrians who had to balance maintaining their equine’s routine and daily care alongside the increasing biosecurity measures. A cross-sectional survey was distributed to UK equestrians via social media over two days (28 and 29 March 2020) to better understand the decisions made by UK horse, pony and donkey owners during this time. Data from 452 respondents were generated across all four countries comprising the UK, although there were no significant differences in owner response to the pandemic between locations. The changes respondents made differed between the 16th and the 18th of March 2020, with an early emphasis on improving yard biosecurity and opting to stop riding, as well as reducing the time spent at the yard. After the 18 March, respondents placed more emphasis on risk reduction by changing the activities they did with their horse, including riding, with common examples including avoiding “high risk” activities such as riding on busy roads, jumping, riding young or nervous horses. Few respondents reported having an emergency plan in place should they become ill or otherwise unable to care for their equine. The findings highlight areas that would significantly benefit from in-depth investigation in future research. Equestrian behaviour and mindset around risk-taking and risk perception have already been researched in relation to equestrian activities and sport but have received little attention in the context of wider health challenges. Understanding the uptake of emergency planning and preparation in the UK equestrian community also warrants consideration. Using this information effectively to promote forward planning is likely to be of great benefit in equestrian responses to future health or climate-related crises.

“…The two farms differed in ownership (state-owned vs. privately-owned), herd size (1500 vs. 11,000), farm age, location, and many other factors; the findings from these farms are not generalizable to all Chinese farms, but key aspects may be transferable to farms with similar contexts. Ethnography has rarely been applied in the field of animal welfare [ 32 ], and our results illustrate how the application of this methodology can provide researchers with nuanced insights into the experiences of farm workers…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 75%

“…As ethnographies have rarely been used in animal welfare research [ 32 ], we first describe ethnography and clarify what our study intends to achieve. Ethnographies are methods used to understand social groups and involve immersive fieldwork and participant observation [ 31 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employee Management and Animal Care: A Comparative Ethnography of Two Large-Scale Dairy Farms in China

Chen

Keyserlingk

Magliocco

et al. 2021

Farm management can directly and indirectly affect animal care. We explored how farm management affected animal care on two large dairy farms in China (anonymized as Farm A and Farm B). We used a mini-ethnographic case study design whereby the first author lived for 38 days on Farm A and 23 days on Farm B. She conducted participant observation and ethnographic interviews with farm staff positions within five departments in Farm A and six departments in Farm B. In addition, she conducted 13 semi-structured interviews (seven on Farm A; six on Farm B). We used template analysis to generate key themes. On both farms, workers believed that animal care practices had improved over time, due to three key employee management factors: 1) organizational culture, 2) competency of worker and management, and 3) an effective incentive system. Our results suggest that animal care may be improved in this context by: 1) promoting a culture in which workers have ‘grit’ and are eager to learn, 2) ensuring basic worker wellbeing, and 3) using animal care outcomes as performance indicators linked to pay.