Cristina Wilkins

• PhD Student at University of New England

The article reports a meta-analysis of 58 peer-reviewed studies investigating on dorsoventral hyperflexion of the neck in horses, a practice under substantial public and scientific scrutiny for the past two decades. The following databases were last searched on 28.05.2023: CAB, Google Scholar, Web of Science, NAL/Agricola, PubMed and ScienceDirect....

Simple Summary This article introduces an animal welfare monitoring app based on the 2020 Five Domains Model that considers how an animal’s nutrition, environment, health, and behavioural interactions, influence their mental state. Adapted for smartphone use, the Mellorater app allows animal guardians (carers, keepers, and owners) to record structu...

Across the globe, the welfare of sport horses is of growing concern, prompting the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) to state that at all times the welfare of the horse must be paramount. Expressions of discomfort or pain are nevertheless frequently overlooked or misunderstood, and warrant the development of objective welfare assessment met...

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Simple Summary Tongue-ties (TTs) are commonly used in racing to restrain a horse’s tongue to aid a rider’s/driver’s control of the horse and optimise upper airway function. Nosebands (NBs) may also be employed for similar purposes. This article reports on a survey that asked people involved in Thoroughbred (TB) and Standardbred (SB) racing whether...

Simple Summary The way horses are trained and managed influences their behaviour. The Equine Behaviour Assessment and Research Questionnaire (E-BARQ) was developed to gather information on the training, management, and behaviour of domestic horses. An international panel was established to assist with the questionnaire development and the pilot que...

Simple Summary This review outlines the latest in a succession of updates of the Five Domains Model, which, at each stage, incorporated contemporary verified scientific thinking of relevance to animal welfare assessment. The current update includes, within the structure of the Model, specific guidance on how to evaluate the negative and/or positive...

Simple Summary Horse owners and caregivers are ideally placed to inform equine researchers about the training, management and behaviour of their horses, and online surveys are a simple and easy way to collect this information. However, as potential survey respondents may need some incentive to engage in detailed surveys, we investigated the popular...

Simple Summary Nosebands are commonly used in many equestrian and racing disciplines. Despite common industry knowledge regarding the correct adjustment of nosebands, there seems to be a trend of overtightening nosebands and exposing horses to high pressures that restrict normal behaviours. Thus, there are concerns that nosebands could have harmful...