Speakers at the Horse Welfare Summit

Lisa Ashton – ”Ethical Horse Training on Purpose – An intersectional approach to renovating equitation” Lisa is the UK authority in the application of Equitation Science, communicating for over two decades the science of how horses learn, globally recognised by her intersectional approach to leading positive change inside equestrian organisations.

Anna Blomgren –She is known for her special environmental training of dressage horses and has shown that it is possible to combine difficult dressage of the best quality with a horse that accepts environmental factors of great kinds. In addition, she competes internationally in dressage and has several victories.

Johan Lundblad – ”What information about the internal state of the horse is conveyed through facial expressions?” DVM, Phd at the Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Biochemistry where I research how stress and sedative drugs can affect pain reading in horses and how we can apply detailed measurements of facial expressions and behaviors in horses with a combination of these conditions, both at an experimental level and in the clinic.

Mette Mannseth ”A horse is a horse. Knowledge and experience must meet to improve horse welfare” presented by Hólar University – ”A horse is a horse. Knowledge and experience must meet to improve horse welfare.”Head riding teacher since 2011. In 2013, she became a certified „Icelandic Master Trainer“, the most advanced qualification obtainable from The Association of Icelandic Horse Trainers, FT. She is the seventh Icelandic horse master trainer and the first woman to achieve this honors.

Nina Känsälä – ”You & Me – Horse welfare in everyday life with horses” Nina is a dedicated PhD student at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), focusing her research on the social license of equestrian sports. With a lifelong commitment to horses, Nina now combines scientific knowledge with her extensive practical experience and expertise from the Swedish equine industry.

Kati Tuomola – ”Is rein tension associated with horse behaviour and mouth injuries in harness racing trotters? ”Dr. Kati Tuomola, DVM, PhD, completed her thesis on bit-related injuries in competition horses. She has continued her research on rein tension and trotter behaviour at the University of Helsinki. In addition to her academic work, she is an entrepreneur focused on equine dentistry. Dr. Tuomola has a strong interest in animal welfare, rights, ethics, and animal law.

Hanna Sassner – ”Sustainability of Horse Welfare”Dr Hanna Sassner, PhD, is an applied ethologist and researcher of equine behaviour and wellbeing at . at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Alnarp.

Rebeka Zsoldos- ”Equine perception and the link to behaviour and emotion” Dr Rebeka R. Zsoldos is a senior lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Alnarp. Her equine research focused on investigating spinal movement and muscle activation patterns during different tasks and gaits. In the subtropical climate of Queensland, Australia, she has undertaken research into muscle activation patterns under diverse training conditions, finding solutions to track body temperature and developing cooling-down methods ensuring the well-being of equine athletes in hot and humid environments.

Anette Graf – ”Sound and evidence-based horse management” Anette Graf Veterinarian Anette Graf is the vice president of FEEVA, an international organization for equine veterinarians, where she is also the chair of the horse welfare working group. Anette has specialized knowledge in equine diseases and has nearly 30 years of experience in the veterinary profession, both in Sweden and the United Kingdom. Today, she divides her time between international assignments and her work as an insurance veterinarian at Agria. Anette’s commitment to sound and evidence-based horse management is significant – whether it involves knowledge dissemination or the importance of regulations and guidelines that benefit the health and well-being of horses.

Seminar Krafft Manor House –Annie Larsson, Product specialist and developer at KRAFFT Horse Nutrition. Has over the years worked in different research projects regarding animal nutrition, specially with focus on feed evaluation, product development and nutrition for animal health.

Victoria Lewis – ”Ethical Horse Training on Purpose – An intersectional approach to renovating equitation” a Senior Lecturer at Hartpury University, where she specializes in Equitation Science and equestrian sport performance. Her academic focus is on enhancing rider techniques to optimize the welfare and performance of ridden horses. Victoria’s research interests encompass Equitation Science, horse-rider interactions during sport, and equestrian coaching methodologies.

Jessica Stark – ”Equestrianism’s social licence: What does it have to do with me?” Jessica has played an active role in the charity’s work to improve policy and practice in horse welfare and to support the equine sector in strengthening its social licence to operate. She has extensive experience working with equestrian sport and racing, and was an independent member of the FEI’s Equine Ethics and Wellbeing Commission.

Kendra Coulter – ” Solidarity with Horses: The Diversity of Equine Lives ” Dr. Kendra Coulter is Professor in Management and Organizational Studies and coordinator of the world’s first major in Animal Ethics and Sustainability Leadership at Huron University College, Western University, in Canada. She is also a fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics whose books include Animals, Work, and the Promise of Interspecies Solidarity, and Defending Animals: Finding Hope on the Front Lines of Animal Protection.

Natalie K-Waran (Online lecture) – Nat is an internationally recognised equine behaviour and welfare scientist. She was Professor of Animal Welfare, International Animal Welfare Centre Director and the International Dean at Edinburgh University’s Veterinary School, before she moved back to NZ in 2016 to take up the role of Professor of One Welfare and Executive Dean at EIT/Te Pūkenga. Over the past 30+ years, she has researched and published across a range of areas including; horse transport, indicators of equine stress and pain, equine problem behaviour and equine quality of life and welfare assessment.

Malin Axel- Nilsson – ”The match between horse and rider – how equine activity and fear play an important role” Malin Axel-Nilsson runs her own company Hästologen, co-founded the Swedish horsetech company HayHay and holds a PhD in Ethology and Animal Science.Malin met her first horse-crush, the New Forest Diana, in the early 80’s. Since then, she has dedicated both her leisure time and professional career to horses. Her PhD thesis, The Match Between Horse and Rider, focus on how to measure and predict whether the combination of horse temperament and rider personality has a role in that magical experience when a horse fits you like a glove – and what you should think of when buying or selling a horse.

Angelo Telatin –”Practicing learning theory to safeguard horse welfare (clinic med Elke Hartman) Angelo Telatin is a renowned equestrian expert with extensive experience in horse training and behavior. His unique background combines scientific knowledge, with a Ph.D. in equine learning applied to training, and the prestigious training certificate: the Fellow of the British Horse Society.

Agneta Sandberg – ”All 24 hours – Experiences from the Swedish Trotting Associations horse welfare work” Agneta Sandberg is employed as an animal welfare expert at the Swedish Trotting Association, with responsibility for the associations horse welfare assurance program. The work also includes development of regulations and inspection routines¸ education of trainers, research collaborations and cooperation within the horse industry. She is also a PhD student at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in an industry-academia collaborative horse welfare research project.

Susanna Hedenborg – ”Horses and people. Past, present and future challenges” Susanna Hedenborg is a professor of sports science and has studied children’s and youth sports as well as equestrian sports from a number of different perspectives. Among other things, she has studied galloping, trotting and equestrian sports from gender and class perspectives, how riders and trainers search for information about horses and riding on social media, how riding schools work with the very youngest and how equestrian sports have met environmental challenges.

Linda Kjellberg -”Health and injuries among horses in open barns” Linda Kjellberg, PhD is a researcher and teacher at the Swedish National Equestrian Centre in Strömsholm.She completed her doctorate in 2022 in animal science “Horse stables in the 21st century – aspects of management, behaviour and health” which deals with the welfare of horses in terms of feeding, lying behaviour and injuries among horses housed in an active open barn.

Isabelle Fredricson – ”Gait screening using a mobile phone application” Isabelle Fredricson is a veterinarian who also competed showjumping in S-level which gives her an interesting insight from both a veterinarian and riders perspective. She takes part of a lot of research projects and works closely with her husband Jens Fredricon and many other riders in the work of keeping their horses sound and performing on top level. Some of her passions are asymmetries and health care for horses.

Elke Hartmann & Mari Zetterqvist Blokhuis -How can we bridge scientific findings with equestrian practice at riding schools?/Hur kan vi förena vetenskap och praktik vid ridskolor för att förbättra hästvälfärden?” This lecture will only be in Swedish! Horse welfare at riding schools – how can more knowledge about the horse’s behavior, horses’ learning and communication between humans and horses lead to a better horse welfare for our riding school horses? In the project, we have looked at what the riding schools teach in these subjects and we have tested a tailor-made training program at a couple of riding schools. Now it remains to produce a material that riding schools can use in their teaching. During this workshop, we want to present our preliminary results and discuss with those of you who work in the riding school business what practical benefits we can have from the project, how we build bridges between research and practice and also have the opportunity to talk about a new educational material for riding schools.

Inga Wolframm – ”Bias, barriers and behaviour change + Look before you leap” Dr. Inga Wolframm is Professor of Sustainable Equestrianism at Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences. Her research focuses on the intersection of human behavioral psychology, equestrian sports, and sustainability, exploring topics such as behavior change, cognition, attention and decision making in the (international) equine sector.

Maria Rørvang – ”Equine perception and the link to behaviour and emotion” Associate Professor Maria Vilain Rørvang, PhD & Docent, is an ethologist and senior lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Alnarp.Her research focusses specifically on understanding the cognitive and sensory abilities of farm animals including, but not limited to, horses.

Tristan Tucker

Panel discussion

• Svensk Travsport
• Svenska Islandhästförbundet
• Svenska Ridsportförbundet
• HNS
• Svenska Hästavelsförbundet
• Ridskolornas Riksorganisation

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