Welfare Assessment for Horses in Yards (WAHY) 

Project overview 

In 2024-2025, World Horse Welfare partnered with Dr Jill Fernandes, an animal welfare scientist and consultant at Animal Centric, to develop and test a practical, Five Domains–based welfare assessment process for horses living in yards or large group set-ups. The project focused on World Horse Welfare’s four rescue and rehoming centres, where large numbers of horses are cared for in varied yard-level management systems. 

Building on Dr Fernandes’ experience in facilitating Five Domains-based animal welfare assessments in complex organisational settings internationally, such as large zoos and aquariums, the partnership aimed to adapt a structured yet flexible approach that could capture horse welfare risks and opportunities across entire yards, rather than assessing the welfare of each horse individually, as this is often not practical in multi-horse facilities. The outcome of this collaboration was the Welfare Assessment for Horses in Yards (WAHY) – a caregiver (e.g. owners, keepers, yard managers or grooms)-driven, participatory horse welfare assessment process grounded in the globally recognised Five Domains Model of animal welfare and tailored specifically to equine needs and real-world husbandry contexts. 

Key objectives 

The project was designed to: 

• Develop a yard-level horse welfare assessment framework based on the Five Domains Model, taking into account the specific biological needs of horses and real-world husbandry contexts 
• Ensure the process was led by those providing direct care to the horses, drawing on their knowledge and experience 
• Test the feasibility and usefulness of the WAHY process across multiple World Horse Welfare rescue and rehoming centres 
• Identify areas of welfare compromise or risk at a whole-yard level, alongside clear, achievable actions for improvement 
• Generate objective welfare indicators that can be monitored over time to track welfare outcomes and continuous improvement 

The welfare criteria used within the WAHY reflect the evolved biological needs of horses, as well as best practice standards proposed by World Horse Welfare, the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities and New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing, developed in conjunction with Professor Emeritus David Mellor. 

Why does this matter? 

Multi-horse facilities, such as rescue and rehoming centres but also livery yards, breeding establishments and training yards, face unique welfare challenges. Management decisions, infrastructure and resource allocation can affect the welfare of many horses simultaneously, making it essential to prioritise changes that deliver the greatest welfare benefit. 

Testing the WAHY process across World Horse Welfare’s centres demonstrated several key benefits: 

• Encouraging the assessment of welfare from the horse’s perspective 
• Valuing and formalising the expert judgement of horse caregivers 
• Providing a clear overview of welfare across an entire yard or farm 
• Identifying specific areas of welfare compromise, which can be targeted for improvement, and specific conditions giving rise to positive welfare, which can be used as case studies of best practice 
• Supporting evidence-based prioritisation of infrastructure and management improvements 
• Embedding a system of ongoing welfare monitoring to track whether changes result in meaningful improvements for the horses 

By combining scientific welfare frameworks with participatory, caregiver-led action, the WAHY helps to translate animal welfare science into practical, day-to-day decision-making, supporting a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement in horses’ lives. 

Strategic alignment 

This project supports World Horse Welfare’s wider commitment to advancing evidence-based equine welfare, improving standards across diverse sectors and promoting practical tools that can be adopted beyond the charity’s own centres. 

The WAHY approach aligns with: 

• The Five Domains Model of animal welfare assessment, facilitating a modern, evidence-based understanding of animals’ mental states 
• National and international equine welfare standards and codes of practice 
• A preventative, holistic approach to welfare management and continuous improvement 
• Collaboration among NGOs, researchers and practitioners 

World Horse Welfare is keen to share the WAHY process with the wider equine sector, particularly with other organisations managing horses at scale. Multi-horse facilities interested in adopting a similar participatory horse welfare assurance programme are encouraged to explore the WAHY resources and contact Dr Jill Fernandes at Animal Centric to discuss how the process could be tailored to their specific context. 

Do you manage a yard of horses? Find out more about how to assess their welfare.