A recent study has confirmed that treating horses and donkeys as individuals, allowing them to choose when they work and when they rest, drink and eat improves their overall welfare at work.
The research project, carried out by The Donkey Sanctuary, particularly highlighted the benefits of allowing working equines agency and freedom of expression.
It is the first study to show that seeing equines as individuals, and allowing them agency and freedom of expression, could improve the overall welfare of donkeys at work.
Dr Tamlin Watson, senior researcher at The Donkey Sanctuary, said: “A better understanding of equine labour could be hugely beneficial to the working lives of equines around the world, particularly donkeys whose marginalised status means that their needs, welfare and behavioural expressions are often misunderstood or may be completely overlooked.”
The charity looked at case studies of working equines from across the world, separating the work they did into three categories: hard work, decent work and affective work.
Hard work
They categorised hard work as relentless physically and physiologically demanding tasks. For example, animals carrying heavy loads to India’s brick kilns.
They pointed out that in this category both handler and equine have little choice when to work and when to rest, eat or drink.
Decent work
In cases of decent work — for example, forestry, farm or ridden work — this denotes work where equines and owners may have more freedom to choose the limits and pressures of their working day.
Affective work
And finally, affective work describes cases where animals support human emotions, such as animal-assisted therapy.
Study findings
The researchers said that: “Equines working in the assisted activities industry are expected to sustain heavy emotional labour. Equine agency in this context may vary depending on the ethos and approach of practitioners.”
The study found that working donkeys in the ‘decent’ and ‘affective’ work categories were afforded greater freedom to express their behaviours, interact with other donkeys and were given opportunities to choose not to work.
These factors are important for equine wellbeing and have a positive impact on their welfare, said The Donkey Sanctuary.
In contrast, donkeys performing hard work were less likely to have the same freedoms, which suggests they are more likely to suffer from poorer welfare.
Power dynamics
Dr Watson added that the owners of these hard-working equids should not be judged too harshly, as social, cultural and political-economic contexts may limit their opportunities to grant such freedom to rest, play or forage to their animals.
She also said that while some forms of work, when combined with a suitable environment and working conditions, could create a more positive experience for animals and owners, care must be taken not to romanticise those relationships or downplay the power dynamics in working animal contexts.
“It’s important to remember that all equines engaged in activities with people, including equines being ridden for example, are engaged in ‘work’ of some kind.
“Therefore, where possible, we encourage those engaging with working equines to accept that resistance to work is valid communication and if they can, give their animals more freedom to choose.”
Related content
- Tiny bone fragment causes complications after donkey’s routine tooth extraction
- How to tell if a horse is happy
- This is what a horse’s ear positions tell you about their mood
- Six things you need to know about horse communication
.
