79 A survey of horse longevity and retirement in the equine assisted services industry

Abstract

Anecdotal evidence suggests high horse turnover is a concern in the field of equine assisted services (EAS) with potential negative effects on sustainability. Members of key EAS organizations (American Hippotherapy Association; Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship, International; eagala; Certified Horsemanship Association for a total of 26,000 recipients) were surveyed to characterize horses in EAS programs, their use, and causes of retirement. We expected respondents to indicate horses remained in their programs for relatively short periods of time and list behavior as a leading cause of retirement. The survey (Qualtrics Ⓡ ) was distributed via email using a repeat contact strategy of 4 contacts spaced 2–4 wk apart. Descriptive statistics were computed in SAS (v 9.4). Kendall's correlation with Bonferroni correction was used to analyze relationships of retirement causes and longevity with selection procedures and workload. Respondents (n = 176 completed responses; 0.14% response rate) reported 12 ± 8 (mean ± SD) horses and ponies were active in their programs. Animals ranged in age from less than 5 yr (2 ± 5% of animals in program) to 36–40 yr (0.1 ± 1.3%) with the greatest number falling between 16 and 20 yr (34% ± 22%). Donation (40 ± 34% of animals in program), purchase from private owner (23 ± 31%), and free lease (18 ± 26%) were reported as the most common means of acquiring horses and ponies. Animals had been active in the program for less than one yr (4.5 ± 12% of animals in program) to over 20 yr (4.4 ± 18%) with the greatest percentage of animals active for 1–5 yr (37 ± 35%) followed by 6–10 yr (31 ± 31%). Respondents indicated horses and ponies typically worked anywhere from 0 to 1 h/wk (0.6% of respondents) to 42–48 h/wk (0.6%) with the largest number working 4–8 h/wk (20%). When asked reasons for retiring horses and ponies, respondents ranked (1 = most frequent; 7 = least frequent) age (2, 1–3; median, IQR), behavior (2, 1–3), and unsoundness (2, 1–3) as the most frequent reasons followed by burnout (2.5, 1–4), other health issues (3, 2–3), death (4, 2–4), lease expiration (5, 3.5–5), and other reasons. Selection procedures and workload were not significantly corelated with reason for retirement or longevity. Further research is needed to understand how burnout, a behaviorally assessed state, differs from behavioral reasons for retirement and its implications. Collection and analysis of other variables, potentially at an individual animal level, is needed to further our understanding of factors contributing to horse longevity and retirement.