Horse Husbandry up to the latest scientific knowledge: Position paper of the TVT regarding the 'Guidelines for Assessing Horse Husbandry from an Animal Welfare Perspective' of the German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture (BMEL)

Horse husbandry reconciles the competing demands of animal welfare and sustainability. Not only are horses frequently affected by housing- and management -related damage and suffering; they can themselves be a source of environmental impacts. Despite this, approaches to horse husbandry have been changing for the better in recent decades. Horses are increasingly being kept in groups, with the use of modern feeding techniques and exercise incentives that could prove advantageous for equine welfare. The position paper of the Veterinary Association for Animal Welfare e. V. (Tierarztiiche Vereinigung f0r Tierschutz e. V. or TVT) regarding the 'Guidelines for Assessing horse husbandry from an Animal Welfare Perspective' of the German Federal Ministry for Food and Agriculture (BMEL 2009) serves to address the current state of knowledge on species -appropriate horse husbandry. It clearly identifies and justifies old and new minimum standards. For the revision of the guidelines in the course of preparing the position paper, it was also necessary to consider current jurisprudence. In addition, previously neglected topics associated with animal -appropriate horse husbandry were included as a new chapter. From this, the present survey article introduces the most important revisions in terms of social, feeding, water -consumption, locomotion and resting behaviour, as well as weather -dependent behaviour, mother-offspring behaviour and the chapter'Horse Husbandry and the Environment