A Qualitative Exploration of UK Leisure Horse Owners’ Perceptions of Equine Wellbeing

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Optimizing equine wellbeing is of concern to horse owners and key stakeholders in the equine sector. However, the language horse owners use to discuss wellbeing is not well understood and terms such as quality of life and welfare are often used interchangeably. Little is known about how those providing day-to-day care of horses use terminology, or what this means for wellbeing assessment. This study collected qualitative data from focus group discussions with UK leisure horse owners. Analysis identified that horse owners did not clearly delineate between different terms. Individually constructed equine wellbeing assessments were ongoing, and shaped by factors such as the horse’s purpose and owner’s ideas about good horse care. Strategies to support owners and improve communication must pay attention to the dynamic and contextualised nature of horse owners’ experiences. ABSTRACT: Human assessment of equine wellbeing is fundamental to ensuring the optimal care of domestic horses. However, terminology associated with wellbeing is still not fully defined and there are currently no validated quality of life (QoL) assessment tools. Furthermore, little is known about what equine wellbeing or QoL means to horse owners, or how their beliefs impact on the management decisions they make for their horse. This study sought to establish how UK leisure horse owners use wellbeing-related terminology by exploring their accounts within a focus group setting. Four online focus group discussions (FGD) were held and qualitative data were collected. FGDs involved a semi-structured discussion, followed by a group activity to compare seven equine wellbeing-related terms of interest introduced by the facilitator. The collected data were analysed using a constructivist grounded theory approach, and also by content analysis, to examine the frequency and subjective meaning of the terms of interest. The results showed that horse owners did not clearly delineate between different terms, rather, they used the terms in the context of their own assessments of their horse. The meanings assigned to what owners experienced with their horse were individual and subjective, shaped by past experiences, relationships with their animal, and peers or social groups. This individualised construction of equine wellbeing impacted on the meaning conveyed when using wellbeing-related terminology. In this study, we extend the literature on equine wellbeing terminology usage, and highlight differences between the academic literature and the real-world experiences of horse owners.