Horse Forum
The Horse Trust hosted an event on Tuesday evening for livery yard managers to provide information on horse welfare and legal issues.Around 50 livery yard owners and managers from across Buckinghamshire attended the event, which was run by the Buckinghamshire branch of the British Horse Society (BHS).
Livery yard managers were given information on various topics including veterinary problems, euthanasia, litigation and the BHS Livery Yard Approval Scheme.
The BHS Livery Yard Approval Scheme is a voluntary scheme that enables livery yards to demonstrate they are meeting a high welfare standard. Each scheme member is inspected annually to give owners the peace of mind that their horse or pony is being looked after properly.
"At the moment, livery yards aren't regulated (1), which means that basic standards of welfare aren't always met," said Rebecca Evans, Equine Welfare and Grants Manager at The Horse Trust. "We believe that welfare should be the priority for livery yards and hope that more livery yards will join this scheme to show their commitment to meeting high welfare standards."
There are around 130 livery yards in Buckinghamshire, but only 15 are members of the BHS Scheme, according to Jan Eedle-Wells, the Chair of the Buckinghamshire branch of BHS.
Lee Hackett, Senior Welfare Executive at the BHS, demonstrated in his presentation the benefits of the scheme and the legal responsibility that livery yard managers and owners have to safeguard the welfare of all the horses on their property.
Paul Jepson, Chief Executive and Veterinary Director of The Horse Trust, spoke at the welfare event on the issue of euthanasia and quality of life. "Horse owners often involve livery yard owners when making a decision about whether to euthanase their horse. It is vital that livery yard owners understand more about this issue so they can help horse owners come to the right decision and to ensure the welfare of the horse is prioritised."
For more information on horse welfare issues, please contact welfare@horsetrust.org.uk. For more information on the BHS Livery Yard Approval Scheme, visit www.bhs.org.uk
(1) At present, Livery Yards in the UK are not regulated, unlike many other establishments that look after animals, such as catteries and kennels. Defra has said that it may draft secondary legislation around the 2006 Animal Welfare Act to regulate livery yards in the future.
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