Wednesday, February 15th will see World Horse Welfare welcome back equine behaviourists Justine Harrison and Rosa Verwijs to discuss how the way we manage our horses can have huge implications on their physical and psychological health. The webinar will be chaired by Sarah Coombs.

In the latest in the series of Welfare Wednesdays webinars, Justine will present the horse’s basic behavioural needs and explain why behaviour problems may appear if their management is restricted. She will also look at stress, how it affects the horse, and how we can manage their environment to reduce stress and avoid behaviour problems occurring.

Justine will then be joined by Rosa to answer questions from the live audience about horse behaviour and how management practices can impact their wellbeing and mental health.

By registering for the webinars through Zoom, you will be able to take part in the various polls, ask questions during the Q&A and enjoy an interactive experience. If you are keen to be part of the conversation for this webinar on Wednesday 15th February, then please REGISTER HERE.

The webinars are free to attend and if you are unable to attend via Zoom they can be viewed as a Facebook Live session. If you have missed any of the previous webinars – which have tackled subjects as fascinating and diverse as keeping horses fit, weight management, euthanasia, biosecurity, travelling, and cutting costs not care – they are all available to watch on the World Horse Welfare YouTube channel.

More about the presenters

Justine Harrison is a Certified Horse Behaviour Consultant with the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants (IAABC). She is also the organisation’s UK Co-Chair and a member of the Application Review Team. Justine is also registered as an Accredited Animal Behaviourist with the Animal Behaviour & Training Council and one of the organisation’s trustees. Justine is the founder of Understand Horses – an online education platform. She lectures on the Equine Behavioural Science BSc degree course at Writtle University College and teaches as a visiting lecturer at several UK universities and colleges. She acts as an expert consultant in legal disputes and court cases involving equine behaviour. She holds lectures and workshops around the UK and regularly contributes to a wide variety of international publications.

Rosa Verwijs is a Senior Lecturer in Equine Behaviour and Nutrition at Writtle University College in Essex, where she leads the BSc (Hons) Equine Behavioural Science course. She is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and conducts research into equine behaviour, welfare and nutrition and has developed several new university courses. Rosa is a Certified Horse Behaviour Consultant with the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants and is also registered with the Animal Behaviour and Training Council as an Accredited Animal Behaviourist. In her practice and teaching she promotes the use of LIMA (least intrusive, minimally aversive) compliant and science-based behaviour modification methods. Rosa contributes to Understand Horses, an education organisation presenting practical, evidence-based information on a range of topics including horse behaviour, training, nutrition, physiology and welfare. She sits on equine industry behaviour and welfare committees for the Animal Behaviour and Training Council, The British Horse Society and the National Equine Welfare Council and also writes behaviour articles for equine magazines.

About World Horse Welfare

World Horse Welfare  (Registered charity no: 206658 and SC038384), is an international horse charity that improves the lives of horses in the UK and worldwide through care, research, education and influence. Since we were founded in 1927, our whole approach has been practical, based on scientific evidence and our extensive experience, and focused on delivering lasting change for horses in need, sport and leisure horses and work and production horses, improving welfare through supporting the horse-human partnership.