Martin Burns, NZTR’s General Manager – Racing and Welfare, was among the keynote speakers at a horse welfare event in South Australia last week.

The initiative from Horse SA brought together all facets of the equestrian industry to discuss sport horse welfare and social licence to operate.

Participants from Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong were welcomed via a recorded message from Dr Roly Owers, CEO of World Horse Welfare. 

The event proposed the Five Domains Model as an approached for the continuous monitoring and welfare assessment of horses in sport, something NZTR has embedded in its new welfare policy.

“The Five Domains model brings credibility and gives us a workable framework,” Burns said.

“The minimum standards in our upcoming policy are set higher than the minimum standards in legislation because NZTR wants to set conditions and provisions for horses that are more than adequate. 

“After consultation with our industry we will make the policy available for a wider audience to review, copy or adapt. If other horse pursuits pick it up as a common approach that will be great because we will all be speaking the same language,” he said.

“We’ve been lucky to work with Emeritus Prof. David Mellor, a world leader in animal welfare science, who made himself available and engaged with us from the beginning,” he added.

The world-first event provided an excellent opportunity for leaders and influencers from different areas of the horse sector to build strong relationships, bounce ideas and establish partnerships. 

Presentations and information gathered at the event are being uploaded as available at https://www.horsesa.asn.au/social-licence-to-operate.