What exactly can a Zookeeper offer the Equestrian world?
I know that’s what you’re thinking… so let me get (only a little) ‘science-y’ here. Bear with me.
I believe our equestrian community could benefit enormously from adopting the frameworks that zoo professionals use when caring for their animals. Across accredited zoological institutions worldwide, one concept forms the backbone of daily care: Behavioural Husbandry.
It’s a system that applies to any species. Yet in the equestrian world, it’s still rarely implemented in any depth, despite the enormous welfare and safety benefits it could bring.
What is Behavioural Husbandry?
At its core, Behavioural Husbandry (BH) is daily care that focuses on how an animal interacts with both its physical and social environment. It weaves together:
Animal training
Environmental enrichment
Behavioural research
into a comprehensive approach that meets an animal’s psychological as well as physical needs.
From my years of work in both the zoo and equine industries, I began to see gaps. I grew a little disheartened with the equine industry, but eventually pulled the threads together into a system that I believe can strengthen both horse welfare and human - horse partnerships.
That system is what I’ve coined the Equine Behavioural Husbandry Program (EBHP).
Breaking It Down
Equine: a horse or other member of the horse family
Behavioural: involving or emphasising behaviour
Husbandry: from the verb “to husband,” meaning to manage carefully
Program: a set of related practices with a long-term aim
The goal of an EBHP is a healthy, well-adjusted horse, one who can voluntarily participate in their own care and express species-specific behaviours.
The techniques draw from:
Equine ethology (the study of horse behaviour)
Welfare science
Operant learning and behaviour analysis
Knowledge of each horse’s natural and personal history
Ultimately, Behavioural Husbandry is about understanding and influencing behaviour in order to improve welfare. Isn’t that what we all want, for our horses, our relationships with them, and ourselves?
How Does an EBHP Benefit Us?
From a training perspective, EBHP helps us interpret our interactions and measure the consequences of our actions with horses.
Grounded in research, it isn’t “just another method.” Rather, it is the science of learning itself - the principles of reinforcement, punishment, and conditioning that underlie every interaction we have with our horses.
It also has real-world implications for rider safety. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, horse riding has been recognised as one of the most high-risk recreational activities, with injury rates higher than motorcycle riding and even car racing.
By providing a clearer, evidence-based understanding of how horses learn, and which training practices are ineffective or harmful, EBHP gives riders and trainers tools that can reduce accidents and increase safety.
How Does an EBHP Benefit Our Horses?
The heart of EBHP is ethology. Knowing what is natural and realistic for horses to do. This reduces anthropomorphism (placing human expectations on them) and instead keeps training within their cognitive and behavioural capacities.
With correct application, EBHP makes it easier for horses to succeed in training tasks and less likely that they will develop unwanted side effects such as fear, aggression, or confusion. It also helps us identify and avoid techniques that may cause suffering or prove ineffective.
A horse’s ability to learn and safely execute tasks reflects directly on their welfare and on our responsibility as their stewards. Incorrect methods can create lasting behavioural and physiological issues. EBHP offers a framework to prevent that.
The implementation of an Equine Behavioural Husbandry Program can improve equestrian practices across the board. Most importantly, it improves the welfare of horses and may even reduce the levels of behavioural “wastage” in the industry.
Benefits of EBHP
Builds understanding of enrichment and least-aversive, most-positive training methods
Encourages behavioural husbandry as a core part of equine care
Increases safety for both horse and rider
Promotes positive welfare states and offers horses a “life worth living”
Creates environments of sustained progress and learning using cutting-edge, science-based techniques
Facilitates husbandry and medical care
Reduces stereotypic and “problem” behaviours
Enriches the lives of horses and deepens their partnerships with humans
At WildStride, I see this as more than just a framework. It’s a way of remembering that our horses are not machines to be managed, but living beings with needs, rhythms, and wisdom of their own. Behavioural Husbandry gives us the science, yes, but it also gives us the space to soften, to listen, and to work with our horses instead of against them.
If we can bring the same care, attention, and respect that a zookeeper offers to a wild creature, imagine what might be possible for the horses standing in our paddocks.