There is a “thing” making the rounds in the animal welfare community. The “thing” is a concept that horses are entitled to five freedoms. The group behind this is the Farm Animal Welfare Committee of the World Equine Veterinary Association. The five freedoms are as follows:
1. Freedom from thirst, hunger, and malnutrition; 2. Freedom from discomfort; 3. Freedom from pain, injury, and disease; 4. Freedom to express normal behaviour; and 5. Freedom from fear and distress.
Now anyone who has even remotely followed my ramblings over the 80 odd Just Jake columns and 84 more blogs knows that I am an advocate for the welfare of the horse. However, I am also a realist and the reality is that there is no way, unless you put a horse in a gilded cage and monitor him 24/7 you can meet the 5 criteria. Even if you did it, you would be breaking freedom 4. Let us look at the list:
1. Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition. This is motherhood and no person can find an argument with this.
2. Freedom from discomfort. Now how can we guarantee that? What if he jumps and lands and strains something. What if followed by what if. Yes freedom from human caused discomfort, but to what extent?
3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease. Well duhh! Obvious yes, but impossible to do. Diseases are transmitted by nature, we all know our horses can inflict injuries on themselves that cause pain.
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour. Normal behaviour within what physical constraints? Should all horses be free to run over the barren prairies? Free to fight and battle for herd dominance to the detriment of others?
5. Freedom from fear and distress. Number 4 and number 5 are diametrically opposite. Normal herd behaviour is based on fear and dominance, which causes distress. How does one stop fear of the unknown? Stop fear of some unknown creature in a pasture (bears for example) or fear caused by a sudden noise or unusual situation. Horses survived because of a highly developed fear instinct.
Everyone reading this has broken the five freedom rules. You have if you rode too long, or too fast or jumped too high. All of this will cause some degree of muscle soreness. Therefore, you inflicted pain, discomfort and distress on your horse. If your horse is not turned out with others where he can play and fight, or is kept stabled during training, you have broken the five freedoms.
Making lists of rights and freedoms is fine but they must be applicable and reasonable. These rules are so encompassing that every horse owner in the world has been abusive. This sort of drivel only fuels the rhetoric of the radical welfare groups and taints the minds of people who have no concept of animal husbandry.
Horses in general are doing pretty well in today’s world. How about someone guaranteeing you or me the same five freedoms. Wouldn’t even a single day without (di)stress be wonderful. If you cannot do it for a person, how in heck can anyone expect it be reasonable for horse owners?