What information might be in the facial expressions of ridden horses - adaptation of behavioural research methodologies in a new field

Horses being ridden when in pain is a welfare concern which deserves investigation. Transfer of behaviour based pain evaluation systems developed for clinical science to ridden horses, must be done with cautiousness, and research methods specific for evaluation of pain in equitation science have not been validated. In this commentary piece we present some concerns about the study designs of two recent papers evaluating facial expressions in ridden horses.
Source: Journal of Veterinary Behavior: Clinical Applications and Research - Category: Veterinary Research Authors: Source Type: research