Horse welfare - the Five Domains
Hello, what a lovely question. What you are asking about is covered by the Five Domains, which together define a horse's welfare. As an owner you can of course do more than this for your horse, but it sets a good baseline that works well as a checklist.
The Five Domains are:
1️⃣ Nutrition
2️⃣ Physical environment
3️⃣ Health
4️⃣ Behavioural interactions
and
5️⃣ Mental state, which is shaped by the first four. The link below explains more about what each domain covers (the page is in Swedish).
The domains were developed from the Five Freedoms:
1️⃣ Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition
2️⃣ Freedom from discomfort and access to a suitable environment
3️⃣ Freedom from pain, injury and disease
4️⃣ Freedom to express normal behaviour
5️⃣ Freedom from fear and distress.
