EC Statement on Horse Welfare

At the heart of our sport, is the horse. In 2025, in honour of our commitment to ensure humane, ethical and safe treatment of horses, Equestrian Canada advanced several equine welfare practices and resources. These included strengthening welfare-focused rules, increasing education for riders, owners and officials, updating the Horse Welfare Code of Conduct, empowering earlier, more proactive interventions through clearer definitions, and ensuring stronger authority to protect horses through the addition of recorded warnings.

Coming into effect in 2026, Section A has been strengthened to centralize and align equine welfare rules across all EC rule books. This change, combined with those above achieves the following:

• Reaffirms Section A as the parent authority for all rules relating to equine welfare across every discipline.
• Clarifies standards of humane treatment and definitions of abuse including Canada’s definition of horse overuse in competition.
• Recognizes horses as sentient beings that can feel, perceive and experience both positive and negative emotions appropriate to its species, environment and circumstances.
• Adds broad responsibilities for all Individuals under the Horse Welfare Code of Conduct.
• Provides officials with additional pathways to address violations of the rules relating to equine welfare

In addition, EC has updated the Fostering Healthy Equestrian Environments education curriculum for all sport licence holders to include expanded horse welfare content; has updated the LearnTo curriculum to add a horse care pathway (launching in spring 2026) and has partnered with Equestrian Global Symmetry to produce a free training module exclusively for sport licence holders to improve understanding and knowledge about social license to operate. The module will launch in the spring of 2026 through the ECampus. For more on the Equestrian Global Symmetry program click here.

These important changes reflect our commitment to the ethical partnership between rider and horse and reinforce that horse welfare is not a “checkbox,” but a foundation of our sportbased on ethical behaviour, values, respect and responsibilities.

EC also acknowledges the recent changes adopted by the Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) – in particular the revision of Article 259 of the Jumping Rules. Although EC is not completely aligned with all parts of Art 259, having voted against the rule at the 2025 FEI General Assembly, we do applaud the added veterinary safeguards and extension of the rule application to both competition and warm-up rings. At this time, EC will not be incorporating Article 259 into the Canadian national rule book.

Through these changes, Equestrian Canada is proud to strengthen our horse welfare standards, elevate clarity and consistency across disciplines, and reaffirm our collective responsibility together with athletes, owners, grooms, coaches, officials, and sport organisers to safeguard the well-being of the horse in sport.

Summary of Horse Welfare Rules and Policy Changes in effect 2026

These changes reinforce the priority of horse welfare, the ethical partnership between rider/driver and horse, and the consistent application of welfare standards across disciplines.

1. Strengthening Section A of the EC National Rule Book

• All rules, definitions, and obligations related to horse welfare previously dispersed among discipline-specific sections (Sections B, C, D, E, F, G, J, K, L) shall be consolidated within Section A: “General Regulations ”.
• Statement of Principles: “3. Section A Horse Welfare rules apply to all disciplines and all Section Rule Books. Rule exceptions in other Sections that contravene Section A Horse Welfare rules are not permitted and will not be approved.“
• Discipline sections shall be amended to remove any rule exceptions which now duplicate or conflict with Section A.
• Rationale: This structural change ensures that welfare is treated as a core, universal principle

2. Definition and Recognition of Sentience and Over-use

• Insert into the Horse Welfare Code the recognition of sentience: Code.Preamble&Purpose.3.a) “EC recognizes Horses as sentient beings, defined by the ability to feel, perceive or experience subjectively (ie. the animal is not only capable of feeling pain and distress but also can have positive psychological experiences, such as comfort, pleasure or interest that are appropriate to its species, environment and circumstances). To state that animals are sentient accepts that they can experience positive and negative emotions.”
• Adds definition of Learning Theory, Companionship with other Horses and Distress: “Distress” – refers to the state of being (a) in need of proper care, water, food or shelter (b) injured, sick, in pain or suffering or (c) abused or subject to undue physical or psychological hardship, privation or neglect. “Learning Theory” – refers to how horses learn and respond to training. “Companionship with other Horses” – refers to providing either temporary or permanent social benefits of belonging to a herd, to the minimum level of allowing visual contact with other Horses.
• Adds definition of Overuse: Code.10.o) “excess of use, also known as overuse, in activity, lesson, training, or competition to which physical or emotional impacts are demonstrated, Overuse in Horses may be defined by calendar year, competition period, month, week, competition or by day. A Horse is considered to be in a situation of overuse when there is a noticeably observable decline in performance, physical capabilities, movement and/or mental well-being. These declines may be combined with physical signs of discomfort, exhaustion, lameness, stride length, resistance to move forward, use of both leads, decline in jumping style. The above is not an exhaustive list of symptoms or combinations thereof and it is imperative that an official use their horsemanship skills and equine knowledge to make an informed, non-bias decision when determining whether a Horse or pony is being abused through overuse, when being observed in the show rings or elsewhere on the competition grounds.”
• Rationale: By formally defining these terms, EC enhances codes of conduct and policy with evidence and science-based data and emphasises our commitment to proactive welfare-monitoring and prevention of harm.

3. Consolidated Horse Welfare Code of Conduct Reference

• Section A now refers all participants (owners, trainers, riders/drivers, officials, competition organisers) to the EC “Horse Welfare Code of Conduct”, as the binding framework applying to all EC-sanctioned activity.
• Inserted clause: A517.2. “EC requires that all Individuals adhere to the Horse Welfare Code of Conduct and acknowledge and accept that the welfare of the Horse must always be paramount and must never be subordinated to competitive or commercial influences.”
• Rationale: Elevating the Code to a universal requirement aligns with human safe sport policy procedures and increases the speed and versatility for updating policy outside of the annual rule cycle process.

4. Duty to Report

• Adds into Section A clarity around reporting equine abuse at EC sanctioned competitions: A517.4.a “Acts of Abuse at EC competitions must be reported immediately to the steward or organizing committee and may be subject to equine medication control.”
• Rationale: Ensures welfare reporting at EC sanctioned competitions is standardised and consistent across all disciplines.

5. General Welfare at EC Sanctioned Competitions

Added clauses for noseband laxity, forbidden foaming substances and conditions around removal of horses from competition:

• A517.5.c) “Effective January 1, 2026, the following provisions apply at all national competitions regarding permitted noseband tightness: The noseband must be adjusted with sufficient laxity, as determined by an EC approved Measuring Device. The rule applies to all types of nosebands and to both the upper and lower noseband. Art. 1044.8 of the FEI Veterinary Regulations applies in relation to the permitted tightness of the noseband at all national competitions.”
• A517.5.d) “It is strictly forbidden to use any type of substance/product inside or around the Horse’s mouth and/or tongue that may i) imitate, induce or cause foaming; and/or ii) coat or otherwise cover, or partially cover the bit. The prohibition excludes the use of products permitted in the FEI Tack App (available for public download: https://inside.fei.org/fei/your-role/itservices/mobile-apps/fei-tack-app) and the provision of permitted natural treats given in moderation. Contravening this rule will entail an EC Yellow Warning Card and elimination.”
• A517.5.e) “The officiating steward, judge technical delegate, president of ground jury or appointed competition veterinarian has the authority to remove a horse from the event for a period of up to 24 hours, if in their reasonable opinion the horse is unfit to compete, is in a situation of horse overuse or other, as defined in the Horse Welfare Code of Conduct, or where, in their reasonable opinion, there is a safety concern regarding the horse. Officials will issue a Recorded Warning. The official’s decision is final and cannot be appealed or protested.”
• Rationale: Clarifies welcomed and unwelcomed welfare practices in competition, and the authority of officials to determine fitness to compete.

About Equestrian Canada

Equestrian Canada (EC) is the national governing body for equestrian sport and industry in Canada, with a mandate to represent, promote and advance all equine and equestrian interests. With over 15,000 sport licence holders, 7500 horses, 11 provincial/territorial sport organization partners and 10+ national equine affiliate organizations, EC is a significant contributor to the social, physical, emotional and economic wellbeing of the equestrian industry across Canada. EC is a Canadian registered charity as a Registered Charity Amateur Athletic Assocation (RCAAA) and thanks the Government of Canada for their financial support.

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