16th July 2020
Pick of the Week!
How do I know if my ridden horse is in pain?
Introducing the illustrated ridden horse ethogram!
Click on the image below to access the full ethogram:
The SRT has produced this easy to use, illustrated version of the ridden horse ethogram to provide a simple and informative guide. Every horse owner, rider, coach, saddle fitter and professional practitioner can now use the guide to quickly and confidently identify signs of pain or discomfort in the ridden horse. 

The illustrated ethogram gives clear examples of the 24 behaviours that scientific research has identified as most likely to be present in ridden horses that are experiencing pain. The latest evidence has shown that a horse showing 8 or more of these behaviours is highly likely to have musculoskeletal pain.

The ridden horse ethogram is now an essential part of everyone’s toolkit to help improve ridden horse welfare and performance. Use of the ethogram will help to identify potential problems early, improving career longevity and reducing wastage in the sports horse population. 

Can you help us to spread the word and reach all horse owners who may not be aware of the signs of pain in the ridden horse, or are unsure if their horse is in discomfort? Please help us to share this new information as widely as possible and print this illustrated ethogram to display in your tack room or yard noticeboard and post to all your social media platforms.

Thank you!
New: Pic of the Week!
Let's make this the new normal!

Using what we've learned from scientific research, let's work to change what is accepted as 'normal'. Our new feature “Pic of the Week”, which celebrates the best demonstrations of good welfare and performance in the ridden horse, is proving to be very popular. We want to applaud those who produce happy athletes! 

We're loving the lightness and elegance of Ahlerich seen here in a blast from the past. His ears are pricked, his head is up and in front of the vertical. He looks forward and confident, with his rider in perfect balance. The late, great Dr. Reiner Klimke won the dressage gold medal with Ahlerich at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Other significant successes included winning the 1982 World Cup in Lausanne, the 1983 European team title, the 1985 individual and team European Championship and team gold at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul.

This image may only be a snapshot in time, but we can learn a lot from it about what is excellent, and we can try to emulate that moment with our own horses. Study this image alongside the illustrated ridden horse ethogram – can you see any of the pain behaviours? Currently, the ethogram has been validated for horses being ridden on the flat, but it is likely that it will be useful for other disciplines too. We do, however, expect that further development work will be necessary before it can be applied reliably to horses jumping fences.

Of course, you don't need to ride at Olympic level to be a SRT Happy Athlete – we want to feature pictures of ridden horses and ponies at every level, so send us your happy hackers, your beach bombers, your 5* eventers and your lead-reins, all demonstrating that #srthappyathletes can be found in every sector of equestrianism.

Lots of you are sending in your favourite pics! So, if you have a photo of a #srthappyathlete that you'd like to share for 'Pic of the Week', please email it, along with the photo credit, to: admin@saddleresearchtrust.com


#srthappyathlete #makethisthenewnormal #aspiretothis #srt2021
Dates for the diary
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  • 1st September 2020
First ticket release for srt2021


  • 11th December, 2021
Saddle Research Trust 4th International Conference.
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