These included 13 per cent who said there had been injuries at their livery yard in the last 12 months; 10 per cent reported no access to fresh water in grazing or turnout areas; 21 per cent reported problems with poisonous plants, especially ragwort; at least 20 per cent said there were physical dangers in grazing or turnout areas; 10 per cent reported poor foot management and six per cent reported actual physical abuse. In some cases, welfare reports had been made to the relevant authorities.

The online survey was carried out over a year and asked those involved with livery yards to answer a number of specific questions about the management and welfare of horses in the yards. It covered premises ranging from traditional full livery and competition training yards to DIY and those offering grass only livery.

A Livery Yard Working Group, comprising a number of organisations, including the British Horse Society and the main charities, is looking at how to resolve the welfare issues that the charities have come across.

Chris House, who is chairing the working party, said: “This survey has confirmed the presence of a wide variety of welfare-related problems not only in the construction of the premises. Just as important is the way livery businesses are supervised and run. Problems are surprisingly widespread. Action needs to be taken to address this to ensure that good yards are recognised and encouraged and the bad ones improved.”

An example of a well kept livery yard