The RSPCA would like to thank the following experts for their involvement in producing information on the welfare needs of horses and ponies.
Main Consultant
Dr Mark Kennedy (BSc PhD)
As the main consultant, Dr Mark Kennedy was responsible for authoring information on the welfare needs of horses and ponies. He also formed an expert panel who reviewed this information and was responsible for collaborating with the panel and incorporating their comments into the final document submitted to the RSPCA's companion animals department.
Mark Kennedy is a Senior Lecturer in Animal Welfare at Anglia Ruskin University and Chief Executive Officer of Anglia Equine Consultancy. Mark's research interests concern the effect of traditional and novel management practices on equine behaviour, welfare and reproduction. His consultancy activities focus on the application of research into practice for the benefit of horses and their human owners and carers.
Expert Panel
The expert panel was made up of six recognised experts in horse and pony veterinary medicine, behaviour and welfare. The panel provided expert advice and reviewed the information authored by the main consultant.
Joe Collins (MVB MRCVS CertEP CertVR)
Joe Collins is currently a World Horse Welfare funded PhD scholar at the University College Dublin, conducting research into equine welfare in Ireland. Joe's research interests concern how to drive change to improve standards of health and welfare for horses.
Dr Emma Creighton (PhD)
Emma Creighton leads the MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour & Welfare at Newcastle University, which is a recognised course for training clinical animal behaviourists. She specialises in human-animal interactions and the welfare of companion animal species, with a particular focus on horses. She has been around horses since childhood and leads research projects on causes and measures of stress in horses, risk factors for behavioural problems in leisure horses, effectiveness of animal behaviour counselling, and the role of personality in animal welfare.
Dr Paul McGreevy (BVSc PhD)
Paul McGreevy is an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney's Faculty of Veterinary Science. He has a PhD in horse behaviour, and for the past 15 years has studied the welfare of ridden and stabled horses.
Dr Charlotte Nevison (BSc (Hons) PhD)
Charlotte Nevison is a Senior Lecturer in Animal Behaviour and Welfare at Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge. Charlotte's research focuses on how the scientific study of animal behaviour, in conjunction with anatomical and physiological parameters, can provide novel insights into assessing animal welfare. A particular interest is determining how animals perceive their environment using their senses, and how this affects their communication with others of their species, and with other species (particularly human caretakers). Charlotte is currently involved in research investigating human-equine communication.
Dr Colin Roberts (BVSc PhD FRCVS)
Colin Roberts is an Affiliated Lecturer in veterinary anatomy at the University of Cambridge, a fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge, and a consultant in equine medicine. After a period in equine veterinary practice, Colin spent fourteen years at the Animal Health Trust in Newmarket where he was involved in clinical referral work and research. He is now based at the University of Cambridge and is also a freelance veterinary consultant. His areas of interest are equine internal medicine, equine welfare and equine performance-related problems.
Professor Natalie Waran (BSc (Hons) PhD)
Professor Natalie Waran is the Professor of Animal Welfare and Head of Department of Natural Sciences at Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland, New Zealand. She is the author of a number of peer reviewed articles on equine behaviour and welfare and edited a book on the Welfare of Horses.
