Horse Welfare

My First Horse - a guide to owning your first horse (download pdf)


Horse SA have created a helpful resource on things to consider when getting your first horse, as a free download on the link.


Getting your first horse is exciting, yet there is also a lot to think about for people new to owning a horse. If you and your family are new to horses you might find this guide really useful to go through before you start investing in a horse or pony.


This guide covers:

  • Some tips and hints on what questions to ask when you're buying a horse or pony to make sure it's right for you and the horse and to avoid costly vet bills or behavioural issues.

  • Ideas of things to research regarding what to feed your horse, the type of agistment or property you may invest in that suits your riding or horse owning goals.

  • Things to look for when you assess a potential new horse.


There are also many experienced horse people that will be happy to help so you can make the best decisions for you, the horse and your family.


This guide is encouraged as a shareable resource for the benefit of horse welfare and helping new horse owners.

Advocating for continuous improvement in horse welfare is an important part of Horse SA’s work. We will continue to raise awareness of contemporary research as it becomes available. Resources such as The Five Domains Model and ‘Tips for the care of confined horses’ are resources that inform wholistic thinking including nutrition, environment, health, behaviour and mental state.

In recent years workplace safety educational events have included horse welfare as it relates to the work, sport or recreational employee and volunteer work context.

Past projects coordinated by Horse SA include the Australian Horse Welfare & Well-being Toolkit and the AHIC welfare check-list for organisations.

​'A paradigm shift from care to welfare' – interview with Professor Emeritus David Mellor from Horses and People Magazine.