Equitation Science in Practice: Past, Present and Future

The International Society for Equitation Science (ISES) has formally existed as a learned society since 2007 and during this time has hosted annual international conferences in many different countries. However, conferences are yet to be held in some of the countries with arguably the most substantial influences on global equestrianism. The development of Equitation Science has been substantially informed by a number of critical cornerstones including equine ethology, learning theory (which has been logically used by ISES to create the fundamental Principles of Training that underpin all horse–human interactions) and animal welfare. The mission of ISES is to promote and encourage the application of objective research and advanced practice which will ultimately improve the welfare of horses in their associations with humans and although the sheer volume and the breadth of research conducted over the past decade has undeniably helped some of ISES’s aims and objectives to be met, there is still a long way to go. It is imperative that the core activity of Equitation Science should remain the generation of rigorous, reliable and robust evidence-based findings to support horse and human education and practice.