The upcoming international equitation science conference which will be held for the first time in New Zealand on the 14th-16^th March 2024 in Cambridge. The theme of this international three day conference is ‘A Good Life for Horses’, with two days of talks with a practical/field day in the middle covering a number of themed sessions related to the following key areas:

• Measuring the impact of Tack and Equipment
• New directions in Training and Riding/Handling
• What happens in the ‘Other 23 Hours’ (i.e. Outside of Competition, Training or Work)
• Understanding Equine Emotions
• Safe Human-Horse Interactions
• Setting the Horse up for Success (early experiences, weaning, a second life)
• Sustainable Equine Management and Practice 
• New directions in equine welfare and equitation science
• Working equines; Welfare and Human behaviour change
• Free papers

Audience:

The conference will not only engage with a wide range of academics, industry partners and practitioners to showcase how using evidence-informed approaches can advance equestrian practice and improve equine quality of life, but we also actively encourage attendance by equitation practitioners including riders, trainers and coaches, pony club and riding club officials as well as representatives from equestrian governing bodies and veterinarians.

Programme:

This international conference includes plenary and invited presentations from eminent equine and equitation science researchers as well as experienced practitioners. It will also include the ‘Clever Hans’ talk where a well-respected researcher from another field of study provides conference attendees with the chance to consider how equitation science might benefit from thinking ‘outside the box’. The ISES 2024 ‘Clever Hans’ Speaker will be the internationally acclaimed, Professor Craig Johnson from Massey University who will share his extensive knowledge and research findings in animal neurophysiology. In his presentation he will consider how an understanding of the neurophysiology of emotion can be practically applied in the context of equitation to improve the horse and human interaction.

In addition to this there will be plenary presentations form eminent scientists to introduce each session, and a good number of oral research presentations providing up to date information on topics related to the conference theme.  In addition, there will be 2 minute/one slide ‘on the hoof’ lightening talks for speakers to give short updates about their work.  The middle/second day of the conference will be a ‘field day’ where conference attendees will be taken off site to consider the assessment of ‘A Good Life for Horses’ in relation to the various contexts experienced by the sport/race-horse.

There will be a conference Proceedings describing the talks given at the conference and containing the sponsors details on prominent pages.  A collated set of abstracts and selected papers will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Veterinary Behavior.

Sponsorship possibilities:

We would be very grateful if you would consider supporting the 2024 conference. We have a number of different ways that you could get involved - from sponsoring a plenary or a named session, to being the main sponsor for the entire event.  Here are some of the possibilities: