The welfare assessment system aims to look at life from the animal’s point of view and to record issues (both positive and negative) which are relevant to an animal’s welfare. The system incorporates the Five Freedoms Welfare Assessment Framework.
Provisions for good welfare identified by the Five Freedoms system are:
1. Freedom from hunger and thirst
Although the assessment does not directly measure if an animal is hungry or thirsty, some of the animal based observations which are recorded can indicate that an animal is or has suffered from periods of hunger and thirst. For example, the body condition score of an animal is recorded (how fat or thin it is). If an animal is very thin at the time of the assessment it is quite likely that it is or has experienced periods of hunger.
2. Freedom from discomfort (both physical and thermal)
During the assessment each animal is observed for signs of heat stress. Heat stress is a medical condition which results when an animal's body is unable to function normally under times of increased temperature. This condition also exists in humans when we feel light headed and nauseous if we get too hot and don't drink enough water. In animals the condition manifests itself as an increase in the speed and depth of breathing. This indicates that these animals are experiencing thermal discomfort.
An animal may experience physical discomfort for a number of different reasons. During the assessment some potential causes, such as the presence of ectoparasites e.g. ticks and lice, indications of skin problems and superficial wounds on all areas of the body are looked at.
Additionally the assessment is carried out in such a way as to decrease any risk of the equine experiencing physical or thermal discomfort at any time during the examination.
3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease
During the assesssment an animal is examined for wounds and signs of injury over the whole of its body. Signs of systemic disease which are recorded during the welfare assessment include abnormalities of mucous membrane colour which may indicate that animals are anaemic, or suffering from some form of clinical disease. There are many welfare issues which can cause pain to animals and these are recorded during the assessment. Some examples include wounds, lamesness and painful eye conditions.
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour
A number of behavioural measures are recorded for each animal during the assessment. This includes how an animal interacts with an observer and its level of interest in its surroundings. Under normal circumstances, because equines are a prey species, they will always maintain some level of alertness in order to protect themselves from danger. If animals are exhausted or ill, for example, their energy may be more focussed on maintaining their normal physiological functions (such as breathing, ensuring their heart continues to beat) and therefore they are likely to be less alert and less able to carry out normal forms of behaviour such as rolling, self grooming and vocalising with other animals.
5. Freedom from fear and distress
The responses of animals to an observer may indicate that animals are fearful. Other observations may indicate that animals suffer from periods of fear and distress. Blind animals or those with painful eye conditions that are unable to see clearly maybe fearful in new situations or whilst working on busy roads. Animals that have had hot irons placed over their limbs and body (the practice known as 'Firing') will most likely have suffered from periods of fear and distress both during and after this painful procedure.
The welfare assessment of each animal takes approximately 5 to 10 minutes. It is minimally invasive and gives us a lot of information about an animal's physical and mental well being (the two components of welfare). Although the assessment gives a 'snapshot' view of an animal's welfare, the observations recorded give us valuable information about an animal's prior, present and possibly future welfare. For example, if an animal is very thin, it has most likely been in this condition for at least a few weeks and will remain so for some time following the assessment. Animals showing fearful responses most likely do this because they have had negative experiences in the past when interacting with humans. The fear will not only affect them at that particular point in time, but is likely to also affect their life in the future.
As the welfare assessment protocol is based on objective and repeatable measures, which have been well researched it not only identifies those animals which are suffering from poor welfare, but also the luckier ones that are experiencing good welfare. | 
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