Table 1.

Questions used in the interviews and discussion groups.

Body Condition Scoring (BCS)

Are you familiar with body condition scoring?

What is your view on the looking/feeling of body fat on a horse to assess its condition?

Do you think BCS works and can you use it on all horses?

How do you tell whether what you are feeling is fat or muscle?

What are the benefits of using BCS?

Why does it matter to know the body condition of your horse?

Would you include any further parts of the horse’s body in BCS?

How often should BCS be used?

Who should use BCS and would you use BCS in the management of your horses?

Feeding

Is body condition a good guide of how suitable a horse’s diet is?

Do you believe that horses should have constant access to grazing?

What is the difference between a horse having a ‘grass belly’ and being very fat/obese?

Health

By understanding your horse’s body condition, do you think it will help prevent health problems?

Can you tell if a horse is healthy by looking at it?

What does a healthy horse look like?

Can you tell if a horse is sick? If so, how?

Do you think horses need rugs in the winter?

How important is it to worm horses?

Do you think a healthy horse is a sign of good welfare?

Exercise

How important is exercise for a horse?

What sort of exercise do you use?

At what age do you consider it suitable to begin exercising a horse?

Sentience

Do you believe that horses have feelings?

Social

How do you think horses prefer to live (groups, individually)? Why?

Do you think that horses develop bonds with other horses and their owners?

Breeding

In the current economic climate, what is your view on the breeding of horses?

Welfare

Do you believe that there are horse welfare problems throughout the horse sector?

Difficulties

What are some of the difficulties of horse ownership for Travellers?

What are your thoughts on how things could be improved for Traveller horse owners?

Is there anything else that you would like to say that you feel is important?