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Results. A total of 92 veterinary incidents were reported in the examined population of 35 therapeutic riding centre horses between January 2019 to January 2020. Figure 1 shows the reported veterinary incidents in therapeutic riding centre horses throughout 2019 by category. The most frequent incident category was musculoskeletal (36), followed by wound (23), hoof (9), eyes (9), and gastrointestinal (8). 11 out of the examined 35 horses had 0 veterinary incidents. Chiropractor results. 7 therapeutic riding centre horses were treated by a qualified chiropractor between January 2019 to January 2020. 84 incidences of musculoskeletal pain were reported within this period. Figure 2 shows the reported musculoskeletal pain in therapeutic riding centre horses throughout 2019 by location. The most common locations of musculoskeletal pain were the thoracic spine (25), lumbar spine (19), neck muscle (15), cervical spine (8), and hind legs (7). Muscular results. 32 out of the 84 chiropractor reported incidents involved the muscular system. Figure 3 shows the reported muscular pain in therapeutic riding centre horses throughout 2019 by location. The most common locations of muscular pain were the Trapezius (8), Suboccial (5), Pectoral (4), Quadriceps (4) and Gluteal (3). Figure 4 shows a heat map of the frequency of specific muscle pain on the examined horses. Spinal results. 52 out of the 84 chiropractor reported incidents involved the skeletal system, specifically the spine. Figure 5 shows the reported spinal pain in therapeutic riding centre horses throughout 2019 by location. The most common locations of spinal pain were L6/S1 (16) and T5/6 (11), followed by C5/6 (4), T4/5 (4) and T6/7 (4). Figure 6 shows a heat map of the frequency of specific spinal pain on the examined horses. Discussion. The overall findings of this study are consistent with previous literature. The final results from the larger population of 35 therapeutic riding school horses showed that a majority of reported incidents were related to musculoskeletal pain and wounds. Musculoskeletal pain may be caused by multiple factors including rider impacts, individual horse variables, or horse behaviour. Wounds are typically caused by horse behaviour or accidents. As the primary results indicated musculoskeletal pain was the most frequent veterinary incident, this was further investigated by looking at professional chiropractor records. Multiple specific locations of muscular and skeletal pain were identified, which may be caused by ridden factors. Muscular pain primarily affected the mobile areas of the neck, which may be caused by restricted neck movement during on-lead riding or crest mounting. Spinal pain was most frequently seen in two locations: the lumbar-sacral joint and T5/6, both of which may be caused by rider imbalance or movement in the saddle. This suggests that rider, leader and horse behaviours may have an impact on equine musculoskeletal pain, however further research is required. There were three major project limitations. The first main project limitation was gaining access to equine health records of horses used in therapeutic riding programs. This was managed by requesting a voluntary release of specified records with informed consent of what they would be used for. As the request was voluntary there was no guarantee how many records would be available to use in the research project, and thus the overall examined population was fairly small. The second and third project limitations lie in the voluntarily provided equine health records. As there is no state-wide protocol for recording equine health issues within therapeutic riding centers, each center has a different way of keeping horse veterinary records. This results in some centers hand reporting all small incidents according to the writers observations of the issue, while others only recorded significant issues as diagnosed by a veterinarian. Overall this leads to the possibility of statistically inaccurate results due to the potential for missing data. This was managed by gaining as much voluntary information on the veterinary conditions of equine participants as possible, and only collecting records from within the last full program year (due to covid 19 interruptions) to ensure updated and recent records. After the primary results suggested musculoskeletal pain as the most common veterinary condition affecting therapeutic riding horses, the decision was made to focus on the data from the professional chiropractor for more accurate veterinary information, however this did further impede study population size and may have provided bias due to different horses being examined different numbers of times. In conclusion, the hypothesis of this project was supported as certain veterinary conditions were identified as occurring more frequently among the population of therapeutic riding centre horses. Musculoskeletal pain is the most frequently reported incident in therapeutic riding centre horses, with certain areas in the neck, wither, and lumbar spine being the highest affected. It is difficult to determine the possible causes of these incidents, however rider, leader, and horse behaviours may influence the development of these injuries. Knowledge of these frequently injured area's allow for the development of protocols to best prevent pain and protect horse welfare within therapeutic riding programs. Further research is required to investigate if results are consistent throughout a larger population, and to examine potential specific causes of injury. Project outcomes. This project enabled the addressment of the knowledge gap of frequent veterinary conditions seen in therapeutic riding centre horses. By identifying commonly seen veterinary conditions and musculoskeletal pain locations within these horses, this gives an increased understanding of horse suitability for therapeutic riding programs and provides a starting point for the development of preventative care strategies for at risk horses. Acknowledgements. Thank you to the following people for providing their time, knowledge, and support towards my research project: Supervisors: Dr Courtnay Baskerville & Ms Sarra Magaton. Industry Contacts: Ms Lyndsay Davies & Dr Fiona Kates. All participating therapeutic riding centers who have provided equine health records. Text references. Image references. Please contact me at [email protected] with any questions or comments. Thank you for listening.