2023-04-30-accounts

Report No. FYE23 20 23 ANNUAL REPORT International Society for Equitation Science

Welcome from the Honorary President

Compiling an annual report always provides the opportunity to ponder our progress over the year. As we emerge from pandemic mode, we have had to learn how to operate in a new normal where virtual business is a way of life. Still, the horses always bring us back to earth. I am delighted by the thirst people show for equitation science, learning theory, ethical interactions and promoting social license for the things we do together with our horses. As a learned society I hope to continue to push ISES and equitation science forward with the goal of becoming a household name.

Since taking over as president in October of 2022 I have met with presidential council – Kate Fenner and Janne Winther Christensen – on a weekly basis to ensure we keep the Society running smoothly. Sally O’Neill was instrumental in launching our new website in June of 2022 and automatizing many tasks such as membership renewals and taper gauge orders. Although a steep learning curve, we have processes much more streamlined now. Robin Foster managed the changeover for the membership system and Colleen Brady took over the taper gauge orders. I am grateful to Janet Douglas for taking on the role of Treasurer to ensure our numbers add up. Jane Williams and Lorna Cameron took on the monumental task of hosting yet another ISES conference in August, 2022, this time going back to in-person. The arrival of Vicky Hailey as our new governance officer will enable us to document policies and procedures for smoother handovers when new members come on council.

In the fall of 2022 we held a tagline contest and I was pleased to see so many entries. It was a hard decision, but by member vote our new tagline is “ where evidence meets practice ”. I feel this aptly encapsulates who we are – a learned society that welcomes practitioners thereby facilitating a seamless transition from research to practice.

A recent addition to our team is Chloe Campbell, our social media guru. Chloe’s creative and energetic efforts have catapulted us to a wider, more engaged audience. We are striving hard to provide more value to our members and Chloe has begun to populate the members’ area on our website not only with news and information, but also with interactive activities. Although Chloe has only been with us a short time, her efforts, combined with the media team, are already showing an increase in engagement which in turn increases our membership.

I am passionate about equitation science and firmly believe in our mission. But I can’t do it all myself. I am eternally grateful to all the members on Council and the Trustees for their patience, guidance, efforts and shared vision.

Katrina Merkies, Honorary President

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Table of Contents

Welcome from the Honorary President .................................................................................................... 2 ISES Objectives ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Activities ....................................................................................................................................................... 5 Media Outreach ........................................................................................................................................... 6 Media Analytics ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Spreading Equitation Science around the World ...................................................................................... 9 Annual General Meeting ........................................................................................................................... 10 2022 Annual Conference ........................................................................................................................... 12 Sponsors ..................................................................................................................................................... 15 Structure, governance, management ...................................................................................................... 16 Trustees ...................................................................................................................................................... 17 Council Members ....................................................................................................................................... 18 Membership ............................................................................................................................................... 20 Taper gauge sales ...................................................................................................................................... 22 Financial review ......................................................................................................................................... 23 Looking Ahead ........................................................................................................................................... 24

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

ISES Objectives

To promote and encourage the application of objective research and consequently advance equestrian practice that will ultimately improve the welfare of horses in their interactions with humans

Encourage and support basic and applied research into the training and welfare of horses

Provide an international forum in which scientists can communicate and discuss their research results

Encourage links between applied animal behaviour science, veterinary science, psychology and other disciplines

Encourage and support the teaching of equitation science

Provide a pool of expertise to national governments, international bodies, industry and to those equine welfare organisations which deal with problems involving equine behaviour, training and welfare

Encourage communication of scientific knowledge to facilitate its use in relation to practical problems concerning the way horses are trained, managed, housed and cared for

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Activities

• Held a tagline contest – new tagline is:

Where evidence meets practice

• Held four regular council meetings (#73-76) and one extraordinary meeting

• Held two trustee meetings (Nov 2022, Feb 2023)

• Created new and improved website; launched in June 2022 www.equitationscience.com

• Implemented the use of Monday.com as a single repository for society business (free for charity). This enables us to meet GDPR requirements by avoiding sending sensitive information via email.

• All council members now have @equitationscience.com emails for society business to meet GDPR requirements.

• Working group formed to create positive reinforcement position statement

• Awarded $1000 research grant to Ella Bartlett, PhD student

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Media Outreach

• Email newsletter sent to members (2 this year) to provide updates on council progress

• Hired contract social media/website position starting March 1, 2023

• Increased members’ area content

• Increased engagement through social media channels

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Media Analytics

Total website views. Note the new website launched at the end of June 2022

Specific landing page views for our website

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Social media outreach for current fiscal year compared to 2020 and 2021

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Spreading Equitation Science around the World

Some of the work undertaken individually by Council Members and Trustees

• Equine Ethics and Well-being commission reporting to FEI on concerns related to the use of horses in sport

• Position paper on how horses learn for the German Leisure Riders and Drivers Association

• Drafted revised version of the national guidelines for horse husbandry for the German Equestrian Federation

• Delivered talk at the "Leipzig Veterinary Conference" on the early use of horses in racing and sport

• Interview on how vets in France can incorporate Learning Theory

• Lecture to vet students in Edinburgh on how we measure stress in horses and how to apply learning theory to work with difficult horses.

• Speaker at the British Veterinary Association Animal Welfare conference in the debate session: Equine Overtreatment - Where is the line in the sand.

• Train students studying for a Diploma in Equine Assisted Learning-on Learning Theory and its applications at Festina Lente in Co Wicklow, Ireland

• Received a grant from Morris Animal Foundation, USA to develop online modules to assist horse owners in identifying and assessing affective states.

• Papers in process from dissertation on Horse Owners’ Understanding of Behavior and Learning Theory

• 4-H Youth Program highlighting use of Learning Theory to train horses

• Board member of Pony Club Australia

• Lecture to students pursuing postgraduate education in Equitation Science at the University of Edinburgh on horse-human interactions

• Workshop on equine behaviour for veterinarians at the Iowa Veterinary Medical Association Annual Meeting

• Presentation on research in human-horse interactions at annual Equine Industry Symposium (virtual)

• Sport Horse Welfare Foundation Delphi study on management and training factors to promote sport horse health and welfare

• Educational presentation on the application of cognitive and affective neuroscience to understanding equine learning- RPSCA Australia 2023 Scientific Seminar

• Developed and updated UK Pony Club test syllabus to incorporate an understanding of equine behaviour, particularly the principles of learning and training

• 8 podcasts for Horse and Hound magazine on equine behaviour topics

• Podcast for Boehringer Ingelheim Nordic countries on stress in horses, aimed at vets

• Numerous lectures and presentations delivered to various stakeholder groups around the world on equine behaviour, welfare, learning theory, dealing with difficult horses, behaviour modification, early life experiences, stress and behavioural medicine

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Annual General Meeting

• Moved AGM to different time frame to align with annual reporting (moved from mid summer to March) at suggestion of accountant. Going forward, the AGM will be held independent of the annual conference and be held virtually around the same time each year.

• Hosted online AGM March 8

• 160 attendees

• Three guest speakers: Dr Carrie Ijichi, PhD Student Ella Bartlett, and Lindsay Grice

• Election of JVP, vet liaison, secretary, treasurer, governance officer

• Reduced number of council members from 18 to 15

• AGM meeting minutes are available to members on our website in the members’ area

• Awarded two honorary fellows: Dr. Machteld van Dierendonck and Dr. Kathalijne Visser

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Grice
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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

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2022 Annual Conference

The 18[th] annual Equitation Science conference was held at Hartpury, UK, August 10-12, 2022.

HARTPURY 2022

• 4 workshops

• Clever Hans presentation by Dr Wenhao Zhang

• 2 Panel discussions

• 4 Keynote talks

• 3 Plenaries

• 6 Invited talks

• 19 Research presentations

• 30 Lightning talks

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

• Three travel grants were awarded to students to enable them to attend the annual conference

• Conference proceedings are available on the ISES website here

• Best oral/poster presentations were awarded

• Hamilton, K. Conflict behaviours displayed by horses during dressage tests and their relationship to performance evaluation (Best Oral Presentation Winner).

• Turunen, M. A short intervention on the correct use of negative reinforcement (R-) can increase handler knowledge and understanding in college students (Best Poster Winner).

• The next annual conference was awarded to New Zealand for March/April 2024. Note there is no 2023 conference due to the month/season change.

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Workshop
"Inside the horse’s
mind: a head first
approach to equine
management and
training" with Drs.
Andrew Hemmings
& Linda Greening
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Wow!! What a great workshop . Colleen Brady
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Keynote presentation by
Dr. David Marlin
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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Keynote presentation by Christopher Bartle

This was a great demonstration. Loved it. Maintaining balance is definitely a verb not an idea or something that will 'grow by itself' Anne Muller

Great day at ISES, Hartpury University, where I was invited to join a Workshop “Ethics and Well-being in Sports Horses ” with the outcomes being presented to the FEI.

Great discussion - with lots of points raised. Our social license has never been under so much threat, and we ALL have to do our bit to enhance, promote and ensure ethical training practices of all horses. The ISES group are pushing forwards from an evidence based perspective, but essential that we all do our bit - with the horse at the centre.

Great conference - looking forward to presenting a session on Thursday - “Equine Laterality or Functional Asymmetry” Russell MacKechnie-Guire

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Sponsors

A heartfelt thank you to all our sponsors who contributed to the success of our 2022 conference

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Structure, governance, management

ISES is overseen by the Trustees who have a duty to ensure the Society meets its goals while complying with UK law. ISES is a registered Charitable Incorporated Organization (CIO) with the Charity Commission of England and Wales (Registered Charity Number 1176401) and operates under our Constitution. The daily activities of the Society are carried out by the Council. Trustee and Council positions are filled through majority vote at the Annual General Meeting and held for a period of four years with the exception of Junior Vice President, Honorary President and Senior Vice President which are each held for two years in succession. External Advisors to the Trustees may be consulted.

Vicky Hailey came on as Governance Officer in December 2022 to begin an audit of the Society’s operations, roles and procedures. This is ongoing but has already seen a benefit of developing some written policies and a centralized repository for all the Society’s business.

Katrina Merkies and Kate Fenner completed the Charity Governance online certificate to understand charity governance, board structure, roles and responsibilities, how to efficiently run board meetings and how to improve and develop governance.

Council created a policy for ISES response to outdated or inappropriate content relating to equitation science:

ISES’s purpose 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. ISES recognizes that there is much misinformation available to the general public through various media channels regarding the training and management of horses. ISES is not in a position, nor wishes to be, a policing agent for information that is disseminated. However from time to time information may be brought to our attention that requires a response from ISES as an authority on equitation science. We will intervene if a concern is brought directly to our attention or when hot topics create a media firestorm. We will respond to media that comes from a reputable source and pertains specifically to equitation science and is within ISES’s scopes and aims. Any response will come from a panel of at least three ISES council members, address the specific concerns and provide scientific justification.

Council developed and released a social media statement in response to current equine welfare issues (e.g. horse abuse in the pentathlon at the Olympics).

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Trustees

The charity trustees oversee the affairs of the charity. The slate of trustees as of April 30, 2023:

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President Junior Vice Senior Vice Honorary Treasurer
Katrina Merkies President President Secretary Janet Douglas
Kate Fenner Janne Winther Caleigh Copelin
Christensen
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Membership Trustee Trustee Trustee
Secretary Natalie Waran Hayley Randle Andrew
Robin Foster McLean
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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Council Members

The Council performs duties for the regular functioning of the charity. The Council as of April 30, 2023

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Governance Practitioner Student Rep Vet Liaison Research
Officer Rep Officer Officer
Gill Keegan
Vicky Hailey Cath Henshall Barbara Uta Koenig von
Padalino Borstel
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Education Media Team Media Team Ordinary
Officer Member
Sally O'Neill Toni
Colleen Brady Henderson Angelo Telatin
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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

• Changes in Trustees 2022-2023:

• Jane Williams resigned as President (Sep 20, 2022)

• Katrina Merkies moved from Junior Vice President to Honorary President (Sep 20, 2022)

• Kate Fenner moved from Treasurer to Junior Vice President (Sep 20, 2022)

• Lorna Cameron resigned as Honorary Secretary (Jul 27, 2022)

• Caleigh Copelin was elected as Honorary Secretary (Dec 21, 2022)

• Orla Doherty resigned as Senior Vice President (Jan 15, 2023)

• Janne Winther Christensen returned as Senior Vice President (Mar 8, 2023)

• Janet Douglas was elected as Treasurer (Mar 8, 2023)

• Paul McGreevy resigned as trustee (Jun 1, 2022)

• Changes in Council 2022-2023:

• Gill Keegan was elected as Student Rep (May, 2022)

• Vicky Hailey was elected as Governance Officer (Mar 8, 2023)

• Carissa Wickens resigned as Assistant Secretary (Dec 21, 2022)

• Maria Rørvang resigned as media team (Dec 1, 2022)

• Klára Ničová ended her term as media team (Mar 8, 2023)

• Gemma Pearson ended her term as Vet Liaison Officer (Mar 8, 2023)

• Barbara Padalino was elected as Vet Liaison Officer (Mar 8, 2023)

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Membership

• Due to the change to the new website and a different method of membership renewal, it was not possible to determine the exact number of members in each membership category. Going forward, membership tracking will be much more precise.

• Membership held steady through the year at about 300 members.

• The new application process is managed via the website and Monday.com. This has facilitated a decrease in processing times for membership applications. Memberships are activated immediately upon payment.

• Memberships are now automatically renewed which has reduced the memberships processing burden on the membership committee and is likely to improve retention of members over coming years. From May 2023, all membership renewals, with the exception of student memberships, are renewed automatically as long as the member has a valid PayPal account. As per previously, student members must reapply annually providing details of their current student enrolment.

• Membership logos are available to those who request them through the Junior Vice President.

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Membership categories include:
ACADEMIC, ASSOCIATE, CORPORATE,
PRACTITIONER, STUDENT, SUPPORTING
AND HONORARY.
~300 members in 2023
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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

International Society for Equitation Science wwk•J.equJtabonscience.corn •4". STUDENT SPOTLIGHT CHRIS BROOKS I Ilwj In.. South Wales UK l •m studyln&' MSC. in Equitation Science at Hartpury University Th• last time I trained a horse.. Today- every interaction with my horses. In terms of planned training, l am helping a friend start her 4-year-old Connie. I love a blank canvas. My mort m•morabl• h0￿r•It•d mom•nt". l am pretty elderly, and there are lotsl Competin& Huntin& watching my children on their ponies, watching my foals being born. Since discovering equitation science. my most memorable moments have been watching horses, trial behaviours and getting the corrett answer. I love watchingthe proce55 of learning take place. l am currentlyw8t¢hln& Shrinking on Apple TV. I'm making a dlff•renc by." working with Pony Club UK on a learning theory workbook for C test members and dropping 'seeds- in my equestrian communitie5 whenever I get an 21 ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Taper gauge sales

• Taper gauge sales totaled 363 items sent to 20 different countries. UK (21), Australia (19) and US (17) were the top countries placing orders (note each order could be for multiple taper gauges). This is up from 282 taper gauges sold last year.

• Bulk orders were placed by associations in Germany and the Netherlands.

• Volunteers in regions around the world send out orders.

• ISES ordered the production of 500 gauges in November 2022 as supply had dwindled to <50.

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Financial review (May 1, 2022 – April 30, 2023)

Revenue Memberships Taper Gauge sales Sponsorship Reimbursements Donations Total Revenue	2022-2023 £ 6,425 4,038 10,200 346 52 21,061	2021-2022 £ 6,050 5,781 12,300 - 160
		24,291

Expenses Taper Gauge order Conference expenses Website/Admin Awards Other Total Expenses	2022-2023 £ 4,009 4.025 3,444 2,550 2.408 16,436	2021-2022 £ - 10,934 1,490 - 3,693
		16,117

Graphs detail expenses that comprised at least 5% of total

ISES reports its accounts on an accrual basis. ISES maintains a reserve of £5000. An official audit of our finances was not undertaken this year as our gross income was less than £25,000. Charity Commission regulations stipulate an audit is not necessary in this instance.

	2022-2023	2021-2022
	£	£
Net worth	37,386	32,761

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023

Looking Ahead

ISES is on the bandwagon to provide more content for our members and the general public. Our goal is to create and share more information, research and insight into all aspects of equitation science. We have already started on podcasts, videos, infographics, interviews and enhanced activities. Check us out on your socials, Spotify, YouTube and the members’ area on our website.

“ Thank you for all you do to improve our understanding and care of the horse. Ann Chadwick

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ISES Annual Report 2022-2023