The RHpE Checklist: A Simple Tool That Could Change How You Advocate for Your Horse

Your horse can't tell you when something hurts. But they're telling you every single ride.

A tail swish here. A resistance to the leg there. A head toss you've started dismissing as "just her being difficult." These aren't attitude problems — they're a language. And the Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram (RHpE) is the key to understanding it.

We've taken that science and turned it into something practical: a free-to-reuse, fillable PDF checklist you can use during or after every ride — and share directly with the professionals in your horse's care team.

What Is the RHpE?

The Ridden Horse Pain Ethogram was developed by equine researchers to identify behaviours that are reliably associated with musculoskeletal pain in ridden horses. It's peer-reviewed, widely respected, and increasingly used by vets and equine professionals worldwide.

The problem? Most horse owners have never heard of it — or have heard of it but don't know how to apply it practically.

That's exactly what this checklist fixes.

What the Checklist Includes

The Lagoballo RHpE Checklist is a 4-page fillable PDF designed to be used session after session without printing a new copy each time.

Page 1 — Session Setup

Log the date, horse name, rider, observer, session type, environment, and tack notes. These details matter when you're looking for patterns over time.

There's also a pre-ride "Quick Checks" section — five prompts to rule out the obvious before jumping to conclusions:

• Has saddle fit been reviewed?

• Have teeth and dental comfort been checked?

• Is hoof comfort assessed?

• Has body soreness or heat been checked?

• Has recent workload and recovery been considered?

Page 2 — Behaviour Observation Table

Track 24 behaviours across five categories: Head & Mouth, Eyes & Ears, Body & Neck, Gait & Movement, and Behavioural Signs. Each row has a tick box and a notes column so you can capture context — not just "yes/no."

Page 3 — Auto Risk Warning Scale

This is where the checklist earns its keep. As you tick observations, an automatic score calculates your risk level:

🟢 0–3: Low — monitor and reassess

🟠 4–7: Moderate — review tack and workload, consult professionals if patterns persist

🔴 8+: High — seek veterinary and professional assessment promptly

Page 4 — Session Summary

A free-text space to capture patterns, triggers, and key observations to share with your care team.

Who Is This For?

🐴 Horse Owners & Riders

You're the one in the saddle. You notice things — but by the time your vet appointment rolls around, details fade. This checklist gives you a structured record you can hand over and say: "Here's exactly what I've been seeing, and when."

That changes the conversation entirely.

🩺 Veterinarians

Owners often struggle to describe what they've observed. With a completed checklist in hand, you get a timeline of behaviours, a risk score, and context notes — before you've even touched the horse. It helps triage urgency and focus your examination.

🐎 Saddle Fitters

Tack-related discomfort is one of the most common — and most under-reported — sources of ridden pain. The checklist captures session-by-session behaviour patterns that can reveal saddle-fit progression or regression between appointments.

💆 Equine Bodyworkers & Physiotherapists

Soft tissue pain rarely announces itself dramatically. A series of completed checklists showing subtle but recurring patterns — a shortened stride, resistance to bend, tail clamping — gives you a richer clinical picture and supports your recommendations.

🎓 Trainers & Coaches

Before assuming a training issue, check the data. A horse that scores moderate or high on the RHpE isn't a training problem — it's a welfare conversation. This checklist helps trainers redirect appropriately and protect their professional reputation.

How to Use It

1. Download the PDF — it's fillable, so no printing required

2. Open it on your desktop, tablet or phone before or after your ride

3. Tick what you observe — be honest, even the small things

4. Review your score on page 3

5. Write a brief summary on page 4

6. Share it with whoever needs to know — vet, saddle fitter, trainer, bodyworker

Use it consistently and you'll start to see patterns you'd never have noticed otherwise.

Why This Matters

Horses are stoic. Ridden pain is frequently missed, frequently dismissed, and frequently mistaken for behaviour problems. Research suggests that a significant proportion of horses showing "difficult" behaviour under saddle are actually in pain.

The RHpE Checklist doesn't replace professional assessment. It enables it — by giving horse owners the language and structure to communicate what they're seeing and giving professionals the data they need to help.

Because your horse deserves to be heard.

I'm In! Where do I Get It?

The Lagoballo RHpE Checklist is available now. [Get yours here → Buy It Now]

For more on reading your horse's signals, visit our related article: Is It Behaviour or Pain? How to Spot the Difference in Your Horse