The welfare of recreational horses appears to be determined predominantly by the recreational horse owner's performance of husbandry and management practices. The literature suggests that the important dispositional factor in predicting human behaviour is attitude towards the behaviour (Hemsworth and Coleman, 2010). A substantial body of research has demonstrated a sequential relationship between the attitudes and behaviour of humans and subsequent animal behaviour and welfare in a number of livestock industries (Hemsworth et al., 1989, Hemsworth et al., 1993 and Hemsworth and Coleman, 2010). This area of research has been largely ignored in recreational horses. Limited evidence suggests that horse owner attitudes are associated with the frequency and nature of human–horse interactions, as well as the performance of horse husbandry and management practices. Further research is clearly needed to investigate the possible sequential relationships between recreational horse owner attitudes, recreational horse owner behaviour and recreational horse welfare outcomes. Understanding the nature of the relationships between horse owner attributes and recreational horse welfare outcomes is likely to provide the opportunity to improve the quality of the human–horse relationship and thus the welfare of recreational horses. Obtaining a greater understanding of the behavioural aspect of the human–horse relationship will enable appropriate education and training programmes to be developed and employed in order to effectively modify recreational horse owner behaviour and promote positive horse welfare outcomes.