Better Beginnings is a BHF initiative focusing on the improved management and welfare of the young horse from conception to 2 years through the lens of the increasing threat to equestrianism’s social license to operate. The purpose of the project is to address and improve equine sustainable welfare with a new approach, by improving breeding and production practice, up to the age of two, when the growth plates fuse.

The BHF Better Beginnings Programme provides advice and educational materials on breeding quiality and fit-for-purpose youngstock, thus Breeding for Sustainable Equine Future. From one-off homebred to large-scale stud operations, the BHF Better Beginnings Programme works to understand the factors that affect people's decisions to breed and how they do it. This enables the BHF to target research and education to ensure the UK continues to produce top quality youngstock