Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Horse welfare is a subject widely talked about today connected to ethics, empathy and much more. This study used an online survey divided in three parts to explore if there is a connection between riding school students knowledge of horse welfare in theory and practice and their reaction to common scenarios within horse handling as well as where they collect their information about the subject. The survey was sent out to a few riding schools as well as public groups on Facebook aimed towards horse enthusiasts. Due to the small sample size of the study no definite or general conclusions can be made that students with higher knowledge collect their information about horse welfare from a different place than those with lower knowledge.
Furthermore, most students scored high points on the quiz about horse welfare indicating that most have a good and similar level of knowledge about the subject. According to the results, riding school students choose to handle real life horse handling situations similarly regardless of their level of knowledge. Further research could be beneficial to map the education about horse welfare in riding schools throughout Sweden and thus possibly spot potential needs for improvement in the curriculum. This to try to secure the welfare of horses within all sport genres and to make sure that it is up to the standard for the Swedish Equestrian Federation and the animal welfare legislation in Sweden.