The use of horses for undergraduate practical teaching : animal welfare and teaching implications : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Veterinary Sciences at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
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Date
2021
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Massey University
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Abstract
Teaching horses are used at Massey University, New Zealand during practical classes for equine and veterinary science students to develop, improve and refine their skills. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the management and use for teaching of these horses and to assess the potential impact of the teaching-related activities on the horses’ behaviour and welfare.
The knowledge and competency of students in the veterinary programme at entry level and later in their programme were studied using a questionnaire to provide information on the level of competency of students at entry to the qualification and later after exposure to horses during teaching. The results confirmed previous findings about these students’ background (i.e. mostly urban upbringing, mostly female). Confidence around horses and experience with horses were limited for most students entering the veterinary programme. First-year students had greater difficulty in interpreting a horse’s behaviour, less understanding of equine learning mechanisms and poorer self-assessed equine handling skills compared to 4th-year students. The students’ correct interpretation of equine behaviour was associated with a history of pet ownership, the presence of horses on the students’ family property while growing up and the year of study (i.e. students’ advancement in the programme).
The use of the horses kept at Massey University for teaching was studied retrospectively over a calendar year. There were seven different types of equine practical teaching classes but each of the three teaching herds was used only for a specific subset of practical class types. A relatively low frequency of teaching-related activities was reported, although there was some variation in the type and number of student interactions and frequency of use of individual herds and horses.
The behavioural activities, i.e. time budgets and herd dynamics, of the teaching horses at pasture were explored at the beginning, during and at the end of a semester of practical teaching. The horses’ time budgets were similar to that of free-ranging populations with a majority of feeding and resting behaviours. Social interactions were mostly submissive, and of mild intensity when agonistic. In addition, hierarchies were relatively linear and stable across time, and a high behavioural synchronisation was reported between pairs of nearest neighbours.
The teaching horses’ perception of humans was investigated at the beginning, during and at the end of a semester of practical teaching, through a human-approach test. Horses’ positive responses to human approach and contact were associated with a slow pace, straight arms and gaze directed at the horse’s shoulder. Horses were significantly less likely to accept human contact if they had been used for teaching more often in the weeks prior to the test.
The behavioural and physiological responses of the horses were evaluated during three types of practical teaching classes (i.e. animal handling, medical rectal- and mare reproductive rectal examinations). Heart rates during practical teaching classes were consistent and in the range of a resting horse. Horses spent most of the time eating hay but ate less during an interaction with students in the mare reproductive rectal examination class compared to being in stocks with no interaction. No change in behaviour was reported in medical rectal examination classes.
The results reported in this thesis provide significant insight about the use for teaching of horses in equine and veterinary science degree programmes. The findings suggest that the teaching horses experienced limited physical, physiological and behavioural stress due to their use for practical teaching classes. Therefore, there may be an opportunity to increase the horses’ use for teaching to enhance equine and veterinary students’ learning outcomes. Additional work, however, is required to identify other equine welfare indicators that could be applied during equine practical teaching classes to further evaluate the impact of the student-horse interaction. In order to optimise the horses’ use for teaching, more research is also warranted to identify the most efficient practice to teach students safe and appropriate equine handling skills and to improve their confidence around horses.
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Massey University. School of Veterinary Science, Animal welfare, College teaching, Horses, Veterinary medicine, Study and teaching (Higher), New Zealand, Palmerston North