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Benefits of Animal Exposure on Veterinary Students' Understanding of Equine Behaviour and Self-Assessed Equine Handling Skills.

ABSTRACT: Horses are one of the most dangerous animals veterinarians have to work with. For many veterinary students, their first exposure to horses occurs during practical classes. To evaluate the level of knowledge students have of equine behaviour and their equine handling competency when entering the programme, 214 veterinary students (1st and 4th year) were recruited to participate in a questionnaire. Participants were asked to choose one out of 12 terms that best represented the affective state of a horse in a picture, and to self-assess their equine handling skills. Half (n = 56/115) of the first-year students correctly interpreted the horse's behaviour. The majority had (1) a poor understanding of equine learning mechanisms and (2) poor self-rated equine handling skills. A history of pet ownership (p = 0.027) and the presence of horses on their family property (p = 0.001) were significantly associated with a correct understanding of equine behaviour. Fourth-year students were three times more likely to accurately interpret the horse's behaviour (p = 0.01) and rated their handling skills higher than first-year students (p = 0.006). These results suggest that previous animal experience confers a considerable advantage to interpret equine behaviour and highlight the critical importance of practical training in the veterinary programme.

SUBMITTER: Guinnefollau L

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6769774 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Benefits of Animal Exposure on Veterinary Students' Understanding of Equine Behaviour and Self-Assessed Equine Handling Skills.

Guinnefollau Lauréline L Gee Erica K EK Bolwell Charlotte F CF Norman Elizabeth J EJ Rogers Chris W CW

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI 20190828 9

Horses are one of the most dangerous animals veterinarians have to work with. For many veterinary students, their first exposure to horses occurs during practical classes. To evaluate the level of knowledge students have of equine behaviour and their equine handling competency when entering the programme, 214 veterinary students (1st and 4th year) were recruited to participate in a questionnaire. Participants were asked to choose one out of 12 terms that best represented the affective state of a ...[more]

PMID: 31466298

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Dataset Information

Benefits of Animal Exposure on Veterinary Students' Understanding of Equine Behaviour and Self-Assessed Equine Handling Skills.

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Benefits of Animal Exposure on Veterinary Students' Understanding of Equine Behaviour and Self-Assessed Equine Handling Skills.

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