Psychology Project UPDATE

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magicofhorses

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1 December 2008
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Hi there, and HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone.

Well after lots of analysing and 333 samples later I have started to sort out some results from all the horsey data. However – I’m still not finished so don’t wish to yet say what these results are as it could all change when some more samples come in (feel free if you haven’t completed my turnout questionnaire, or want to find out more to visit this link for an explanation and copy of the questionnaire: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/sh...&PHPSESSID= )


But I was wondering if everybody that has completed a questionnaire, or indeed anybody that owns a horse and has a few seconds to spare could complete the following questions. I’m investigating whether the type of turnout a horse receives affects his/her psychological behaviour and the following questions serve as a follow-up to my original questionnaire, to hopefully help explain some of my current findings:
Hope that makes sense, sorry if I’ve waffled (I’m still doing it now ), here are the follow-up questions:

1.Which Turnout System applies to your horse?
A)Turnout 24/7
B)Stabled During the Day
C)Stabled During the Night
D)Stabled 24/7
Ei) Seasonal Turnout (Turnout relating to winter/summer)
Eii) Other (please describe)

2.Choose from the following list, 3 words which you feel most describe your horse, and rank in order of importance from 1 – 3:

PLACID
LIVELY
CONTENT
AGGRESSIVE
ASSERTIVE
STUBOURN
NERVOUS
SHARP
COMPLIANT
CONFIDENT
WITHDRAWN
BOLD
PLAYFUL

Example Answer:

1.A

2.)
1. Confident
2. Assertive
3. Lively

Hope all that makes sense, if not let me know, but Happy New Year and thankyou all for your time and effort – I’m hoping to bring some fantastic results for turnout with me into 2009 – thankyou

Ross

PS Feel free to PM me if you don’t want others to see your results, thanks
 
16.3 ISH Eventer / SJ, 10yrs

1) A

2) 1 Bold, 2 Content, 3 Confident

16.3 ISH type Eventer / SJ, 12 yrs

1) A

2) 1 Bold, 2 Content, 3 Confident

14.1 Connemara X TB SJ, 8yrs

1) A

2) 1 Sharp, 2 Lively, 3 Bold, although everything on that list could apply to him at one point or another - the pony's got a screw loose!!
 
I really do think that it depends hugely on the individual horse's temperament.
at the moment i have
7 yr old T.B. mare
D
Placid, content, lively to ride.
(i've had others who, if stabled 24/7, went nuts!)
others are all
A
and are lively, content, playful.
one is
A
and
lively, sharp, bold. (i'd even say frustrated.)
hope that helps a bit!
 
What is the hypothesis/aim for this experiment? Surely its rather obvious and totally dependent on type of horse and the work/fitness its doing?
 
[ QUOTE ]
What is the hypothesis/aim for this experiment? Surely its rather obvious and totally dependent on type of horse and the work/fitness its doing?

[/ QUOTE ]

My hypothesis was:

The more turnout a horse receives, the more compliant he will be in everyday situations;

ie: trying to say that a horse on turnout will be more psychologically healthy than a horse stabled 24/7. However, I've come to reaslise that compliance doesn't necessarily mean a horse is psychologically happily, and these few questions are my attempt to explain some unexpected results. Yes there are many factors that can affect a horse, but hopefully by having so many samples (I now have 335+) I can begin to rule out anomilies and find a pattern.

"totally dependent on type of horse" - well I'm trying to see if these questions will tell me whether a turnout regime can affect the 'type' of horse, or even change it.

"Surely its rather obvious" "...type of work/fitness it is doing" -I thought the results would have been obvious too but this is not so, that is why I needed these extra questions to help back a certain theory of mine. And yes I believe that horses can adapt to being stabled 24/7 provided they are fed and exercised correctly so yes you are right, it can be dependant on what they do - however what I'm now looking at now is whether anything is sacrificed for a horse to cope with being stabled 24/7 for example.

Hope that answered your questions, if I haven't quite understood what you meant feel free to ask me again and I'll try my best - thanks
 
Hi there
Happy New Year to you too:

C
Content
Playful
Confident

A stark difference to when she was on other turnout regimes!

Good Luck with your study, will watch for the results with interest
smile.gif
 
What anomolies , unexpected resutls have you found in the original?

I think my four totally different answers for horses on same regime relate to four different types and personalities of horse and their age and work , rather than their turnout regimes.

[ QUOTE ]
I needed these extra questions to help back a certain theory of mine.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmm , for research data can support or disprove a theory, should not be used or designed to ''back it'' , esp in qualtitative research.
Answers so far given above show little correlation between turnout regime and personality descriptions.
 
16hh KWPN,Mare, 8YO
Eii (turnout for a couple of hours 2-3 times per week)
1. SHARP
2. CONTENT
3. PLAYFUL

16.2hh KWPN, Mare, 6YO
Eii (a/a)
1. CONTENT
2. CONFIDENT
3. COMPLIANT
 
[ QUOTE ]
What anomolies , unexpected resutls have you found in the original?

I think my four totally different answers for horses on same regime relate to four different types and personalities of horse and their age and work , rather than their turnout regimes.

[ QUOTE ]
I needed these extra questions to help back a certain theory of mine.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hmm , for research data can support or disprove a theory, should not be used or designed to ''back it'' , esp in qualtitative research.
Answers so far given above show little correlation between turnout regime and personality descriptions.

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok sorry I'm not quite in the right scientific mode - for the average comeptition horse / happy hacker that's in 24/7 my results were showing one of the best averages of all the turnout regimes - this was what was unexpected. I then started thinking, was compliance necessarily meaning happiness, and started looking at what sort of 'personalities' were related to each turnout regimes. Granted I'll always have anomilies, but I was looking at whether there was a steroptypical personality for a horse out 24/7 in 24/7 etc... and hoped these questions would either support / disprove this theory.

However once I entered my race horse results, the whole data has been shook up and changed, but I still want to be able to apply these findings to your average happy hacker horse, not just using results from horses that are bred for explosions of speed etc...

So all in all, I have no definite conclusions yet, and am still trying to work my way through the analysis, hoping these follow up questions will help.

If that hasn't fully answered your questions feel free to post back - its preparing me for when I have to present these results - thanks!

Ross
 
1.Two horses on same regime:
Eii) Other - Turnout aprox three times a week. (Walker and exercise when in)

2.Choose from the following list, 3 words which you feel most describe your horse, and rank in order of importance from 1 – 3:

5yr old, Dutch WB, gelding:

PLACID
COMPLIANT
BOLD


9yr old, Westphalien, mare:

CONTENT
PLAYFUL
LIVELY
 
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