Short survey into rider's perception of TB's and cobs, pls help!

MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
Oh dear, perhaps its just me, I did try to complete the survey, but couldn't really give honest answers, so gave up. Sorry OP!

For instance, the questions on how you'd react if offered a TB/cob for a lesson, physical sensations like "nausea, dry mouth, sweating" etc etc. Whilst most people who wouldn't necessarily want to ride a TB/cob probably wouldn't go into that level of panic mode!!! I'd have preferred the questions to reflect the level of anxiety maybe, i.e. reading something like "if you were offered a TB for a lesson, how would you feel, i.e. quite OK, not really OK, wouldn't mind either way, quite like, very much like", OR "very anxious, moderately anxious, OK/neutral........ etc etc." rather than quite violent physical reactions which probably most people wouldn't have!!

Equally the questions re. predicted behaviour of a Cob or TB. i.e. would you expect them to be spooky, lively, lazy, unpredictable etc etc. I've got a cob: and some days he's bone idle, other days he's lively! Likewise sometimes he'll spook at his own shadow, next day he'll meet every tractor-dragon around! I know some TB's who are bombproof, and cobs who are not! And both "types" are like all horses, able to be unpredictable. So I'd need to tick every single box, which probably would make your survey topsy-turvey!!!

So sorry, couldn't complete it. Don't know how else you could do this survey tho' OP!!! Well done for trying.
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This, sorry OP
 
I've completed the survey but agree with others comments, i actually ticked unpredictable for both "breeds" as this is how i treat all unknown horses regardless of breeding/type. A cob type can easily be as spooky/bolshy/strong/difficult to ride as a thoroughbred (or any other horse).

From experience my TB mare was much easier to ride (although not handle) than my current ISH.
 
Are TB and Cob the only types of horses available? I have ridden some super safe ploddy cobs and some supersafe ploddy tb's, I've ridden fizzy tb's and fizzy cobs, I've ridden well school and badly schooled of both.

Actually that probably explains why I own a pony!
 
Done :)

I thought the questions were simple and relevant, simply comparing how you feel about riding each type.
I am slightly biased as I own a TB and have ridden them for years!
Good luck x
 
Done, but think that University needs to look at how it helps students design questionnaires to add more context to your content and make it a little more specific too.

I agree that cobs and TB's are not always what people's perceptions are of them - could be an interesting piece of research.
 
I answered the survey to the best of my ability and I have to say I did write rather long comments in the comment boxes because a lot of the choices were unsuitable. Have to say it was more like a survey that primary school children might write up rather than a 3rd year university student. I'm sorry if that sounds unkind but it's what it seemed like to me :/ The thinking behind it is good so I think your topic is of interest, it's just very basic and I don't think the results that can be gleaned from it will be particularly profound.
 
Interesting survey as for quite a while I had 2 horses - one TB and one cob! The TB was the most laid back horse I've ever sat on, and if I had to hack on my own down a road I'd have picked my TB over my cob every time. My cob on the other hand is still not great in traffic, and spooks at the most random things, as does the other cob on the yard - he's terrified of purple flowers!
 
This survey seems to be aimed at those who are extremely nervous or who don't know much about horses. You'd be better off asking novices at riding schools to answer these questions and designing another survey suitable for those that know them better perhaps. From this survey you're only going to find out those that are scared. I ticked no to virtually every question (apart from the last question, where I couldn't tick what I wanted either!).
 
If I was experiencing physical anxiety about riding a riding school horse I'd worry that it wasn't the right sport for me! So I couldn't complete it as it was too far away from what I know and have experienced.
 
all done accept the last question. TB or Cob or other please specify i tried to answer cleveland bay which sort of falls in between but it wouldnt let me.
good luck
 
Didn't complete, sorry - you aren't doing yourself any favours using a survey like this as the basis for research. If you're looking at how people perceive the types, why aren't there any positives? Lots of people might feel flattered if they get to ride the TB - that's an emotion generated by perception of the type. That's just one example.

I think you need to think a bit more about what you're trying to achieve or test and why, and really try to set aside preconceived judgements on the likely outcome - the whole thing is very biased and it would be almost impossible to actually complete it without reinforcing what is clearly your preferred outcome.
 
I've done it but like most others I'm not sure the answers reflected my true feelings - as has been said, the only option was to express outright terror or total indifference! Also, the idea of a riding school animal in a school is an issue as I would assume any horse given to me in that situation would be pretty bob on.
 
I've done it but my perceptions are skewed because most of my lessons are on a medium weight cob type who is very very forward and tense. Do you suppose his inner horse is a TB :D

Agree re comments re negative perceptions only.
Good luck with the analysis :)
 
I have done it but sorry I too thought it a bit meaningless as I wouldnt expect that level of fear in a hobby I enjoy and you need to reassess the survey to include positives and emotions rather than physically debilitating affects of seeing the horse
 
windand rain said:
I have done it but sorry I too thought it a bit meaningless as I wouldnt expect that level of fear in a hobby I enjoy and you need to reassess the survey to include positives and emotions rather than physically debilitating affects of seeing the horse
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Thank you :)

However the survey is solely looking at anxiety responses, so would not need to include aspects of positive emotions
 
Honey08 said:
This survey seems to be aimed at those who are extremely nervous or who don't know much about horses. You'd be better off asking novices at riding schools to answer these questions and designing another survey suitable for those that know them better perhaps. From this survey you're only going to find out those that are scared. I ticked no to virtually every question (apart from the last question, where I couldn't tick what I wanted either!).
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Not at all, a majority of my responses have been from people who haven't described much anxiety when riding horses. Its all relevant though, I've had nearly 600 responses and wouldn't get anywhere near that number if I were to aim at specific people
 
Theocat said:
Didn't complete, sorry - you aren't doing yourself any favours using a survey like this as the basis for research. If you're looking at how people perceive the types, why aren't there any positives? Lots of people might feel flattered if they get to ride the TB - that's an emotion generated by perception of the type. That's just one example.

I think you need to think a bit more about what you're trying to achieve or test and why, and really try to set aside preconceived judgements on the likely outcome - the whole thing is very biased and it would be almost impossible to actually complete it without reinforcing what is clearly your preferred outcome.
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Thanks for the resonse, I am looking into anxiety responses and people's perception of the breed. There are options to tick 'not immediately phased by horse type' and some people have used this option. The dissertation questions have to be extremely specific, thus I did not need to find out if the rider enjoyed riding the horse as I was looking at anxiety. I appreciate your comments though, thank you
 
shwwty said:
Thanks for the resonse, I am looking into anxiety responses and people's perception of the breed. There are options to tick 'not immediately phased by horse type' and some people have used this option. The dissertation questions have to be extremely specific, thus I did not need to find out if the rider enjoyed riding the horse as I was looking at anxiety. I appreciate your comments though, thank you
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You have therefore built bias into your study - your research based on this questionnaire and ethos will be poor I'm afraid.
 
Thank you all very much who filled out my survey, managed to gather nearly 600 respondents which is amazing and I'm so pleased!! The results are really interesting :)

In response to the negative / constructive critisism; the questions were drafted and overviewed with my equine course tutor and we adapted the questions in order to get the relevant data I needed for my project. And as many of you have highlighted, I have not included any options to look at the positive side of perception of horse type. I can now appreciate how this study may appear biased, and now appreciate I should have included some positive sides but I am not prepared to start again given my time limit, and 600 responds is an amazing number and I am vrey pleased!!

I am closing the survet now in order to begin running statistics on the data to write up about in my honours project.

Once again thank you all so much :)
 
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