Survey on Equine Welfare

[elilomb]

Dear friends of the Equestrian world,
I am a second year student of the Masters degree of Animal Science and Technology at the University of Padua (Italy). I am writing my thesis on equine welfare, and I decided to accompany it with a survey on the same subject.
The survey will be used to carry out a research on equine welfare and stereotypies.
️The answers are anonymous and the confidentiality of the data is guaranteed.
The data will not be disclosed in any form, but will be used in an aggregate way and only for statistical purposes for a Master’s degree thesis in Animal Science and Technology (University of Padua, Italy).
I invite you to share the survey with other people of the equestrian world, to help the statistical analysis by expanding the data collection.
In order to participate please click on the link below:
https://forms.gle/MQBXCCCMJG2FoxGSA

Thank you in advance, all the help is greatly appreciated?

 

[MissTyc]

I did try, but I selected answer for a group then none of the sections allowed me to answer for the group. I have two geldings, one mare, so selected to speak for the geldings. Average age. Err one is 4 and one is 17 so that doesn't do your data much good. Average height. One is 14hh and one is 16.2hh so I pretty much gave up then. I might go back and try again with a single horse in mind, but note that for a UK audience the questions might be tricky e.g. in terms of where they are kept. Private yards are very common here, which wasn't an option. "Mountain trail" was the closest to hacking I could get ...

 

[Mari]

I tried to complete this survey. Couldn’t. I have 1 horse gelding. 2 ponies - 1 gelding & 1 mare..

 

[elilomb]

I tried to complete this survey. Couldn’t. I have 1 horse gelding. 2 ponies - 1 gelding & 1 mare..

I'm sorry you were not able to reach the end of the survey. Unfortunately Google Forms has some limits and this is one. It was impossible to add questions that kept divided horse genders, which is useful for statistical purposes. In the survey there is written to eventually answer for one horse and repeat the survey for the others, but this is up to the participant and is not mandatory. Thank you very much for trying!

 

[elilomb]

I did try, but I selected answer for a group then none of the sections allowed me to answer for the group. I have two geldings, one mare, so selected to speak for the geldings. Average age. Err one is 4 and one is 17 so that doesn't do your data much good. Average height. One is 14hh and one is 16.2hh so I pretty much gave up then. I might go back and try again with a single horse in mind, but note that for a UK audience the questions might be tricky e.g. in terms of where they are kept. Private yards are very common here, which wasn't an option. "Mountain trail" was the closest to hacking I could get ...

I'm so sorry, I'm aware that sometimes it is difficult to give average values. If you want you could complete the survey answering for one horse, or one horse at a time. Hacking is be more similar to horse trekking. Thank you so much for trying!

 

[asmp]

Sorry - gave up. Much too long and didn’t understand some of the things being asked, plus no option to say you don’t know the answer (e.g. Size of field)

 

[Pearlsasinger]

I'm another who gave up when it came to the question about breeds, I have 2 horses of different breeds.

 

[Jenko109]

There are horses who are only shod behind?

 

[Ambers Echo]

Sorry - gave up. Much too long and didn’t understand some of the things being asked, plus no option to say you don’t know the answer (e.g. Size of field)

This. Conspecifics?? I couldn’t finish because I didn’t know and I’m pretty well read. You can use readability scales to see if a survey is likely to be pitched at the right level. And far too long. Which - apart from struggling to get anyone to fill it in - means too many variable to try and make sense of. I really think you should reconsider the design and try again.

 

[stangs]

Finished, but I don’t own anything so didn’t have much to do.

Conspecifics??

Other horses

 

[The Fuzzy Furry]

Sorry, couldnt complete it.
I have traditional English stables, 2 rows facing each other. I dont have stalls, I don't have an indoor barn, there is no 'other' option, so left it.....

 

[elilomb]

There are horses who are only shod behind?

Yes, it is done sometimes in western disciplines.

 

[elilomb]

Sorry, couldnt complete it.
I have traditional English stables, 2 rows facing each other. I dont have stalls, I don't have an indoor barn, there is no 'other' option, so left it.....

The question you are referring to is the one about stalls/ boxes. We did not consider barns or bigger structures because it would have been too complicated to describe and ask in the survey. Thank you for trying!

 

[elilomb]

Finished, but I don’t own anything so didn’t have much to do.


Other horses

It's okay, every answer is helpful. Thank you.

 

[elilomb]

I'm another who gave up when it came to the question about breeds, I have 2 horses of different breeds.

It's okay, thank you anyway. One way was to answer for each of your horses, but I know it takes some time.

 

[elilomb]

Sorry - gave up. Much too long and didn’t understand some of the things being asked, plus no option to say you don’t know the answer (e.g. Size of field)

Thank you for your feedback.

 

[elilomb]

This. Conspecifics?? I couldn’t finish because I didn’t know and I’m pretty well read. You can use readability scales to see if a survey is likely to be pitched at the right level. And far too long. Which - apart from struggling to get anyone to fill it in - means too many variable to try and make sense of. I really think you should reconsider the design and try again.

Conspecifics is a term which means with others of the same species.
Some variables are descriptive, while other will be involved in an inferential analysis.
The questions were written only after consulting scientific literature.

 

[Jenko109]

Yes, it is done sometimes in western disciplines.

I frustratingly cannot seem to find any reference to this on a google search. Do you know anywhere I can read more about this please?

 

[elilomb]

I frustratingly cannot seem to find any reference to this on a google search. Do you know anywhere I can read more about this please?

That option was suggested by one of the vets of the team that created the survey, it was from experience. I was stunned too.

 

[JBM]

Didn’t understand some words so just stuck an answer as you made them all mandatory

 

[elilomb]

Didn’t understand some words so just stuck an answer as you made them all mandatory

Thank you for the effort!

 

[HappyHollyDays]

I have completed it twice as I have two horses and it was easier than that way.

 

[elilomb]

I have completed it twice as I have two horses and it was easier than that way.

Thank you so much!!

 

[First Frost]

Completed, actually quite liked doing a detailed survey!

 

[ponynutz]

Managed to complete - did complete it to my pony's old ridden routine (and her age at that time) as found it easier to answer. Also did the single version but twice for two separate horses - it's really not that bad but then my uni uses Google Forms so I guess I'm used to it's weird ways, haha!

Some thoughts in case you repeat data collection:
1) Might want to include a 'hacking' option for 'Which of the following disciplines/activities do you practice?' if you're planning on gathering data from this forum again (many of us are from the UK and it's a big past-time here).
2) Assuming 'crouched' is lying down but not on their side for the question on sleeping?
3) Periodic care might also want to include 'saddler' as an option
4) Clarification for what 'conspecifics' means.

Good luck with the thesis.

 

[elilomb]

Completed, actually quite liked doing a detailed survey!

Thank you! We tried keeping it detailed but not too much, otherwise it would have become very long.

 

[elilomb]

Managed to complete - did complete it to my pony's old ridden routine (and her age at that time) as found it easier to answer. Also did the single version but twice for two separate horses - it's really not that bad but then my uni uses Google Forms so I guess I'm used to it's weird ways, haha!

Some thoughts in case you repeat data collection:
1) Might want to include a 'hacking' option for 'Which of the following disciplines/activities do you practice?' if you're planning on gathering data from this forum again (many of us are from the UK and it's a big past-time here).
2) Assuming 'crouched' is lying down but not on their side for the question on sleeping?
3) Periodic care might also want to include 'saddler' as an option
4) Clarification for what 'conspecifics' means.

Good luck with the thesis.

Thank you for doing the survey!?
"Hacking" can be included in trekking, but I am aware that some words couldn't be translated literally from Italian to English.
Yes, crouched meant in sternal recumbency so lying on the belly with legs tucked in.
Do you mean like a saddle fitter? Eventually it could be written in the following question.

 

[Honey08]

Done.
You just have to use a little imagination with some of the words. Stall means stable in this case, trekking means hacking.

 

[planete]

Done. No problem understanding the terminology but used to the vagaries of translations.

 

[Red-1]

Done, had an educated guess as to some of the translations.