Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development (DARE), Georg-August University of Göttingen, Platz der Göttinger Sieben 5, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
Animals (Basel). 2016 Feb 18;6(2):14. doi: 10.3390/ani6020014.
Human interactions with horses entail certain risks. Although the acceptance and use of protective gear is increasing, a high number of incidents and very low or inconsistent voluntary use of safety equipment are reported. While past studies have examined factors influencing the use of safety gear, they have explored neither their influence on the overall safety behavior, nor their relative influence in relation to each other. The aim of the present study is to fill this gap. We conducted an online survey with 2572 participants. By means of a subsequent multiple regression analysis, we explored 23 different variables in view of their influence on the protective behavior of equestrians. In total, we found 17 variables that exerted a significant influence. The results show that both having positive or negative attitudes towards safety products as well as the protective behavior of other horse owners or riding pupils from the stable have the strongest influence on the safety behavior of German equestrians. We consider such knowledge to be important for both scientists and practitioners, such as producers of protective gear or horse sport associations who might alter safety behavior in such a way that the number of horse-related injuries decreases in the long term.
人与马的互动存在一定的风险。尽管人们越来越接受和使用防护装备，但仍有大量事故报告，而且安全设备的自愿使用率很低或不一致。虽然过去的研究已经探讨了影响安全装备使用的因素，但它们既没有研究这些因素对整体安全行为的影响，也没有研究它们之间的相对影响。本研究旨在填补这一空白。我们对 2572 名参与者进行了在线调查。通过随后的多元回归分析，我们探讨了 23 个不同的变量，以了解它们对骑手保护行为的影响。总的来说，我们发现了 17 个具有显著影响的变量。结果表明，对安全产品的积极或消极态度以及其他马主或骑术学员的保护行为对德国骑手的安全行为有最强的影响。我们认为，这些知识对科学家和从业者都很重要，例如防护装备的生产者或马球协会，他们可以通过改变安全行为，从而在长期内减少与马有关的伤害。
