Watney Megan, Lancaster Bryony, Randle Hayley
Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Charles Sturt University, Albury, Australia.
J Appl Anim Welf Sci. 2024 Aug 28:1-20. doi: 10.1080/10888705.2024.2393124.
The aims of this study were to first determine the extent of owners' fundamental knowledge of equine care, second, gain their opinions on the implementation of a mandatory certificate of knowledge and third, to investigate the association of certification on horse owner knowledge. An online survey comprising 23 questions (18 closed, 5 open) was distributed worldwide via snowball sampling, and completed by 1847 horse owners who were all ≥18 years old from 17 different countries. Almost all (96%, = 1781) completed surveys were usable. Just over half (52%) of participants held a current equine knowledge certification, and 59% believed a mandatory certificate of knowledge should be necessary to buy, own, or sell a horse. Horse owners with an equine certificate of knowledge were more likely to be in favor of a mandatory certificate (Pearson's Chi-squared = 50.79, df = 1, < 0.0001). The mean correctly answered knowledge questions was 68%, indicating that approximately 1/3 of horse owners lacked fundamental horse care knowledge. Further examination indicated that participating horse owners showed the least understanding in the behavioral interactions domain (ANOVA F(4, 24) = 4.98, < 0.01), specifically in relation to pain recognition and learning theory terminology. Arguably, this deficit in knowledge and likely correct application increases the risk of owners using misinformed or inappropriate techniques to manage horse behavior and training, predisposing the horse to experiencing a sub-optimal quality of life. Overall no significant difference was found between the total correct scores of horse owners with or without a certificate (ANOVA F(1, 56) = 0.78, > 0.05); however, a series of Chi-squared tests revealed that for the more complex questions, horse owners with a certificate scored better than those without (all < 0.05). Further work is needed to develop an evidence-based assessment framework if mandatory certification of horse owners is to become an effective tool for improving horse welfare and quality of life.
本研究的目的，一是首先确定马主对马匹护理基础知识的了解程度，二是收集他们对实施强制性知识证书的看法，三是调查认证与马主知识之间的关联。一项包含23个问题（18个封闭式问题、5个开放式问题）的在线调查通过滚雪球抽样在全球范围内分发，由来自17个不同国家的1847名年龄均≥18岁的马主完成。几乎所有（96%，n = 1781）完成的调查问卷都可用。略超过一半（52%）的参与者持有当前的马匹知识认证，59%的人认为购买、拥有或出售马匹时需要强制性知识证书。拥有马匹知识证书的马主更倾向于支持强制性证书（Pearson卡方检验=50.79，自由度=1，P<0.0001）。正确回答知识问题的平均比例为68%，这表明约三分之一的马主缺乏基本的马匹护理知识。进一步研究表明，参与调查的马主在行为互动领域的了解最少（方差分析F(4, 24)=4.98，P<0.01），特别是在疼痛识别和学习理论术语方面。可以说，这种知识上的不足以及可能正确应用的缺乏，增加了马主使用错误信息或不适当技术来管理马匹行为和训练的风险，使马匹面临生活质量次优的情况。总体而言，有证书和无证书的马主在总正确得分上没有显著差异（方差分析F(1, 56)=0.78，P>0.05）；然而，一系列卡方检验显示，对于更复杂的问题，有证书的马主得分高于无证书的马主（所有P<0.05）。如果马主的强制性认证要成为改善马匹福利和生活质量的有效工具，还需要进一步开展工作来制定一个基于证据的评估框架。
