Abstracts 297

were limited and all performances were video recorded, thepredefined behavioral elements of the horses & trainers (de-fined at poster) were scored. Data were compared to HNP1in a linear mixed model with post-hoc Bonferonni correc-tion (p , 0.05). The most important results show thathead tossing and head shaking were increased during exer-cise in HNP2 & 5 (p , 0.001). During exercise trainer en-couragement was increased in HNP2, 4 & 7 (p , 0.001);trainer slow down was increased in HNP2 & 5 (p ,0.001), shying was decreased in HNP7 (p , 0.05), blowingwas increased in HNP2 & 4 (p , 0.001), snorting was in-creased in HNP7 (p , 0.001) and tail swishing was in-creased in HNP2 (p , 0.001). During attaching of theside-reins, tail swishing was increased in HNP2 (p ,0.01), while during detaching head shaking was increasedin all HNPs (p, 0.001); holding the head low was increasedin HNP5 (p, 0.05) & tail swishing was increased in HNP2& 7 (p, 0.05). Generalised the results show that HNP2 & 5(higher positions) seem to provoke more active resistancebehavior during exercise compared to HNP1 while lowerhead positions (4 & 7) do less. The possible explanationsare studied. However, the results of parameters in other partsof the project were not always in line with the behavioralparameters, the implications for the overall effect for thehorses will be discussed. The behavioral part of a study ofhorses with different head and neck positions during train-ing (including hyperflexion), showed that relative highhead positions can provoke conflict behaviors. However,behavior (parameter often used by non-scientists) was notalways in congruity with other parameters. Only multi-disciplinary scientific studies can determine the combinedeffects in these horses.

Key words: horse behavior; hyper-flexion; equine athlete

PASSION FOR HORSES: IMPROVING HORSE WELFARECOMMUNICATION THROUGH IDENTIFYING INFORMATIONSEARCH PATTERNS, KNOWLEDGE LEVELS, BELIEFS,AND DAILY PRACTICES OF HORSE ENTHUSIASTSK. Visser1,*, E. VanWijk2, H. Kortstee2, J. Verstegen31Wageningen University and Research Centre,Livestock Research, Lelystad, The Netherlands2Wageningen University and Research Centre, LEI,Wageningen, The Netherlands3Wageningen University and Research Centre, LEI,The Hague, The Netherlands*Corresponding author: kathalijne.visser@wur.nl

An increasing number of people keep horses for leisure andsports. Some ‘new’ horse enthusiasts seem to lack correctknowledge, beliefs and daily practices to ensure welfare ofhorses. Simultaneously, ‘old’ horse enthusiasts tend to beless receptive to new insights and are reluctant to change theirhabits. The aim of this project was to find ways to improvehorse welfare by gaining insight into the diversity of horse

enthusiasts with respect to their information search patterns,knowledge levels, beliefs and daily practices. An internetquestionnaire containing 30 questions to these areas wasconducted. Basic information of the 4267 respondents showthat 85%of the horse enthusiasts appeared to bewomen. 64%of the respondents was convinced that welfare problemsoccur in the whole horse sector, 55% believed that thegovernment should set minimum requirements whereas 77%believed that the horse sector should take its responsibility.The most-frequently mentioned information source was thepersonal contact with other horse enthusiasts (83%), fol-lowed by the vet (75%) and the farrier (70%). A clusteranalysis was used to identify types of horse enthusiasts whoresponded similarly on several items in the questionnaire.This revealed that four different types of horse enthusiastscould be defined on the basis of their information searchpatterns, knowledge levels, beliefs and daily practices, withrespect to horsewelfare (highest ratio of distancemeasures51.75). These clusters could be labelled as horse enthusiastsdevoted to 1) living in the country side, 2) riding competi-tions, 3) horse breeding, and 4) natural horsemanship. Therewere significant differences between the four clusters. Horseenthusiasts living in the country side and horse enthusiastsdevoted to horse breeding seem to lack some basic knowl-edge about horse welfare; horse enthusiasts riding competi-tions devote most time with horses and horse enthusiastsdevoted to natural horsemanship are the least organizedgroup of horse enthusiasts.This study has demonstrated that four clusters of horseenthusiasts can be defined with significantly differentinformation search patterns, knowledge levels, beliefs anddaily practices, related to horse welfare. These resultsshould be used for developing communication strategies toeffectively disseminate knowledge to the horse enthusiastsand hence to improve horse welfare.

Key words: horse welfare; horse enthusiast

IMPROVING HORSE-RIDER COMMUNICATION THROUGHGROUNDWORK TRAINING PROGRAMSI.A. Wolframm1,*, C. Baars1, S. Schuetz11University of Applied Sciences Van Hall Larenstein,Wageningen, The Netherlands*Corresponding author: inga.wolframm@wur.nl

Anecdotal evidence suggests that riders who perceive theirhorses to be more obedient will be more confident inhandling and riding them. The aim of this study was toinvestigate whether structured and progressive training fromthe ground can increase equine obedience and subsequentrider confidence. Twenty-eight German riders (2 male, 26female) were recruited to participate with their own horses inthe study. Riders were initially asked to complete a 12-itemGerman language version of the Competitive State AnxietyInventory (Wettkampf Angst Inventar – State; WAI-S) to

298 Journal of Veterinary Behavior, Vol 6, No 5, September/October 2011

assess levels of somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety and self-confidence. In order to test equine obedience, horse-ridercombinations were required to negotiate an ‘‘obstaclecourse’’ in-hand comprising 5 different obedience tasks.Horses were scored by the researchers on a 4-point Likertscale for each task depending on their level of obedience.Rider-horse combinations then participated in a 6-weekstructured groundwork training program aimed at improvinghorse-rider communication. Riders were taught how to giveeffective aids based on principles of negative and positivereinforcement thereby improving obedience of the horse. Atthe end of the intervention riders were once again required tocomplete theWAI-S and complete another obstacle course in-hand, featuring the same tasks but in a different order. Equineobedience scores as well as pre-and post anxiety and self-confidence scores were tested for significant differencesusing Wilcoxon Signed Ranks tests. Findings revealed asignificant decrease in somatic anxiety scores pre-and postintervention (mean somatic anxiety scores: 6.32 vs. 4.96; Z523.36; p , 0.001). Horse-rider combinations also scoredsignificantly higher on obedience scores following the train-ing program (mean obedience scores: 23 vs. 24; Z 5 23.5;p , 0.001). A positive trend was seen for levels of self-confidence pre-and post intervention (mean self-confidencescores: 11.1 vs. 11.8; Z 5 21.89; p . 0.05), yet nostatistically significant difference could be found for cogni-tive anxiety. Results suggest that following the trainingprogram, riders may have felt more in control of theirimmediate environment, including their horses. This in turnmay have had a positive effect on levels of physical tensionand feelings of self-confidence. Practical implications are thatground work training based on principles of positive andnegative reinforcement are likely to have a beneficial effecton horse-rider communication, improving obedience in thehorse under-saddle and in-hand and increasing physicalrelaxation and feelings of self-confidence in the rider.

Key words: equine obedience; horse-rider communication

INVESTIGATING DIFFERENCES IN SELF-REGULATIONBETWEEN NOVICE, INTERMEDIATE AND ADVANCEDEQUESTRIAN RIDERSI.A. Wolframm1,*, J. Foshag1, C. Kobbe11University of Applied Sciences Van Hall Larenstein,Wageningen, The Netherlands*Corresponding author: inga.wolframm@wur.nl

Research into a wide variety of sports has shown thatappropriate levels of self-regulation, e.g. an athlete’s abilityto regulate cognitive, emotive and motivational processes,can help improve performance. Anecdotal evidence sug-gests that communication and performance of the horse-rider dyad may be improved if the rider is able to monitorand control his own cognitions, emotions and levels ofmotivation. The current study aims to investigate differencesin self-regulatory skills in the equestrian population. The

60-item German ‘Volitionale Komponenten im Sport’ inven-tory (VKS; volitional components in sport) examines fourdimensions of self-regulatory skills, including self-optimi-sation, self-blocking, activation default and loss of focus. TheVKS was distributed via email to 285 German riders (meanage 24.46 6 5.61; 246 female, mean age 23.86 6 4.64; 46male, mean age 28.216 8.81). Participants were divided intonovice (N 5 122), intermediate (N 5 135) and advancedriders (N5 28), depending on their competitive level.Noviceriders were defined as competing at the German performancelevel ‘Leistungsklasse’ (LK) 0 or LK6, intermediate riders atLK 5, 4 or 3, and advanced riders at LK 2 or 1. Two-waybetween-subjects MANOVA tests were used to examinecompetence-by-gender interactions in VKS scores. Post hocanalysis was conducted independently for each VKS sub-scale using one-way univariate ANOVA tests. An alpha levelof 0.05was used to indicate statistical significance and partialeta squared effect sizes (partialh2)were calculated for signif-icant results. No significant interactive effect between genderand competence was found (F8,554 5 .83; p . 0.05), norwas there a main effect for gender (F4,276 5 1.4; p . 0.05).A significant main effect was found for competence levels(F8,554 5 2.39; p , 0.05), however, the effect size was rela-tively small (partial h2 5 .03). Post-hoc comparisons re-vealed significantly higher self-optimisation scores inintermediate than in novice riders (63.6 6 11.1 vs. 59.8 612; p, 0.05). Activation default scores were found to be sig-nificantly lower in intermediate than in novice riders (5.464.4 vs. 7.5 6 5; p , 0.05). Lastly, loss of focus scores werealso significantly lower in intermediate than in novice riders(3.9 6 3.6 vs. 5.3 6 4.1; p , 0.05). Findings suggest thatnovice riders possess comparatively fewer self-regulatoryskills than intermediate riders. Surprisingly, advanced ridersdid not score significantly differently to novice or intermedi-ate riders. However, thismay have been due to comparativelysmall numbers of advanced riders participating in the study.Practical implications are that in addition to developing skillsrelated to equitation, novice riders should work on theirability to remainmotivated and focused while riding. Equita-tion instructors may also want to expand their own knowl-edge base regarding self-regulatory processes in order to beable to provide appropriate support to riders.

Key words: equestrian rider; self-regulation; equineperformance

THE EFFECT OF MENTAL SKILLS TRAINING ON NON-ELITEDRESSAGE PERFORMANCEI.A. Wolframm1,*, D. Micklewright21University of Applied Sciences Van Hall Larenstein,Wageningen, The Netherlands2University of Essex, Colchester, UK*Corresponding author: inga.wolframm@wur.nl

Despite substantial evidence concerning the effectiveness ofmental skills training in sports performance, only a limited