Abstract:
Many students enter equine programs with intentions of pursuing a career in the equine industry but will ultimately obtain a career in another field. Faculty should evaluate the effectiveness of developing students in non-horse related skills which will benefit them regardless of future career paths. An Institutional Review Board (IRB) approved survey was administered to students from six universities enrolled in a semester-long training course in an effort to determine changes in perceived interpersonal skill levels for nine criteria. For all criteria, a positive improvement was reported. When combining responses across schools, a trend suggesting that traditional students gained less from the courses than non-traditional students on all outcomes was revealed. Using t-tests to compare students by gender, males were found to have greater gains than females in all life skills analyzed, but only Verbal Communication was statistically significant. Finally, applying trend analyses, students were compared on all outcomes by level of prior experience.Onnearly all criteria, students with the least experience perceived the greatest gains and students with the most experience perceived the smallest gains. However, only on the outcomes of Patience and Non-Verbal Communication were these trends statistically significant.
Keywords:
working with horses, student preparedness, interpersonal skills
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