In a recent survey of Irish horse owners as the primary decision‐maker for their horse's health and welfare, anecdotal evidence suggests that the emotional impact of equine illness on the owner can be severe.
Young horse owner ready for a ride on his horse.
Pain, discomfort, and the quality of life of their horses were concerns expressed by a majority of horse owners in survey
© 2016 by Holly Kuchera New window.
The objectives of the survey were to evaluate horse owners self‐declared knowledge of eight common equine health conditions and their perceptions of the quality of information available and to ascertain respondents' perceptions of the severity of impact on their horse of the conditions and potential emotional impact on themselves and to establish the factors of greatest concern to owners when their horse has a health condition and the influential factors on end‐of‐life decisions in an online survey.
The online survey comprised of three sections was created: respondent demographics; vignettes of clinical conditions; concerns and decision‐making regarding illness and euthanasia. Vignettes focused on arthritis; Pars Pituitary Intermedia Dysfunction; Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS); gastric ulcers; high intestinal worm burden; dermatophilosis (‘mud rash’); quidding and head tossing; and equine asthma. Respondents were self‐selecting. The survey was circulated for completion by horse owners residing in Ireland and Northern Ireland obtaining 491 valid responses.
Respondents declared that they had the highest knowledge of mud rash, with 84.1% rating their knowledge as very good compared to 42% of respondents for EMS. There was positive correlation between the perceived impact on their horse and emotional impact on the owner for all conditions ranging from weak (arthritis 0.36, P < 0.001) to strong (EMS 0.62, P < 0.001). Pain, discomfort, and quality of life were reported as the most common concerns when their horse has a medical condition or when considering euthanasia.
Horse owners can expect to encounter some form of chronic or management‐related equine health conditions throughout their horse's life with large scale surveys showing that approximately one‐third of horses will suffer from at least one health condition each year. As the primary decision‐maker for their horse's health and welfare, owners' knowledge of clinical conditions may potentially impact their horse's immediate and ongoing health.
The emotional bond between owners and their horses is often considerable and anecdotal evidence suggests that the impact of equine illness on the owner can be severe. There has been some research into the effects on owners of the death and euthanasia of their horse(s) and other companion animals; however, to date there has been no research on the emotional impact of equine illness specifically on owners.
This study aimed to evaluate respondents' self‐declared knowledge of eight common equine health conditions and their perceptions of the quality of information currently available relating to those conditions. The study also sought to ascertain the respondents' perceptions of the potential severity of the impact on their horse of the eight conditions and the potential related emotional impact on themselves of those conditions occurring in their own horses.
In addition, respondents were asked about the factors of greatest concern to them when their horse has a medical condition and those factors that have the greatest influence on end‐of‐life decisions.
There was significant difference between the respondents' reports of the likely emotional impact that the eight conditions would have if they were diagnosed in one of the respondents' animals, with equine asthma and EMS predicted to have the highest emotional impacts and mud rash the lowest.
Results confirmed that the emotional impact on horse owners of equine health conditions is directly linked to how severe they perceive the condition's impact on the affected horse.
Pain and discomfort and quality of life were selected by a majority of respondents as an important concern. Veterinary advice was influential in euthanasia decisions. This study highlights the need for further research into the effects of horse illness on their owners and on the quality of equine health information available to owners.
See the complete article on the survey HERE
Press release by School of Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin