Equine-Assisted Services Research Report

01/10/2025

Who's counting trends in equine assisted research? We are!

EASR has indexed more than 2000 articles since 2017, and also maintains a massive bibliography covering the last 50 years. One trend we celebrate: More horse research in recent years. Whether it is the health and science of herd management, the fascinating rise in equine behavior research (including more and more specific to EAS horses) or the fine-tuning of equine welfare seen through the EAS lens, we've documented when and where and by whom the research was done.

Bottom line: EAS is a team effort, and the horse must always be top-of-mind in research, education, and practice.

Follow EASR to keep track of not only new research publications, but the evolution of research in the bigger picture so crucial to all of us working in EAS.

01/07/2025

Did you know that every issue of the EAS Research Report contains listings of abstract submission deadlines for aspiring presenters at future conferences? Here's an example of one conference from the new issue coming out this week.

PATH International has posted submission information for the 2025 PATH Intl. Conference and Annual Meeting, to be held in Denver on November 7-9, 2025. (Submission deadline is March 17, 2025.) Much more information on the official page:https://pathintl.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/PATH-Intl.-Call-for-Abstracts_FINAL.pdf

Learn about many more abstract submission programs at conferences all over the world in each issue of EASR. Good luck!

12/23/2024

Happy holidays, friends! Wishing everyone in the EASR community a glorious holiday break. I am so grateful to everyone who is part of our now-worldwide network of equine assisted professionals, researchers, educators, and supporters.

And if you aren't already, please join us, whether via social media, email news, or an actual subscription to the award-winning research reports.

Watch for a new issue of EASR coming right up! You will be starting the new year well-informed.

I am looking forward to working with and seeing many of you in 2025. Please get in touch if I can help you with research, or if you need to start or renew your subscription. I am here for you, always! --- Fran Jurga, Writer and Editor

PS This painting is called Santa's Day Off. It is by the late British artist Wendy L. Stevenson and the original is offered for sale by our friends at Elford Fine Art in Tavistock, Devon, England. Thank you to Rosemary and Phillips at the gallery for their expertise on equestrian art and their generous permission to share it with you. Notice that Santa's coat is now a horse blanket!

11/27/2024

Give the gift of research to an EAS professional who's working hard to be the best in their field. Order a gift subscription to the Equine Assisted Services Research Report so he or she can receive four intensive guides to new peer-reviewed research, as well as links to download, save, or print journal articles or theses.
Visit our website for more details https://equineassistedresearch.com

11/24/2024

The island of Maui is a long, long way from the Plymouth colony where Thanksgiving began so long ago, but surely gratitude will be going both ways on Thursday when islanders reflect with thanks on the impact of The Spirit Horse Ranch in their recovery from last year's fires...and the ranch itself breathes a thankful sigh because the local Rotary just announced a donation of $96,000 so the ranch can continue to offer free EAS services to islanders impacted by the fires. Thank you.

11/15/2024

Who needs a little inspiration today? Look no further than this video about EAS in action in the southern African nation of Namibia. (Google it!) The Fédération Equestre Internationale honored the Namibian Equestrian Federation with its 2024 FEI Inspire Award for the nation's "Enabling Through the Horse" program. This little video shows some of the activities going on there, and how they use Arabian horses in their program. Congratulations!

11/12/2024

New books on equine assisted services and horse-human interaction indicate that publishers are sensing a growing market for EAS reference books. This week, we feature details on "Equine Landscapes of Interspecies Care" by Drs. Nora Schuurman and Alex Franklin, and published by Palgrave Macmillan. (Link to book info in the first comment below.)

11/12/2024

Arena services for horses, including horses participating in EAS, are just as important as playground surfaces for children...and there's just as much science involved in getting it right for your climate, use demands, number of horses, and requirements for horse/human traction, fatigue, and cushioning. Each issue of the Equine-Assisted Services Research Report includes a section linking you to new research on arena maintenance and its many related subjects. Things to remember: A good arena doesn't just happen (no matter how much money you throw at it); a good arena doesn't stay good without effort, expense, and planning; what makes a good arena for horses may not be best for human sidewalkers, instructors, and non-horse events; and good arena maintainence and constant improvement are (and should be) key budget items annually for both indoor and outdoor arenas. This new white paper-type guide from the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension and UK Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment includes highlights of several research articles published recently, by researchers there. (All the articles were listed and linked in EASR.) They've boiled it all down for us. Direct download link in the comments below. (Thanks for sharing!)

The ideal surface for any horse depends on many different factors, such as discipline and environment. Because arena surfaces continually change with use and maintenance, it is important to evaluate the current footing and adapt the maintenance protocol to suit the needs of the horses using the arena. Read more here from our friends at the University of Kentucky https://publications.ca.uky.edu/sites/publications.ca.uky.edu/files/ID265.pdf

10/20/2024

Sneak preview for my horse-ish friends and equine professionals: I have a treat for you--and the timing is true serendipity! You're invited to sneak into YouTube and watch the trailer (link below) for the upcoming documentary "Horses and the Science of Harmony".

This film is for everyone who not only believes in "harmony" with horses, but who also recognizes that there is a place for science in the study of it. Dr Sue Dyson has gathered a cast of veterinarians, equine behavior researchers and horse welfare experts to weigh in, as well as some true icons of British eventing.

Find out what I'm talking about: https://equineassistedresearch.com/news/f/new-equine-interaction-film-horses-and-the-science-of-harmony

Transparency detail: I am a promotional partner for this film. And I'm excited!

Please invest two minutes and watch the trailer -- feel free to share it (thanks!)-- and then keep your ears up later this week for the link to the full video.

Why is this serendipitous? Because the film's featured rider, England's BBubby Upton Eventingis with us here in the USA this weekend, to compete at the MMARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill p/b Brown Advisory-- and she's in fourth place after cross-country, with show jumping coming up today (Sunday).

PS The full video of "Horses and the Science of Harmony" will be available for you to watch in full next week.

10/18/2024

What will happen when highly respected EAS researchers from
Temple Grandin Equine Center CSU Equine Sciences and University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus join forces for an innovative study in comparing benefits for children and teens, thanks to funding from Human Animal Bond Research Institute - HABRI? Great things, and we can't wait!

Read the summary in our news section:
https://equineassistedresearch.com/news/f/new-study-mounted-or-not-horse-interaction-for-autistic-youth

10/14/2024

Indigenous Peoples' Day is an important time to think about --and even *re-think* -- social history around the world. And for those of us involved in , it's a time to reflect on the growing body of peer-reviewed research documenting EAS programs involving First Nations peoples, and the rich history of horse-human interaction and relationships in their cultures. EASR maintains a separate index of research in this area and we hope to see it grow. See comments for a link to a new study published earlier this month.

10/09/2024

Some people go to work every day in an office building. Others in a factory. Others in schools, churches, shops, or public buildings. People I know are lucky to go to work on horse farms or equestrian centers. They do their best work bringing horses and people together in an unforgettable and extremely valuable way.

I'm working for them. For you, and for the students, researchers, and educators out there who will move equine assisted services forward in the years to come.

I do my work for them --for you! -- far from the horses. I often call a library my office. Yes, I'm the oldest person sitting at this long study table, but I'm also the one that everyone else asks for help. I've been around long enough to know the ropes--even if new technology means that those ropes are always changing and, these days, may be AI ropes, at that.

The Equine Assisted Services Research Report is assembled with library resources; there are also many hours of computer time back at the office, assembling all the listings into a document, and verifying so many details for each one.

Details like: What country were the authors from? What were the disciplines of the professionals involved? What universities or hospitals acted as affiliated institutions? Was the first author an independent professional? A doctoral candidate? A corporate researcher? What journal published the research? And on what exact day? Was it a conference abstract, a clinical trial, a peer-reviewed article, a thesis?

EASR is powered by libraries, and I'm so thankful for all the information and resources contained within them, and the assistance of professional research librarians who work at them.

It is thanks to libraries -- along with a special trip each day to the coffee shop for that triple latte -- that EASR takes shape, and this project takes off. Thank you to everyone who has lifted it this far in the journey.

10/08/2024

What if someone asked you, "Are there really tangible benefits to horseback riding?"

Staying updated with the latest research in equine-assisted services is essential for impactful practice and to be sure you can answer questions from parents, caregivers, educators, and medical professionals. Our quarterly research reports curate peer-reviewed studies to help you speak confidently about your field and be prepared for queries with insightful, accurate, science-based answers.

One thing we cover is research into the overall benefit of riding or interacting with horses for people of all ages, whether they have any known disabilities/conditions or not.

In the current issue, a study compared motor skills of girls aged 12 to 14 who rode with the same skills in girls who did not ride or play sports. The researchers compared balance, flexibility, limb speed, leg and body coordination, and explosive / repetitive strength in 49 girls.

Did the young equestrians come out ahead? What motor skills were significantly more advanced in the riding group?

Studies like this one help us point to general benefits for all people who ride, as well as drill down to specific benefits for clients with diagnosed conditions or disabilities.

This study was just one of 107 peer-reviewed research articles and theses in the latest edition of the Equine Assisted Services Research Report. Your subscription can begin the same day your purchase it; you may also purchase a single edition to see how the reports work on your phone or computer.

PS Are you curious about the results of the study? While the subject pool was small, and the subjects all female, the researchers did find that the riders scored better results in the test. They concluded that "riding provides an adequate stimulus for the development of the examined motor skills. Balance is recognized as a central motor attribute for successful riding."

As is so often the case, the "aha" moments are in the results, which break down the skills tested and identify movements -- or sometimes control of movements -- and responses to phases of gaits or reactions during riding that led to higher scores.

Visit https://equineassistedresearch.com to learn more, and be sure to sign up for our free email newsletter on EAS research.

10/01/2024

It's always news when journals change editors. It might take months before readers notice any difference, but it is a crucial time for a journal. German-only Mensch & Pferd is one of the most difficult journals for me to index for EASR, but I do the best I can. I think it is worth it. There are only a few journals specifically focused on the equine assisted field and professions.

09/15/2024

Excited to announce the new edition of the Equine Assisted Services Research Report. It's the largest 3-month collection of EAS research ever indexed. Learn about groundbreaking studies and advancements that can help your practice or your studies; stay ahead of the research curve! Subscribe today!

09/12/2024

In the newest issue published just this week, EASR indexed, described, and linked subscribers to more than 100 recent peer-reviewed articles from researchers all over the world. It's the largest collection of equine-assisted services research in the history of the project. Stay ahead of the research curve with our quarterly report: Learn more at equineassistedresearch.com, and thanks for following Equine-Assisted Services Research Report here on Facebook.

PS On the cover: Meet barn manager Jeanne at work in the stable at her sister's horse farm in Cheltenham, England. Photo by Jeanne's nephew, Dominic Heard, courtesy of Jeanne's sister, artist Pam Stone. Jeanne tended the horses in this barn for many years and was rarely far from them. Thank you to Pam and Dominic for their kindness in working with EASR.

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09/07/2024

I feel like I'm invisible on social media. Sometimes invisible is a good thing, but not on social media! This is my little research project's page: https://www.facebook.com/equineassistedservicesresearch/

Linking subscribers to new peer-reviewed research in horse-human interaction,equine assisted services