PLAY IN HORSES - BENEFITS AND BEHAVIOURS
Understand Horses presents a webinar with equine ethologist and behaviour consultant Samantha Couper on the benefits and behaviours of play in horses.
A link to the recording of this webinar will be shared to registered users the day after the live event. The recording will be available for 3 days.
TUESDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2024 | 7PM GMT
£15 | 1.5 HOURS
Presenter
Samantha Couper
HOST
Roxane Kirton
PLAY IN HORSES - BENEFITS AND BEHAVIOURS
Play is more than just fun for your horse.
In addition to providing a way for horses to form friendships, play offers a low-stress way for horses to learn collision avoidance, develop body awareness, improve musculoskeletal health, and it is vital for the social development of horses. Unfortunately, many “quirks” are misclassified as play and horses may be separated prematurely when play is confused for aggression.
Learn what play looks like, from object to inter-species play, and how play needs differ between males and females. Take advantage of ethological insights and create environmental setups that will help foster play between horses and enhance their natural ability to cope with stress.
Webinar content includes:
An introduction to the functions play serves for the developing equid
From objects to self-play, learn the different ways in which horses use each other and their environment to play
An introduction to how to differentiate aggression and equine stereotypies from play
How compromised welfare (such as pain) and play might be interconnected
Changes you can make to domestic setups to encourage play
This webinar is aimed at horse owners/carers, students and equestrian professionals.
After the presentation, Samantha will answer questions.
MEET THE PRESENTER
SAMANTHA COUPER
Sam has been cataloguing and recording observations of feral horses since 2018. She is board chair of the Onaqui Catalogue Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to compiling observations on the Onaqui wild horses using citizen science. In particular, she is passionate about breaking down barriers surrounding scientific observation and interpretation for both professionals and laymen. To bring wild horses to the public, she teaches a course on wild horse behaviour at the University of Utah (USA). In particular, she is interested in how management, climate, and predation histories interact to affect horse heterarchies and band formation strategies. Sam is a member of IAABC and is working towards becoming a full time equine behaviour consultant, where she plans to integrate feral horse research and personal observations to aid owners with removed feral horses adapting to domestic settings.
On-Demand Course:
BEST FRIENDS? AFFILIATIVE BEHAVIOURS IN WILD HORSES
Archived Webinar:
INTERPRETING WILD HORSE BEHAVIOUR
(with Lucy Rees)
MEET THE HOST
ROXANE KIRTON
Roxane Kirton BVMS MSc MRCVS is an equine vet who graduated from the University of Glasgow in 2005. She has spent most of her career working in the equine charity sector and it was the challenges of working with horses and ponies with histories of cruelty and neglect that started Roxane’s interest in equine behaviour. This led to her obtaining a MSc in Clinical Animal Behaviour with Distinction from the University of Lincoln in 2020. Her MSc research project was investigating the welfare impact of different grazing systems on outdoor living ponies. Roxane has a particular professional interest in the relationship between unwanted behaviours and physical health. In addition to continuing to work in the charity sector to improve the welfare of horses, Roxane also offers private behaviour and acupuncture consultations.
On-Demand Course:
HOW CHRONIC PAIN AFFECTS BEHAVIOUR
Archived Webinar:
LIVE WEBINAR
A link to the recording of this webinar will be shared to registered users the day after the live event. The recording will be available for 3 days.
ARCHIVED RECORDING
A separate archived version will be available for sale afterwards. Archived webinars are available to purchase on-demand at any time and view for up to 60 days