OSU Agriculture News: OSU Online Course Is Raising the Bar on Horses’ Needs
Horse owners can take the RAiSE online course through OSU Extension to better understand their horse’s emotional states and well-being. (Photo by Mitchell Alcala, OSU Agriculture)
By Baylee Smith
STILLWATER, Okla. – Oklahoma State University Extension is offering an online course to help horse owners understand their animals’ psychological well-being.
“Many horse owners are comfortable assessing a horse’s physical and biological needs but struggle to effectively identify affective or emotional states,” said Kris Hiney, OSU Department of Animal and Food Sciences associate professor and Extension specialist for horses. “Researchers or scientists can evaluate stress through heart rates or hormone concentrations, but owners have to rely on behavior.”
RAiSE – Recognizing Affective States in Equine – is a self-paced, interactive online course designed to help participants understand the importance of affective states to horses’ daily lives, how they express their emotions, better recognize abnormal states and pain, and how to make management adjustments based on affective states.
Readings paired with quizzes and interactional activities allow participants to identify those states and compare their horses’ behaviors, Hiney said.
“The course is very interactive,” she said. “It is based on real-world application, so it’s easy for participants to carry what they learn directly into their barns.”
The RAiSE course was created by equine specialists with more than 70 years of combined industry experience and is designed for people of all experience levels interacting with horses.
Hiney collaborated with Kathy Anderson from the University of Nebraska, Colleen Brady from Purdue University, and Amber Wells and Joan York from OSU to create the course.
As an OSU graduate student in animal science, Wells was instrumental in helping create the course as part of her master’s program, Hiney said. She now works as a customer success associate at Vetcove.
“I’m incredibly grateful to have collaborated with such an inspiring and driven group of women,” Wells said. “We designed the course to help horse owners better recognize and respond to their horses’ emotional states and make more informed decisions about their care. I’m excited to see the course’s participant pool continue to grow and make a meaningful impact on equine welfare and management.”
Participants can register online or contact Kris Hiney for more information. Special group pricing and partnership opportunities are available.
OSU Extension uses research-based information to help all Oklahomans solve local issues and concerns, promote leadership and manage resources wisely throughout the state’s 77 counties. Most information is available at little to no cost.
MEDIA CONTACT: Mandy Gross | Office of Communications & Marketing, OSU Agriculture | 405-744-4063 | mandy.gross@okstate.edu
