Equine nutrition: a survey of perceptions and practices of horse owners undertaking a massive open online course in equine nutrition

Murray, JMD, Bloxham, C, Kulifay, J, Stevenson, A and Roberts, J, 2015. Equine nutrition: a survey of perceptions and practices of horse owners undertaking a massive open online course in equine nutrition. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 35 (6), pp. 510-517. ISSN 0737-0806

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Abstract

An online survey was designed to ascertain the following information: demographics, current feeding practices, and perceptions and knowledge of equine nutrition, including nutrition-related disorders. Response rate was 34% (6,538 respondents). More than 80% of respondents were horse owners or caretakers, with the majority owning between one and five horses (75%) aged 5 years and older (74%). Most kept their horses for pleasure (54%), with 33% using them mostly for competition and 13% using them for an equal mix of both pleasure and competition. Concentrates were fed by the majority (87%), and more than 70% stated that their horses had some access to pasture. Over half of respondents (60%) regularly monitored their horses' weight, with most doing this monthly. Weight tapes were most commonly used (62%), although many reported to guess the weight of their horse(s) with very few (5%) using weight scales. Under half (46%) stated that they regularly used body condition scoring (BCS), many did not use BCS at all (24%), and some did not know what BCS was (10%). Of those that did use BCS, most (36%) did this monthly, with others weekly (25%), daily (14%), and when they remembered (15%). Overall knowledge of nutrition was reported by most as average (median, 3 on Likert scale—average); however, respondents were less knowledgeable on the management of nutrition-related disorders.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Journal of Equine Veterinary Science
Creators:	Murray, J.M.D., Bloxham, C., Kulifay, J., Stevenson, A. and Roberts, J.
Publisher:	Elsevier
Date:	2015
Volume:	35
Number:	6
ISSN:	0737-0806
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1016/j.jevs.2015.02.005 DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
Record created by:	EPrints Services
Date Added:	09 Oct 2015 10:32
Last Modified:	23 Aug 2016 09:10
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/14542

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