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Browsing by Author "Peters, Caiti, advisor"

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    A pilot study of behavioral and physiological markers of stress in horses during equine-assisted learning for youth with social-emotional concerns
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Singh, Ashley, author; Grandin, Temple, advisor; Peters, Caiti, advisor; Matlock, Sarah, committee member; Nett, Terry, committee member
    Equine Assisted Learning (EAL) is an increasingly popular service in providing comfort and life skills for youth who have social-emotional concerns. There is mixed evidence in previous research that shows increased stress in horses in EASs who are interacting with the population of youth with social- emotional concerns. This pilot study aimed to look physiological and behavioral indicators of stress in horses involved in equine assisted learning for youth with social- emotional concerns. This within-subject design included 11 horses and 18 human participants. Indicators of equine stress included salivary cortisol, eye temperature, and equine behavior. On average, indicators of stress in horses were not significantly different while the horses interacted with youth with social- emotional concerns compared to a control condition. There was a significant condition x week interaction effect such that horses demonstrated higher levels of cortisol in week 3 while interacting with youth with social- emotional concerns compared to the control condition, but this difference did not exist by Weeks 5 and 7. These condition by week interaction effects did not exist in equine eye temperature or behavior. This study provides evidence that interacting with youth with social- emotional concerns was not more stressful for horses that interacting with another population that commonly participates in EAL.
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    Acquiring stakeholder input on the clinical usefulness of measuring outcomes of therapeutic horseback riding
    (Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Brenneman, Moriah, author; Peters, Caiti, advisor; Schmid, Arlene, advisor; Stallones, Lorann, committee member
    Therapeutic riding (TR) is a recreational activity which provides mounted and ground-based horsemanship opportunities adapted to the abilities of the participants Click or tap here to enter text.. TR provides physical and psychological benefits to participants with diverse disabilities, including physical, developmental, cognitive, and age-related disabilities, promoting higher quality of life (QoL); however, certified therapeutic riding instructors (CTRIs) and centers are limited in their capacity to implement outcome assessments and report the benefits of their community-based TR programs to a broad audience due to credentialing requirements, time restraints, and limited financial resources. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify whether and how TR professionals are currently measuring participant outcomes; benefits and barriers to implementing standardized assessments in TR; and characteristics which would make TR assessments clinically useful in the community TR environment. To address this purpose, we conducted a computer-based survey among TR stakeholders. We identified that while TR professionals measure outcomes among their participants, they typically do not use standardized assessments. Benefits of implementing standardized assessments included bolstering the TR profession, acquiring funding, and communicating about TR services with a broad audience. Barriers to implementing standardized assessments included time, systemic, and expertise constraints. Respondents reported that standardized assessments should be relevant to all age groups and populations who receive TR services. Finally, our respondents reported that for standardized assessments to be clinically useful, they would need to be low-cost (free or $1 – 2 per use), require less than 20 minutes, and available in either paper or computer format. This study revealed that standardized assessments may be a strong support to the TR profession; however, assessments must meet the needs of TR providers in the community.