Enhancing equine welfare: a qualitative study on the impact of RAiSE (Recognizing Affective States in Equine) as an educational tool.

The horse industry's growing focus on improving horse welfare stems from stakeholders' desires, increasing public scrutiny, and potential threats to its Social License to Operate. Correctly assessing equine affective states is crucial for enhancing horse welfare. However, horse owners often struggle with this assessment, especially those with limited consistent access to horses. To address this gap, RAiSE (Recognizing Affective State in Equine) was developed as an educational tool aimed at improving horse industry participants' ability to recognize these states. After development of the educational tool, its effectiveness was assessed using an inductive qualitative approach to define themes and patterns. Interview responses were collected through open-ended questions and interviews, with thematic analysis revealing key improvements and challenges of online learning. Participants discussed feeling as if they had achieved improvements in their ability to assess affective states and expressed intent to alter their behavior. Important themes that emerged through the inductive analysis of open-ended questions included: awareness of horse's emotional state, comprehensive observation of horses' body language, interpreting equine senses, recognizing pain and its impact on equine behavior and well-being, and human influence on behavior and welfare. Interviews of ten users highlighted key themes regarding improvements needed with RAiSE, as well as the shared positive experiences throughout taking the online course. This study emphasizes the critical role of educational tools like RAiSE and the importance of their evaluation in advancing horse welfare by improving owners' awareness and understanding of equine emotions, thus enabling owners to make better decisions and management practices.