This August, JMICAWE Centre Director, Professor Nat Waran was
invited to speak at the UBC in Vancouver, at the 11th International Society for
Equitation Science Conference. This was the first time that the conference has taken
place in Canada and there was a good turn out of around 170 delegates from
various parts of the world. This included three students who have been studying
equine behaviour and welfare through the Edinburgh online programmes.
The Conference theme was about breaking barriers and bridging gaps- between scientists and riders/coaches, and the practical demonstrations by internationally acclaimed riders and trainers in a range of disciplines provided the opportunity to look at the application of an evidence based approach to a range of equestrian disciplines.
Professor Waran gave her talk
on the second day, addressing the issue of whether its possible to determine if
a horse is a happy athlete. This complemented some great presentations covering
diverse topics such as; equine stress behaviours in therapy horses, problems
with use of the whip in horse-racing and physiological and behavioural responses
of horses to wither scratching when under saddle.
The International Society for Equitation Science (ISES) was founded in 2007 by a group of scientists,
psychologists, veterinarians, and animal behaviourists united in their desire
to promote equine well-being through promoting an evidence-based, scientific
approach in horse training and to ensure that the techniques used are based on
what we know about horse behaviour and learning, as well as being effective.
Prof Waran is a co-founder of the field of equitation science, and the very first
workshop was held in Edinburgh at the veterinary school in 2004, and a
successful international conference in 2012. The next ISES conference will be
held in Saumur in France in June 2016.
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