Interacting with animals is a positive experience for most people – and touch is a feature common in almost any interactions between humans and their animal companions. Such a great relationship is mostly observed from the human’s perspective. But what about the animal’s point of view? Is it stressful for them? Are they really enjoying being touched or do they simply tolerate such interactions? What is the consequence of non-consensual interactions, particularly in horses as one of the most popular animals used in human-animal interaction programs? To this end, we are trying to understand what horses are trying to tell us.
A scientific trial will help us to determine how humans and horses will react to consensual and non-consensual touch interactions. It will also evaluate how human satisfaction can be correlated to these relationships. Help to discover more about this by participating in a research trial conducted by Dr. Katrina Merkies and Amir Sarrafchi (Ph.D. Student) from the Department of Animal Biosciences, Ontario Agricultural College at the University of Guelph titled “The effect of touch in human-horse interactions” (REB# 22-02-010). The results of this project will contribute to the fulfillment of a Ph.D. student major research project.
Participation is on a volunteer basis. Participants must be over 18 years of age and not be allergic to horses as they will be in close contact. The research trial will take place at a local equine facility (Skye Blue Acres) offering horse-human interaction programs. The participants will need to have their own transportation to the farm (a 10-min drive from Guelph). Each participant will interact with four horses individually over two days with a total estimated time commitment of one hour.
This project has been reviewed by the Research Ethics Board for compliance with federal guidelines for research involving human participants. If you have any questions or concerns about the research, please feel free to contact:
Dr. Katrina Merkies
Faculty Supervisor
Department of Animal Biosciences
University of Guelph
kmerkies@uoguelph.ca
Amir Sarrafchi
Ph.D. Student
Department of Animal Biosciences
University of Guelph
asarrafc@uoguelph.ca
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