Dr. Jill Stowe, professor of agricultural economics at the University of Kentucky, created two studies to determine how much demand is present for Mustangs among people who choose to adopt horses. She learned that there is more demand for horses that have had some training, and more demand for pinto and dilute-colored horses.

For the first study, Stowe partnered with Dr. Kathryn Bender, professor of environmental economics at the Allegheny College Center for Business and Economics. The duo sought to determine what equine characteristics were most desired by adopters and what adopters were willing to pay for a wild horse. They used data from BLM online auctions held between November 2012 and November 2014.

They found that older horses, those that were born in captivity, and those which had spent a longer time in captivity were less likely to be adopted. They also found that horses with more uncommon coat patterns were more likely to be adopted than horses with a common coat color like bay or chestnut. Adopters were also willing to pay about 40 percent more for the horse if it was a pinto, and 20 percent more for a diluted coat than a solid-colored coat.

Additionally, people purchasing horses that had some halter training or under-saddle training were willing to pay 55 percent more for the horse. These findings could assist the BLM in determining which horses it selects for adoption and training.

Stowe completed the second study with undergraduate student Hannah White. The team created a study based on the assumption that current horse owners are the most-likely group of people to adopt a wild horse. They disseminated the survey via social media and received 2,250 usable responses. Of those, fewer than 10 percent had never adopted a wild horse and wouldn't consider adopting one in the future.

They found that previous adopters were willing to pay more for a horse than those who had not adopted before. People who owned five or fewer horses were also willing to pay more to adopt a Mustang. The average response indicated they were willing to pay $125 for an “ideal” untrained horse, just under $300 for a halter-trained horse, and $415 for a horse that had been started under saddle.

Both studies indicated that training, especially under-saddle training, is key to driving Mustang adoptions.

Read more at HorseTalk.

The post Training, Color Key To Increasing Mustang Adoptions appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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The equine eye takes a significant amount of time to adjust to changes in light, reports The Horse. To help determine if lighting affected horse's willingness to load, Dr. Claire Neveux, an equine behavior consultant and researcher with Ethonova, equipped trailers with LED lights of varying brightness. Researchers were able to adjust the whitness as well as the intensity of the light the bulbs emitted.

The scientists used 22 2- and 3-year-old French Trotting horses that were in race training; the horses had not traveled on a trailer since they were foals. The horses were asked to load into a two-horse, straight-load trailer in three different lighting conditions, all of which completely illuminated the interior of the trailer. The horses were also loaded in natural light. Twenty days elapsed between each test and common loading techniques were used, including halter pressure, food rewards for advancement and hindquarter pressure.

The scientists determined that horses had the lowest heart rate and showed the fewest negative responses when they loaded into a trailer lit to 4500 K and 50 percent flux. They loaded more readily and they exhibited less stress behaviors when the inside of the trailer was lighter. While inside the trailer, the horse's heartrates dropped fastest when the horses had lights that were more yellow or blue.

The study teams notes that additional research could show how lighting affects equine stress levels and welfare in housing, performance and hospital settings.

Read more at The Horse.

The post Does Light Color Affect A Horse’s Willingness To Load On A Trailer? appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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