162 Evaluating the effectiveness of online equine educational programming on increasing knowledge and management skills of horse owners

Abstract

The 2015 American Horse Publication Equine Industry Survey results indicated equine clientele receive information from magazines (67%), company/product websites (65%), and social media (60%), but peer-reviewed research and university sources were not commonly mentioned as sources of equine management information. Cooperative Extension systems across the US have a unique opportunity to leverage expertise to provide research-backed information to equine owners through online and virtual platforms. The UGA Horse Owner's Webinar Series was developed to provide timely, evidence-based equine management education to horse owners. The series was held annually via Zoom and each session was focused on specific, relevant, and alternating subject matter. To date, the program had reached 1,688 registrants from over 38 states and 15 countries. Program sessions were evaluated using voluntary surveys conducted in Qualtrics. Surveys were provided at the conclusion of each session and in a follow-up email with an average of 30 returned evaluations per session. The evaluation used Likert-scale questions designed to assess knowledgeincreases, intended behavioral changes and overall response to the program. Resulting data were analyzed via paired t-test using the Excel statistics add-on. Across all 4 years of the webinar series, evaluation data demonstrated increased participant knowledge in the following topic areas from pre to post assessment (P < 0.05): general equine management, basic equine health, advanced equine health, and basic equine nutrition. Additionally, 98% of participants indicated they would use the information provided in the series in their own operations. Based on these data, online equine educational programming may be an effective option for providing horse owners with up-to-date equine management information and for reaching equine clientele who may be unfamiliar with Extension resources. In response to this model, a monthly lunch-and-learn program titled the Equine Exchange was established in 2021 and the UGA Horse Owner's Webinar Series will continue being held on an annual basis.