ABSTRACT
The Texas A&M AgriLife Summer Horsemanship School (SHS) program has been providing horse enthusiasts of all skill levels and ages with horsemanship skills through 2 or 3-d schools for 50 consecutive years. The long-standing impact of the program has been a significant driver for Texas A&M students' experiential learning as horsemanship instructors (~341) and grassroots education across the state for school participants (~29,400). Post surveys for (1) student instructors and (2) school participants were collected and analyzed separately in total for 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022 to evaluate participant knowledge gained, adoption of new practices, satisfaction, and increased confidence and competence, and student instructor impact. This did not include 2020, due to limited schools taught by former student instructors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Data was analyzed for descriptive statistics using the means and frequency procedures in SAS 9.4 (Cary, NC). Most school participants were female (77.9%), 15 years old or younger (77.3%), and reported being in 4-H (66.8%). Participants reported having riding experience of less than 1 year (8.2%), 1-5 years (35.3%), 6-10 years (30.4%), or more than 10 years (26.2%). Post-participation survey responses indicate that 81.6% could now do one or more advanced maneuvers that they were previously unable to do (n = 602) and 87.9% reported they were able to ride with more confidence (n = 546). Of the 12 horsemanship topics assessed (Table 1), participants learned "a few or more things" on average 89.1% of the time. When evaluating overall satisfaction, 94.8% stated that they enjoyed most, if not all, of the school. As for the student instructors(n = 21), 88% strongly agreed that their experience in the program had a profound impact on their collegiate careers and believed the skills they developed would be useful in their future careers. The impact of the SHS program is a testimony to the effectiveness of grassroots education on horsemanship in Extension programming, in addition to, collegiate student experiential learning.Copyright © 2023
ABSTRACT
Virtual reality is a technology that is on the leading edge of agricultural sciences dissemination. Virtual reality can be beneficial to improving global food security and better understanding climate impacts, due to its capabilities to reach mass media with critical information. Virtual reality, with the proper access, can connect users from all backgrounds to an immersive experience at their will. The impact of virtual reality as a dissemination tool in agriculture studies is relatively unknown in the literature. Therefore, the researchers chose to implement a mixed-methods research study to investigate the outcomes of student learning in a virtual reality course within the Texas A&M University Equine selection and judging team. Twelve students were purposively sampled within this study, with students taking the course in both 2020 and 2021. Findings from this study suggested that virtual reality could help students reach their desired learning outcomes. Students were also able to provide necessary information on improvements for the course, as it could possibly be a future barrier for student use if headsets are uncomfortable. Another finding of this research is that it further proved virtual reality technologies can be resourceful for disseminating agriculture education. Future studies should look to investigate virtual reality technologies and agriculture education on a wider array, as the results generated from this study are only applicable to the sample.
ABSTRACT
The economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have diffused across all sectors of the global economy. Reporting the reduction of in person horse shows and an early assessment of its impact on the economy was the objective of this study. The survey instrument was disseminated to horse show participants through web-based modes and email. A Qualtrics survey was posted on numerous social media pages, including extension, horse shows, and breed associations and was also emailed to the APHA listserv of show participants (n = 251). Most survey respondents were female (n = 240;95.6%) representing a cross-section of US states (n = 42;84.0%). Participants reported planning to attend an average of 9.7 (SD = 7.15) in person horse shows in 2020, and had to miss an average of 4.17 (SD = 3.11) shows due to COVID-19 restrictions as of June 15, 2020. Horse show participants reported spending a mean of $991 (SD = $648.26;Range = $0.00 to $4,000.00) per show and therefore $9,612 annually on horse show-related expenses. Specific expenditures that were collected included lodging (either hotel or RV), fuel, meals, entry fees, stalls/boarding, and miscellaneous. The American Horse Council (2018) reported 1,227,986 horses make up the competition sector. On average, each horse owner shows 1.57 horses (US Equestrian Federation) and therefore horse show participation generates $7.5 billion annually when utilizing this survey's responses of average show expenditures of $991 per show. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the decreased attendance of in person shows from 9.7 to 5.53, resulted in a decrease in annual expenditures with an early estimation of potential economic loss to be $3.23 billion. In this study, the quantified direct effects were then used in the IMPLAN input-output model to estimate the total economic impact of expenditures within the economy. A reduction in economic output of $7.2 billion and a reduction in approximately 50,000 jobs that are directly or indirectly connected to the horse show industry, was the result of decreased attendance of in person horse shows. Additionally, the industry's contribution to GDP (value added) was reduced by $3.95 billion. Economic hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has stretched across most sectors of the economy, including the horse show industry. Early assessments of the economic impact associated with a reduction of in-person horse showing is vital to understanding the long-term implications for the industry.