Short-term equine interaction for reducing test anxiety and facilitating coping skill development in college students during examination periods: A preliminary study.

Mental health concerns are common among college students and more prevalent during examination periods when stress and anxiety are heightened. While the benefits of equine interaction have been reported, the impact of short-term equine interaction on coping skills valuable for managing test anxiety have yet to be studied. Therefore, the purpose of this preliminary study was to evaluate the impact of short-term equine interaction during the college examination period on development of coping skills and anxiety levels associated with testing, both self-reported and those reflected in physiological measures. Full-time college students engaged in a one-hour equine interaction session held on campus at the onset of final exam week. Participants completed a survey targeting perception of anxiety levels and coping skills. Heart rate and salivary cortisol measurements were collected pre- and post-session. Paired t-tests were performed between pre- and post- session measures and correlations between survey answers and physiological measures determined. Significant reductions were found in all areas of anxiety (Overall Academics P = 0.0003, Final Exam Preparation P = 0.0003, Taking Final Exam P = 0.0003). The reduction in exam-related anxiety was positively correlated to cortisol concentrations (r = 0.69, P = 0.03) with lower concentrations (P = 0.05) and increased heart rate (P = 0.003) post-session. Regarding coping skills, improvements were observed post-session in assertiveness (P = 0.008). Skill development coupled with reduced anxiety supports the potential benefits short-term equine interaction can offer students during the high stress periods, but these findings should be confirmed with more in-depth study.

Relationship between velocity and temporal variables of the flat shod running walk.

The running walk of the Tennessee Walking Horse is often described as a faster variation of the walk, indicating the importance of velocity on the mechanics of the gait. Variations in gait variables create difficulties in clearly identifying the normal and abnormal running walk in a clinical evaluation. The objectives of this study were, therefore, to describe the flat shod running walk and to determine the relationship between velocity and the running walk. From frame-by-frame analysis of 60 Hz film, temporal variables were averaged for 6 strides from 6 horses performing an 'easy' (slow) and 'strong' (fast) running walk during a flat shod, easy-rider Tennessee Walking Horse show class. The running walk at both velocities was a 4-beat, symmetrical stepping gait with a lateral footfall sequence and lateral couplets. The velocity ranged from mean +/- s.d. 2.66 +/- 0.34 to 3.80 +/- 0.18 m/s. For both velocities (slow, fast), hind stance as a percentage of stride duration (58 +/- 3%, 56 +/- 2%) was significantly longer than fore (51 +/- 5%, 48 +/- 1%); diagonal advanced placement (29 +/- 2%, 37 +/- 4%) and lift-off (35 +/- 5%, 39 +/- 2%) were significantly longer than lateral (advanced placement: 22 +/- 2%, 12 +/- 3%; lift-off: 18 +/- 4%, 10 +/- 2); and lateral bipedal support (50 +/- 9%, 67 +/- 7%) was significantly longer than diagonal (27 +/- 6%, 16 +/- 4%). Strong correlations were found between velocity and diagonal advanced placement (0.640), lateral lift-off (-0.924) and diagonal (-0.648) and lateral (0.904) bipedal support. Understanding the running walk and the gait variations due to velocity may be important to both the performance and soundness of the Tennessee Walking Horse.