Researchers Discuss Our Bond with Horses and How to Mitigate Rider Risks

Two CQUniversity Adelaide (Appleton Institute) researchers will discuss our bonds with horses and how to mitigate rider risks when they address the audience for People.Horses.Culture - a major event at Sydney's Royal Randwick Racecourse on 13 May. 

Associate Professor Kirrilly Thompson will address the opportunity to mitigate horse-related risk with interventions that could make horses safer mounts, humans safer riders, and equestrianism a safer culture.

Her talk will describe ways to improve the predictability of horses, riders' ability to predict horse behaviour, safety assessment and decision-making tools, validated measures of horse training/riding style, and behaviour change for safe equestrian cultures.

Meantime, CQUni doctoral candidate Joshua Trigg will focus on implications for horse owners and enthusiasts flowing from his recent research into how modern-day pet owners self-identify with their companion animals.

Drawing on psychological insights, Mr Trigg will explain how preserving the cohesion of humans and animals is an essential consideration in the face of risks posed by disaster and other hazards.

Associate Professor Thompson and Mr Trigg will join a dozen other major speakers for the Sydney event organised by Horse SA. (Apart from her academic role, Associate Professor Thompson is also Vice-President of Horse SA).

The People.Horses.Culture event is for managers, supervisors, event committee members and coaches in workplaces, venues, activities or organisations where people interact with horses. It will focus on workplace safety, horse welfare and cultural dimensions. Details: http://www.peoplehorsesculture.org/