- Email: [email protected]
Environmentally friendly farm programs recognizes Pennsylvania farms that adopt sound management practices protected water quality and the environment
378
Abstracts / Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 33 (2013) 321-399
the pastures to introduce new varieties and thicken the stand. 72%, Have a nutrient/manure management plan developed for their farm. 66%, Apply nutrients based on soil test results. 86%, Develop a proper manure storage facility. 66% In order to increase implementation of BMPs, 14 short course participants were selected to participate in a project designed to increase canopy cover and desirable forages in pastures, reduce nutrient and sediment loss, and minimize overfeeding of nutrients in the ration. Implemented BMPs included: Development of heavy use areas/stress lots (12); implementation of rotational grazing plans (10); pasture renovation including weed control, fertilization and over seeding (10); constructing stream crossing (1); constructing bioswale to intercept barnyard run-off (1), ration evaluation/ modification to reduce excess nutrients in manure (14).
reporting they had experience with livestock evaluation (with or without horse experience), these experiences led to highly influential and almost essential development of decision making, self-confidence, problem solving, teamwork, self-motivation, verbally defending decision, industry knowledge, oral communication, self-discipline and organizational skills (Pearson Product Moment Correlation of Interval data). There was a positive relationship (r ¼ .58; p ¼ 0.01) between student’s GPA and final grade outcome in the course. The results of this study indicate that Equine Evaluation at Clemson University is effective at educating students regardless of their industry background and suggests students attain course objectives and goals more directly related to their GPA rather than prior experience with horses or judging contest participation.
Acknowledgements
Environmentally friendly farm programs recognizes Pennsylvania farms that adopt sound management practices protected water quality and the environment
USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service - Conservation Innovation Grant and SARE Grant for funding this project. Agencies that have provided personnel and support: PA Depart. of Ag, USDA NRCS, State Conservation District, PSU Extension, and N. C. Regional DEP.
An assessment of previous experiences on equine evaluation program participants K.L. Vernon, and D. Layfield Clemson University Clemson University offers a junior-level course in Equine Evaluation where students study form to function applied to any breed of horse or riding discipline. Activities in the laboratory-based course emphasize form to function evaluation for conformation and riding classes, lameness evaluation, pedigree studies and selection of horses. Additionally, students learn to critically defend their judgments through informal oral presentations and traditional oral reasons. Little data exists to address differences in the success of students with various backgrounds, prior industry experience or prior judging experience may have in livestock evaluation courses. The purpose of this study was to determine if previous horse industry experience leads to increased performance in equine evaluation compared to inexperienced students. A second goal was to determine the course’s overall effectiveness to educate students with little to no horse industry or livestock judging experience to master the concepts of the course compared to those having more experience. Participation in the study was voluntary, and 49 students (Spring 2009 and 2010) completed the survey and thus were included in the study. Students completed the survey prior to any delivery of course content. The survey instrument detailed the extent of horse experience, general demographics, experience with evaluation classes or contests and with the horse industry and the impact that these may have had on life skills acquisition. Data indicated that there were no significant differences among students in each of the four groups (with or without horse experience combined with or without livestock judging experience). However, of those
A.M. Swinker 1, D.L. Foulk 1, S.M. Crooke 1, H.M. McKernan 1, S.L. Truax 2, S.B. Parry 2, and M.L. Brubaker 3 1 Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, University Park, PA, 2 Natural Resource Conservation Service, Harrisburg, PA, 3 Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission, Harrisburg, PA The program was developed by the Penn State Extension Equine Team, and designed to recognize farms that adopt environmentally sound management practices that protect water quality and the environment. An Environmentally Friendly Farm employs strategies to maintain productive pastures, reduce soil erosion, limit nutrient runoff from animal facilities and barnyards, safely store manure, recycle nutrients, and control animal access to surface waters. Excess sediment and nutrient runoff from manure poses health threats not only to the environment, but also to animals and people. Farm managers who practice environmental stewardship maintain healthy environments for their animals, their families and their community. The Environmentally Friendly Farm Program is designed to identify and reward owners and managers of equine operations that maintain a healthy farm environment. All commercial and noncommercial equine farms, large and small, are eligible to apply for the program. Farms that are approved for the program will be recognized by agencies, the public, and farm clients as environmentally friendly. Each farm will receive an Environmentally Friendly Farm sign that can be displayed at the farm entrance or on the farmstead. Farms that qualify will also be given permission to use the Environmentally Friendly Farm logo on their own website, brochures and other marketing materials. Approved farms will be listed on the Penn State Extension Equine Team website. This recognition will reflect the commitment of the farm manager to healthy animals, a healthy farm, and a healthy environment. Request a copy of the application from the Penn State Extension Equine Team by visiting us online at www.extension.psu. edu/equine, emailing or calling a team member: Complete the easy to fill out Farm Self-Assessment Checklist. The checklist consists of a series of statements that identify on-
Abstracts / Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 33 (2013) 321-399
farm practices in the following area: Environmentally Sensitive Areas, Pastures, Animal Concentration Areas, Manure Storage, and Manure Application.After the information has been verified, participants receive an acceptance letter inviting you to be a member of the Environmentally Friendly Farm Program. The letter will ask for permission to add the farm name to the list of Environmentally Friendly Farms on the Penn State Equine Team website and to recognize their efforts in the media. Participants will receive the sign and copy of the official Environmentally Friendly Farm logo. The farm can be marketed as a Pennsylvania Environmentally Friendly Farm.
Career skills gained from an international equine experience L.M. White New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003 International experiences for students are becoming more commonplace. Over the past decade, equine students are increasingly freely crossing borders and seeking experience in their chosen field through international networks. For university equine programs, the key to a successful international experience is being able to quantify the benefit a student receives from this experience and how that will help them once they are in the workplace. Therefore, the objective of this research was to determine specific skillsets gained by undergraduate students during an applied international experience. Eight students from New Mexico State University were selected based on interviews to conduct horse management seminars in Asuncion, Paraguay. Students and an instructor prepared lectures and seminars on basic horse management and training the young horse. Prior to leaving the country, students were asked to brainstorm and create a list of positive skills that could be gained from their international experience. Six months after students returned from the international trip, they were asked to fill out a questionnaire that detailed their positive and negative experiences, and specific skills gained that have been useful since the trip. Several of the students had since graduated, so their currently employers were contacted to determine usefulness of the skills gained from the international experience to their progress as employees. Prior to taking the international trip, students reported several factors as useful to future employment, including: experience with a new culture, communication skills, credibility and responsibility. Six months after returning, students reported they had opportunities to work with a diverse group of people and learned multiple ways to communicate with people who spoke another language. Several students reported learning another language to some degree and sharpening language skills while on the international trip. All students reported the experience helped them to work intimately with someone they did not know, and accredited those skills to having to interact with multiple interpreters while on the trip. Several students reported they are more willing to ‘go with the flow’ since the trip, since very little of the journey was under their control. Employers reported that their employees who had experienced the international trip where good team players,
379
worked well in a diverse group, and were good problem solvers. They also reported good public speaking skills in their employees who had been on the trip. However, several employers reported that an international experience is not high on their list of priorities when interviewing potential employees. The discrepancy between the skills and experiences employers are looking for in potential employees and the skills gained during an international experience needs to be investigated. Certainly there are several factors contributing to this confusion, including the varied experiences students have on the many international trips offered through university programs. A more concrete description of the advantages of applied international programming would be useful to assist job seekers with illustrating the benefits of an international experience to potential employers.
Horse prices and seller reasons from sale barns in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas W.J. Weber 1, S.K. Beeson 2, J. Wilson 3, D.H. Sigler 4, E.C. Glunk 1, J.L. Zoller 4, and K.L. Martinson 1 1 Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 2 College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 3 Turner Wilson Equine Consulting LLC, Stillwater, MN, 4 Department of Animal Science, Texas A & M, College Station, TX The problem of unwanted horses in the U.S. has increased over the past several years. The general decline in the economy and increased cost of feed were recently identified as significant contributors to the unwanted horse problem. Anecdotal claims of horses being abandoned at sales barns also exist but have not been confirmed. The goals of this research were to document the prices of horses passing through sale barns and identify reasons consigners were selling the horse(s). Horse sale barns in Minnesota (Cannon Falls), Wisconsin (Thorp), and Texas (Talpa) were each visited 6, 5 and 5 times, respectively, from March 2012 to January 2013. Horse sale price, breed, age, and gender were collected, and consignees were asked to complete a short survey identifying the reason for selling. Reasons for selling were placed into four general categories: economics, failure to meet expectations, owner-related issues, and business was horse training/trading. The average sale price of 512 horses sold at Cannon Falls was $350 and ranged from $1,950 to free. The majority (29%) of horses sold were American Quarter Horses. The average sale price of 605 horses sold at Talpa was $698 and ranged from $4,800 to $10. The majority (41%) of these horses were American Quarter Horses. The average sale price of 845 horses sold at Thorp was $916 and ranged from $5,500 to $10. The majority (64%) of horses sold were Standardbreds. Sale prices differed (P < .001) among sites and were highest at Thorp. Most of the Standardbreds sold at Thorp originated from harness racing tracks and were sold to the Amish and Mennonite community as buggy horses. Of all horses consigned (n¼2,125), 6% were not sold due to failure of meeting a minimum price. During this time period, no horses were abandoned at the sale barns. Two-hundred seventeen consigner surveys were collected. Forty-one
Abstracts / Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 33 (2013) 321-399
the pastures to introduce new varieties and thicken the stand. 72%, Have a nutrient/manure management plan developed for their farm. 66%, Apply nutrients based on soil test results. 86%, Develop a proper manure storage facility. 66% In order to increase implementation of BMPs, 14 short course participants were selected to participate in a project designed to increase canopy cover and desirable forages in pastures, reduce nutrient and sediment loss, and minimize overfeeding of nutrients in the ration. Implemented BMPs included: Development of heavy use areas/stress lots (12); implementation of rotational grazing plans (10); pasture renovation including weed control, fertilization and over seeding (10); constructing stream crossing (1); constructing bioswale to intercept barnyard run-off (1), ration evaluation/ modification to reduce excess nutrients in manure (14).
reporting they had experience with livestock evaluation (with or without horse experience), these experiences led to highly influential and almost essential development of decision making, self-confidence, problem solving, teamwork, self-motivation, verbally defending decision, industry knowledge, oral communication, self-discipline and organizational skills (Pearson Product Moment Correlation of Interval data). There was a positive relationship (r ¼ .58; p ¼ 0.01) between student’s GPA and final grade outcome in the course. The results of this study indicate that Equine Evaluation at Clemson University is effective at educating students regardless of their industry background and suggests students attain course objectives and goals more directly related to their GPA rather than prior experience with horses or judging contest participation.
Acknowledgements
Environmentally friendly farm programs recognizes Pennsylvania farms that adopt sound management practices protected water quality and the environment
USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service - Conservation Innovation Grant and SARE Grant for funding this project. Agencies that have provided personnel and support: PA Depart. of Ag, USDA NRCS, State Conservation District, PSU Extension, and N. C. Regional DEP.
An assessment of previous experiences on equine evaluation program participants K.L. Vernon, and D. Layfield Clemson University Clemson University offers a junior-level course in Equine Evaluation where students study form to function applied to any breed of horse or riding discipline. Activities in the laboratory-based course emphasize form to function evaluation for conformation and riding classes, lameness evaluation, pedigree studies and selection of horses. Additionally, students learn to critically defend their judgments through informal oral presentations and traditional oral reasons. Little data exists to address differences in the success of students with various backgrounds, prior industry experience or prior judging experience may have in livestock evaluation courses. The purpose of this study was to determine if previous horse industry experience leads to increased performance in equine evaluation compared to inexperienced students. A second goal was to determine the course’s overall effectiveness to educate students with little to no horse industry or livestock judging experience to master the concepts of the course compared to those having more experience. Participation in the study was voluntary, and 49 students (Spring 2009 and 2010) completed the survey and thus were included in the study. Students completed the survey prior to any delivery of course content. The survey instrument detailed the extent of horse experience, general demographics, experience with evaluation classes or contests and with the horse industry and the impact that these may have had on life skills acquisition. Data indicated that there were no significant differences among students in each of the four groups (with or without horse experience combined with or without livestock judging experience). However, of those
A.M. Swinker 1, D.L. Foulk 1, S.M. Crooke 1, H.M. McKernan 1, S.L. Truax 2, S.B. Parry 2, and M.L. Brubaker 3 1 Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802, University Park, PA, 2 Natural Resource Conservation Service, Harrisburg, PA, 3 Pennsylvania State Conservation Commission, Harrisburg, PA The program was developed by the Penn State Extension Equine Team, and designed to recognize farms that adopt environmentally sound management practices that protect water quality and the environment. An Environmentally Friendly Farm employs strategies to maintain productive pastures, reduce soil erosion, limit nutrient runoff from animal facilities and barnyards, safely store manure, recycle nutrients, and control animal access to surface waters. Excess sediment and nutrient runoff from manure poses health threats not only to the environment, but also to animals and people. Farm managers who practice environmental stewardship maintain healthy environments for their animals, their families and their community. The Environmentally Friendly Farm Program is designed to identify and reward owners and managers of equine operations that maintain a healthy farm environment. All commercial and noncommercial equine farms, large and small, are eligible to apply for the program. Farms that are approved for the program will be recognized by agencies, the public, and farm clients as environmentally friendly. Each farm will receive an Environmentally Friendly Farm sign that can be displayed at the farm entrance or on the farmstead. Farms that qualify will also be given permission to use the Environmentally Friendly Farm logo on their own website, brochures and other marketing materials. Approved farms will be listed on the Penn State Extension Equine Team website. This recognition will reflect the commitment of the farm manager to healthy animals, a healthy farm, and a healthy environment. Request a copy of the application from the Penn State Extension Equine Team by visiting us online at www.extension.psu. edu/equine, emailing or calling a team member: Complete the easy to fill out Farm Self-Assessment Checklist. The checklist consists of a series of statements that identify on-
Abstracts / Journal of Equine Veterinary Science 33 (2013) 321-399
farm practices in the following area: Environmentally Sensitive Areas, Pastures, Animal Concentration Areas, Manure Storage, and Manure Application.After the information has been verified, participants receive an acceptance letter inviting you to be a member of the Environmentally Friendly Farm Program. The letter will ask for permission to add the farm name to the list of Environmentally Friendly Farms on the Penn State Equine Team website and to recognize their efforts in the media. Participants will receive the sign and copy of the official Environmentally Friendly Farm logo. The farm can be marketed as a Pennsylvania Environmentally Friendly Farm.
Career skills gained from an international equine experience L.M. White New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM, 88003 International experiences for students are becoming more commonplace. Over the past decade, equine students are increasingly freely crossing borders and seeking experience in their chosen field through international networks. For university equine programs, the key to a successful international experience is being able to quantify the benefit a student receives from this experience and how that will help them once they are in the workplace. Therefore, the objective of this research was to determine specific skillsets gained by undergraduate students during an applied international experience. Eight students from New Mexico State University were selected based on interviews to conduct horse management seminars in Asuncion, Paraguay. Students and an instructor prepared lectures and seminars on basic horse management and training the young horse. Prior to leaving the country, students were asked to brainstorm and create a list of positive skills that could be gained from their international experience. Six months after students returned from the international trip, they were asked to fill out a questionnaire that detailed their positive and negative experiences, and specific skills gained that have been useful since the trip. Several of the students had since graduated, so their currently employers were contacted to determine usefulness of the skills gained from the international experience to their progress as employees. Prior to taking the international trip, students reported several factors as useful to future employment, including: experience with a new culture, communication skills, credibility and responsibility. Six months after returning, students reported they had opportunities to work with a diverse group of people and learned multiple ways to communicate with people who spoke another language. Several students reported learning another language to some degree and sharpening language skills while on the international trip. All students reported the experience helped them to work intimately with someone they did not know, and accredited those skills to having to interact with multiple interpreters while on the trip. Several students reported they are more willing to ‘go with the flow’ since the trip, since very little of the journey was under their control. Employers reported that their employees who had experienced the international trip where good team players,
379
worked well in a diverse group, and were good problem solvers. They also reported good public speaking skills in their employees who had been on the trip. However, several employers reported that an international experience is not high on their list of priorities when interviewing potential employees. The discrepancy between the skills and experiences employers are looking for in potential employees and the skills gained during an international experience needs to be investigated. Certainly there are several factors contributing to this confusion, including the varied experiences students have on the many international trips offered through university programs. A more concrete description of the advantages of applied international programming would be useful to assist job seekers with illustrating the benefits of an international experience to potential employers.
Horse prices and seller reasons from sale barns in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Texas W.J. Weber 1, S.K. Beeson 2, J. Wilson 3, D.H. Sigler 4, E.C. Glunk 1, J.L. Zoller 4, and K.L. Martinson 1 1 Department of Animal Science, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 2 College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, 3 Turner Wilson Equine Consulting LLC, Stillwater, MN, 4 Department of Animal Science, Texas A & M, College Station, TX The problem of unwanted horses in the U.S. has increased over the past several years. The general decline in the economy and increased cost of feed were recently identified as significant contributors to the unwanted horse problem. Anecdotal claims of horses being abandoned at sales barns also exist but have not been confirmed. The goals of this research were to document the prices of horses passing through sale barns and identify reasons consigners were selling the horse(s). Horse sale barns in Minnesota (Cannon Falls), Wisconsin (Thorp), and Texas (Talpa) were each visited 6, 5 and 5 times, respectively, from March 2012 to January 2013. Horse sale price, breed, age, and gender were collected, and consignees were asked to complete a short survey identifying the reason for selling. Reasons for selling were placed into four general categories: economics, failure to meet expectations, owner-related issues, and business was horse training/trading. The average sale price of 512 horses sold at Cannon Falls was $350 and ranged from $1,950 to free. The majority (29%) of horses sold were American Quarter Horses. The average sale price of 605 horses sold at Talpa was $698 and ranged from $4,800 to $10. The majority (41%) of these horses were American Quarter Horses. The average sale price of 845 horses sold at Thorp was $916 and ranged from $5,500 to $10. The majority (64%) of horses sold were Standardbreds. Sale prices differed (P < .001) among sites and were highest at Thorp. Most of the Standardbreds sold at Thorp originated from harness racing tracks and were sold to the Amish and Mennonite community as buggy horses. Of all horses consigned (n¼2,125), 6% were not sold due to failure of meeting a minimum price. During this time period, no horses were abandoned at the sale barns. Two-hundred seventeen consigner surveys were collected. Forty-one