Bringing science to the stable: Exploring how research informs practice among horse owners

Lead Applicant: Kelsey Spence

Research Priority: Animal Health & Welfare

Program Type: Knowledge Translation and Transfer – Research

Funding Cycle: 2025

Research Centre: NA

Research Summary: Effective knowledge mobilization is essential for supporting the uptake of best management practices within the horse industry. However, little is known about how horse owners access, interpret, and implement scientific evidence to support their horse’s health and welfare. This project will explore how Ontario horse owners engage with different types of knowledge to inform their routine horse management practices. Using focus groups, surveys, and interviews, we will identify the types of information sources horse owners perceive as trustworthy, how knowledge brokers, such as veterinarians and researchers, view their role in translating knowledge to horse owners, and how horse owners decide to implement this knowledge into practice. The findings will help to inform strategies to improve research uptake among horse owners, which will ultimately strengthen knowledge mobilization efforts and improve the health and welfare of horses within the industry.