EQUINE INTERNATIONAL
Equine International is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit research institute dedicated to conducting scientific research and developing education in equine behavior, well-being and welfare, and equine-human interactions in all areas of domestic and free-living equines. We are a group of scientists, behaviorists, and researchers that pride ourselves on conducting quality research and developing educational materials for a wide audience.
Part of our mission is to work with various populations, cultures, professionals, and industries and we're proud to collaborate with a number of different institutions, universities, and organizations to observe and learn how horses choose to live their lives, how we fit into their world, and how we can use this information to improve the well-being of horses in our care.
We engage in research studies all over the world with feral, free-living, and domestic horses and often invite others to join us on amazing adventures to collect data and learn about wild equines. We also work with equine practitioners and trainers in a wide range of settings to develop and facilitate equine-assisted services and create educational courses for anyone involved with horses for accessible online courses as well as in-person workshops.
THE FACES BEHIND EQUINE INTERNATIONAL
Emily Kieson PhD, MS, PgDip, ESMHL
Emily Kieson holds a PhD in Comparative Psychology, a MS in Psychology, and a graduate degree in Equine Science. Emily also holds multiple certifications in various models of equine-assisted activities and previously served as Chair of the Equine Welfare Committee with the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) for2 years. Her current research focuses on equine affiliative behaviors to study how horses create and maintain social bonds and how those can overlap with human affiliative behaviors for application in management, horse ownership, equine-assisted activities, and indicators of positive welfare in horses with and without humans.
Emily has been a Full Member of IEP since our early days, so we are very proud to welcome the rest of Equine International to the IEP family. Find out more about Emily here
Christine Rudd, PhD, MSc PATH, Intl. Adv.
TRI, CRTI, ESMHL
Chrissy holds a PhD in Animal Science with a focus on equine wellbeing in horse-human interactions, an MSc in Equine Science, and a BA in Equestrian Studies and (human) Communication Studies. She maintains multiple professional certifications within the equine-assisted services sector and chaired the PATH, Intl. Equine Welfare Committee for 2 years. She has a professional background in training event horses and riders, working ranch horses, and equestrian tourism before she returned to the world of equine-assisted services. Chrissy is an advocate for the ethical inclusion of horses in sport and services for human therapeutic benefit, therefore her research interest lies in exploring how routine interactions and therapeutic interventions or activities between horses and humans can be shifted to improve wellbeing outcomes for the horse. Chrissy serves as a Secretary at Equine International. Find out more about her here
Bethany Baxley CTRI
Bethany Baxley’s passion for horses has been a lifelong love. She combined this passion with compassion for children with special needs when she worked at a summer camp over 10 years ago. As a Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor through the Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH), Bethany noticed negative behaviors in the horses escalate and horses being retired from programs after only a short time of working. She began to wonder what was going on with these horses. They were physically well, but still expressing these behaviors. This led her to Texas Tech, after a friend introduced her to a professor looking for a graduate student for animal welfare research, Dr. Nichole Anderson.
Bethany’s research focuses on the stress of horses working in Equine-Assisted Services (EAS). Specifically, how mounted services affect the horses’ gait and behaviors. Her hope is that the research she is conducting will improve the welfare of horses in EAS and therefore increase the longevity and sustainability of facilities offering these services.
