Sam Osborne | Research Assistant
Sam Osborne - Research Assistant
Sam has joined EQuerry as a research assistant. Her BSc (Hons) Equine Behavioural Science Capstone Project ‘Cooperative care protocol using protected contact and positive reinforcement training to facilitate intra-muscular injections in horses (simulated)’ was awarded the best student oral presentation at the International Society for Equitation Science 2021 conference ‘Advancing Equestrian Practice to Improve Equine Quality of Life’. Her research demonstrated that it was possible to train horses to cooperate in an aversive procedure, and that behavioural and physiological measures indicated a reduction in stress for the horses involved. Her MSc Equine Performance Science ethical review on ‘The Challenge of Performance Horse Welfare and The Happy Athlete’ is highly relevant as the equine industry works to maintain its Social Licence to Operate and continued public acceptance of the use of horses in sports and leisure across all equine sectors.
What is your favourite part of the job?
Getting paid to keep on top of the latest research that I am interested in!
Dream project or type of client?
I would love to be involved in hands-on research with a client and their product(s) that shows how we can improve the day-to-day welfare of all our horses and for the product(s) to be accessible to a wide range of horses and their owners to make a real difference.
Biggest lesson learnt on the job so far?
I am an optimistic planner and find that some tasks can take much longer than I had allowed for!
