Interactions with Horses is Associated with Higher Mindfulness and Heart Rate Variability and Lower Electrodermal Response in College Students

A wealth of research has revealed psychological and physiological benefits of interactions with animals. As yet, research is limited to smaller animals such as dogs and cats and has not examined the benefits of human-horse interactions. The present study examined the effects of video-simulated human-horse interactions compared with simulated interactions with a car and a person on state mindfulness and physiological arousal. The relationship between trait mindfulness and horse experience was also examined. Undergraduate students with (n = 16) and without experience with horses (n = 26) were recruited with the exclusion criteria of a fear of horses. Results provided support for hypotheses in that participants with horse experience had significantly higher HRV, p = . 01, ηp 2 = . 15, and higher mindful awareness, p = . 01, d = 0.72, than participants without experience with horses. The current study suggests that the positive benefits of human-animal interactions may be extended to interactions with horses. HORSES, MINDFULNESS, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE 3 Horses, Mindfulness, and Physiological Response: Simulated Interactions “There is something about the outside of the horse that is good for the inside of a man. ” This quote dates back to ancient Greece and, perhaps even further; the precise origins are unknown (O’Brien, 2012). While horses have been utilized for various therapeutic purposes for over 2,000 years, they have only recently been used in a formally therapeutic setting. Therapeutic horseback riding emerged after World War II to assist soldiers with amputated limbs as well as children with polio to regain postural control; today, this is known as hippotherapy (Freund, Brown, & Buff, 2011). The success of hippotherapy for physical rehabilitation led to the creation of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) during the 1960s. Hippotherapy has increased in popularity since the 1960s, with some evidence of the benefits extending from physical rehabilitation to verbal communication (Freund et al., 2011). Unfortunately, most therapeutic claims are based upon anecdotal data rather than empirical scientific evidence. Problems in the available research on the topic including poor study designs, lack of standardized procedures, and small sample sizes (Fruend et al., 2011). Large sample sizes are difficult to obtain in field studies which require a significant commitment of time and energy for participants. Simulated interactions provide researchers with an opportunity to obtain a larger sample size. A laboratory setting also allows for greater control of variables to provide an empirical examination of the impact of interactions with a horse. Currently, horses are integrated into several different types of therapeutic interventions, collectively referred to as equine-assisted treatments. Practitioners of equine-assisted treatments have described that horses, being herd animals of prey with a complex communication system based in body language, have a sense of present moment awareness and provide nonjudgmental, honest feedback that mirrors a person’s emotional states (Denim 'n Dirt, n.d.). This description HORSES, MINDFULNESS, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE 4 indicates a belief that horses facilitate mindfulness—a nonjudgmental focused attention on the present moment—which has been found to have many benefits including diminished mental health problems and improved psychological and physiological wellbeing (Rygh & Sanderson, 2004; Baer, 2003; Prazak et al., 2012). A goal of the current study was to explore three potential correlates of human-horse interactions that may explain why interactions with horses are beneficial. Interactions with horses were proposed to increase mindfulness, improve cardiovascular functioning, and increase relaxation. Benefits of Interactions with Animals A recent comprehensive literature review found an abundance of evidence that human interactions with animals provided improved psychological and physiological wellbeing (Beetz, Uvnäs-Moberg, Julius, & Kotrschal, 2012). The 69 articles included in the review by Beetz et al. (2012) were published in peer-reviewed journals, included control groups, and contained a minimum of 10 participants per group. Several studies found significant increases in oxytocin, a hormone released in the hypothalamus associated with sensory stimulation, in both humans and animals in response to human animal interactions (HAI), particularly in women. Beetz and colleagues (2012) proposed that oxytocin was a mechanism of change mediating improved physiological and psychological wellbeing (Beetz et al., 2012). An earlier literature review, that looked specifically at the physiological effects of HAI, found similar results indicating that HAI may improve cardiovascular health and mitigate the adverse effects of acute stress (ViruésOrtega & Buela-Casal, 2006). Vormbrock and Grossberg (1988) examined the possibility that the improved cardiovascular effect of HAI may be due to a conditioned relaxation response. The researchers proposed that people tend to associate pets with relaxing, enjoyable activities because people HORSES, MINDFULNESS, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE 5 tend to interact with pets during relaxing times and thus the pet becomes a conditioned stimulus for a conditioned relaxation response. Participants (N = 60) were male and female undergraduate students who reported having either positive or neutral feelings toward pet dogs (Vormbrock & Grossberg, 1988). A single small male pet dog was used in the experimental conditions. Each participant was placed in six randomly ordered conditions each of which lasted for 6 minutes followed by 2-minute periods for collection of physiological measures (Vormbrock & Grossberg, 1988). Conditions included a silent resting period without the dog (rest), a time in which participants were asked to physically interact with the dog in silence (tactile), a verbal condition in which participants were asked to talk to the dog that was out of physical reach (verbal), a condition in which participants were asked to interact with the dog verbally and tactilely (verbaltactile), a period in which the experimenter conversed with participants in the presence of the dog (interview with dog), and a condition in which the experimenter conversed with participants without the dog present (interview without dog). Results indicated that, for those with positive feelings toward pet dogs as well as those with neutral feelings toward pet dogs, blood pressure was significantly higher during both interview conditions than any of the other conditions and blood pressure was at the same level as the resting condition only in the tactile condition in which participants were allowed to touch the dog but were restricted from speaking, which was significantly lower than in the verbal-tactile or the verbal condition (Vormbrock & Grossberg, 1988). Vormbrock and Grossberg (1988) concluded that spending time with a dog may induce physiological relaxation, consistent with the conditioned relaxation response theory. Allen, Blascovich, and Mendes (2002) found that baseline blood pressure and heart rate were lower in married couples who had pets than those without pets. Pet owners exhibited less increases in physiological response and quicker recovery when compared with non-pet owners in HORSES, MINDFULNESS, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE 6 response to stress, induced through 5 minutes of rapid mental subtraction or 2 minutes of hand submersion in ice water. In an earlier study, adult women who owned dogs were exposed to stress in the company of their pets, close friends, or alone (Allen, Blascovich, Tomaka, & Kelsey, 1991). During stress-induction, participants in the company of their pets exhibited little change in heart rate, skin conductance, or blood pressure compared with participants in the other conditions. Furthermore, in a study using a repeated-measures randomized experimental design, Cole, Gawlinski, Steers, and Kotlerman (2007) found that individuals who were hospitalized due to heart failure and were visited by a volunteer with a therapy dog for 12 minutes had lower blood pressure compared with patients in the control group who were given treatment as usual. A recent three-part study found that young children preferred to interact with animals as compared with similarly shaped toys (LoBue, Pickard, Sherman, Axford, & DeLoache, 2013). Experiment 1 had an exploratory design in which toddlers ranging from 11-40 months of age were brought into a room with several common small toys that were randomly arranged as well as two live animals, a hamster and a Beta fish, in small enclosures (LoBue et al., 2013). Participants were told that they could play with anything that was in the room and were allowed to play on their own for 5-10 minutes. Frequency and duration of interactions with each stimulus and other behaviors were coded for analysis (LoBue et al., 2013). Participants interacted with the two animals with significantly greater frequency than the two toys they interacted with the most. Experiment 2 followed a similar procedure to Experiment 1 with toddlers ranging from 18 to 36 months of age who were placed in a room with the four most favored toys from Experiment 1 as well as four enclosed animals: the hamster and Beta fish used in Experiment 1 as well as a tarantula and a king snake (LoBue et al., 2013). Consistent with findings of HORSES, MINDFULNESS, AND PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE 7 Experiment 1, toddlers interacted with the animals overall significantly more than they interacted with the toys. Finally, Experiment 3 was a more controlled experiment with three animals (hamster, gecko, and Beta fish) and three toy animals (stuffed hamster, plastic gecko, and plastic fish) all attached to their displays (LoBue et al., 2013). Each display, which included a live animal and its toy replica, was initially covered with a sheet. The experimenter