Outside the Classroom: An Evaluation of Equine Internships.

Equine internships provide real experiences for students but are lightly researched. This study explored student perceptions of equine internships. The hypothesis was, participants would report that equine internships were valuable and relate value with compensation, skill acquisition, networking, and job offers. An online survey examined respondents' perceived value of their internship. Of 228 respondents, 186 met the inclusion criteria. Data were examined using frequency counts, correlations, and chi-square measures of association. Breeding internships (29%) were most common, with western training and performance (18%) second highest. Fifty-three percent had an internship requirement for their undergraduate degree; this did not affect internship value. Internship value tended to be higher when housing (X2(4, N = 180) =9.2; P = .075) or compensation (X2(4, N = 180) =8.5; P = .057) were included and highest with both included X2(12, N = 180) = 25.5; P = .013). Most (90%) believed their internship added to their classroom experience; 71% felt academically prepared. Respondents gained equine-related skills (81%), soft skills (83%), customer relations (63%), business management (51%), and administrative skills (33%). Of respondents, 67% use skills gained during their internship in their current job, and 83% were able to network within the equine industry. Half of internships resulted in a job offer from that company or in their area of interest. Overall, 91% of the respondents felt their internship was valuable, and 87% would recommend their internship to others. Perceived internship value positively correlated with networking (R = 0.75; P < .0001), gaining equine skills (R = 0.49; P < .0001), and job offers (R = 0.24; P < .002). These results suggest that equine internships are positive experiences and valuable for students.