Due to the increased awareness of animal welfare issues and sensitized attitudes throughout society, youth animal projects provide a unique opportunity to assess and impact youth understanding and attitudes regarding animal welfare. Animal ethics training is not an uncommon requirement for participants in 4-H livestock programs. However, participants in 4-H horse projects are not universally held to the same standard. The purpose of this study was to assess youth knowledge, attitudes, and confidence in understanding of equine welfare at the 4-H state horse show, as well as to determine the beliefs and observations of unethical practices, and if differences exist between those parameters in youth competitors. The results suggest that 4-H competitors are interested in ethics and believe that unethical behavior rarely occurs within the state 4-H horse project. However, youth report observing common unethical behaviors at the show, suggesting a disconnect between what they believe is unethical and what they actually observe. Educational opportunities exist within these animal projects and should be enhanced to address the gap in understanding.

由于人们对动物福利问题的认识日益提高，并且整个社会的态度敏锐，青年动物项目提供了一个独特的机会，可以评估和影响青年对动物福利的理解和态度。对动物进行道德操守培训对4小时牲畜计划的参与者而言并非不常见的要求。但是，4-H马项目的参与者并没有普遍遵循相同的标准。这项研究的目的是评估在4-H状态马展上的青年知识，态度和对马福利理解的信心，并确定对不道德行为的信念和观察，以及这些参数之间是否存在差异。青年竞争对手。结果表明，4-H竞赛者对道德感兴趣，并相信在州4-H马项目中很少发生不道德行为。但是，青年报告说在表演中观察到了常见的不道德行为，这表明他们认为不道德的行为与他们实际观察到的行为之间存在脱节。这些动物项目中存在教育机会，应增加教育机会以弥补理解上的差距。