The equine veterinary profession is frequently considered to be inaccessible to veterinary students that have had limited exposure to the equine industry. One of the perceived reasons for this inaccessibility is the use of what is often coined ‘horsey’ language within the industry. If a student has limited experience of the equine industry, there is a potential language barrier to teaching which may result in poor engagement with equine teaching and placements. Students that otherwise might consider a career in equine veterinary medicine are discouraged by an apparent barrier in communication between horse owners, equine vets and themselves. This project aimed to develop a new teaching resource to increase student engagement with the equine content of the veterinary programme at the University of Surrey.

An online anonymous survey was shared via social media and was used to generate a list of terms that equine veterinary surgeons, horse owners and paraprofessionals believed essential for a new graduate veterinary surgeon to understand in the equine industry. The survey design was based on the ‘Twenty Statements Test’ where in this case participants were asked for up to ten equine specific jargon terms. University of Surrey equine academics provided definitions of each of the terms. Definitions were derived from a variety of sources including textbooks and equestrian websites. Additional jargon terms were added to the resource when the equine academics identified incomplete topics to ensure students received a comprehensive list of terms. The list of terms and their definitions were then developed into an e-book glossary resource for students to be able to download and access offline to ensure access when on placement in remote locations. The eBook was presented to students during a communication session for fourth year veterinary students at the University of Surrey. Students were surveyed on the usefulness of the resource and whether the resource improved their confidence in using and understanding equine industry specific language.

The data collected in this study provides evidence that language is a barrier to learning and that with the development of an easily navigable eBook resource, this barrier can be reduced. By increasing student engagement and enabling students to feel less like outsiders during clinical placements, this teaching resource could have a direct effect on the proportion of graduates considering a career in equine practice and thereby go towards helping with the current recruitment and retention crisis within the field of equine veterinary medicine.