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Equine Research Paper

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Abstract
Through my science research project I aimed to find out the differences between equine and human monocular and binocular vision span. I went about investigating this by measuring eyesight through the use of a chalk configuration, orange marker and observing the horses’ eyes to determine the span of their vision. To determine the human vision span I used a different method of verbal communication. From my experiment I have discovered that horses do have a larger field of monocular vision and a smaller area of binocular vision compared to human vision. These results supported my original hypothesis which was expected from my background research. From my specific experiment I was able to come to the conclusion that on average horses have …show more content…

Horses in the wild are prey and need to have a large field of vision in order to give early warning of predators so they have the ability to outrun them. They have large eyes, the largest of all mammals, giving them the ability to detect even the slightest movement in their surroundings. Horses eyes are positioned on the corners of the head maximising vision and are placed high on the head allowing the horse to have the largest possible field of vision while there head is lowered, grazing. (Cockett, 2010)

Horses exceptional peripheral vision comes with its drawbacks. Due to the positioning of the eyes on the side of the head, horses have a blind spot directly in front and behind them, and areas of indistinct vision depending on the specific horse and how far the eyes are set out. The area in front of the horse is generally a true blind spot and sometimes an area of indistinct vision, this area is a triangular shape- wide at the eyes and comes in to a point about 90- 120cm in front of the horse (Johnson, 2011). The area behind the horse is slightly wider than the width of the horse’s body and does on for an unlimited distance if the horse stands with its head …show more content…

From background research I know this is a feature common to animals of prey as the ability to identify movement at great distances with a large field of vision gives them early warning of predators allowing them time to have the ability to outrun predators. From my experiment I was able to conclude that on average horse monocular vision has a span of 325°. Humans on the other hand have a much smaller range of monocular vision due to the close proximity of the eyes. The average result from my experiment for human monocular vision was 120°, 205° smaller than horse monocular vision. For binocular vision human vision span was slightly greater than horses with humans having 70° of vision and horses only having 60°, which I also predicted in my hypothesis.

The results from my experiment I believe are reliable as a sample size of three was used with the experiment conducted three times and then the results averaged. I also believe my results were accurate as each of the measurements were only several degrees apart, a very slight difference which could be due to the reliability of the measuring or due to a slight difference in the visual span. The experiment was also valid as all proper equipment has been used including a straight angle tool to ensure accuracy with measurement and control variables has been monitored to ensure a valid

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