Equiosity

Episode 208: Raven Hickson Pt 1: Tickling Rats And Horse Play


Listen Later

What is the connection between tickling rates and playing with horses? Find out in the conversation with Raven Hickson. Raven is a
a behavioral neuroscientist. She’s just finishing her PhD. She’s been studying social play behavior in a rat model of neuro-development disorder.
Raven comes from an applied animal background. Her bachelor’s degree is in Animal Science from Cornell. Her focus was on neurobiology and behavior and psychology courses. She interned over two summers as a zookeeper at the Cleveland Zoo which is how she learned about husbandry training and the idea of species-appropriate enrichment.
After graduating, she spent time working in zoos, and as a high school animal science teacher, and then as the manager of a small boarding barn before she moved to Scotland in 2017 for a Master’s in Applied Animal Behavior and Animal Welfare at the University of Edinburgh.
Her master’s dissertation led directly into her PhD project which has focused on social play behavior in rat models of neurodevelopment disorder, paying particular attention to refining methods to improve welfare.
She has two Icelandics who live at home with her. She’s been attending both my in-person clinics and now the on-line clinics.
In this conversation we begin by having Raven describe the research she’s involved in. She shared with us some of the developmental deficits in rats that are seen when individuals don’t play. That took us to the importance bringing play into our training.
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

EquiosityBy Equiosity

  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9
  • 4.9

4.9

60 ratings


More shows like Equiosity

View all
This American Life by This American Life

This American Life

90,837 Listeners

Move Your DNA with Katy Bowman by Katy Bowman

Move Your DNA with Katy Bowman

597 Listeners

Hidden Brain by Hidden Brain, Shankar Vedantam

Hidden Brain

43,214 Listeners

Animal Training Academy by Ryan Cartlidge

Animal Training Academy

98 Listeners

Cog-Dog Radio by Sarah Stremming, The Cognitive Canine

Cog-Dog Radio

306 Listeners

Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast by Melissa Breau

Fenzi Dog Sports Podcast

225 Listeners

The Daily by The New York Times

The Daily

111,512 Listeners

Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel by Esther Perel Global Media

Where Should We Begin? with Esther Perel

14,836 Listeners

Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett by Susan Garrett

Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett

629 Listeners

The Journey On Podcast by Warwick Schiller

The Journey On Podcast

452 Listeners

Horse Training in Harmony by Karen Rohlf

Horse Training in Harmony

206 Listeners

Lead a Horse to Water by Trudi Dempsey

Lead a Horse to Water

3 Listeners

The Ezra Klein Show by New York Times Opinion

The Ezra Klein Show

15,329 Listeners

Enrichment for the Real World by Pet Harmony Animal Behavior and Training

Enrichment for the Real World

44 Listeners

If Books Could Kill by Michael Hobbes & Peter Shamshiri

If Books Could Kill

8,610 Listeners