Equine Guelph will present a second offering of its horse behaviour and safety e-workshop from April 1 to 14.
The two-week online course is designed for horse people who would like to learn more about the best practices for handling horses safely.
Education is pivotal for prevention. Injuries due to horses are one of the leading causes of animal-related hospitalizations and fatalities, according to the Canadian Agricultural Injury Reporting – CAIR.
A recent study conducted by UK Healthcare/UK College of Agriculture revealed 40 to 60 per cent of equine-related injury patients believed their injuries were preventable and due to rider error.
“The popularity of Equine Guelph’s new horse behaviour and safety e-workshop was established quickly as it sold out within two hours of the first offering announcement,” said Equine Guelph’s director, Gayle Ecker.
“We are pleased that horse people are interested in educating themselves about ‘why’ horses behave the way they do and how that translates into becoming better handlers.”
Ten sections will be covered: the horse in the wild, a herd and flight animal, the modern day horse, how horses see, how horses hear, horse herd behaviour (how horses interact with each other, horse handling/approaching a horse), rider/helmet safety, trailer loading safety basics, safety around the barn and paddocks, and fire safety.
The course is designed to be fun and flexible. Students will be engaged by interactive games, challenges and guest speaker Dr. Rebecca Gimenez, who comes from a large animal emergency rescue background and teaches horse handling skills all over the United States.
“I believe that students will benefit from what we have learned about horse behavior in the crisis and emergency situations (especially barn fire response and roadside incidents),” said Gimenez.
“Above all else, students will learn simple ways to prevent the worst disasters in their stables and paddocks.”
She adds, “Horses can exhibit extremist behaviors – where fear and panic drive them to do things that most owners and handlers cannot imagine in daily life. Our job is to teach students to perform a risk assessment for safety, and then react correctly in these types of scenario.”
Funding for this program has been provided by Canadian Agricultural Safety Association through the growing forward program and partners (Equine Hippique Canada, Kubota Canada, SSG Riding Gloves, Saddle Up SAFELY, System Fencing, UK Ag, Equine University of Kentucky, UK Healthcare, Workplace Safety and Prevention Services and all equestrian federations across Canada.
The second offering of the e-workshop runs from April 1 to 14, Admission is $75 plus HST. Space is limited. For details contact Susan Raymond at slraymon@uoguelph.ca or visit www.equineguelph.ca.
