Courses for horses

Publish date	2008-07-18
Employment	Career Advice
Available Articles	Full articles without membership

Watching Black Beauty and asking for a pony each Christmas is as close as many people get to working with or owning a horse. But for those who want to make a career in the equine industry, the opportunities are huge.

According to the British Horse Industry Federation, the value of the sector is an estimated £3.4bn, employing 250,000 people. The horseracing and betting industry alone supports some 60,000 jobs, including the equivalent of 1 in 8 agricultural workers.

The horse world offers a wide variety of careers and distance learning holds the key for those presently with full-time jobs and other responsibilities that make it difficult to relocate to a college campus. Following agriculture and wine making, the equine industry has become the latest unlikely occupation to be taught via distance learning.

In the US, the Global Equine Academy (www.globalequineacademy.com) operates in conjunction with Dickinson State University in North Dakota to provide 14 online horse courses. It currently has more than 200 students from around the world.

Many of its graduates have gone on to start their own equine businesses. The programme is one of the few to be recognised by the Education Department and is accredited through the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools (NCA).

The academy offers online equine education that broadly covers business, welfare and scientific aspects of running a horse business. Classes include equine marketing, business, nutrition, plant science, anatomy, farrier lessons and horse training classes provided through video and online lectures. Horse training students can practice the lesson on their horse and send the school a video of themselves performing the exercise for grading.

Lecture equine classes are a combination of lecture notes, college textbooks and online tests with the final being a proctored final.

Sandy Miller, who set up the academy in Wyoming with her husband Gene, said: “Our students love the format. There are tests online and the homework is emailed to us each week. The classes last eight weeks with a final exam proctored in the student’s area. As far as we know, this is the only NCA online accredited equine degree programme offered anywhere.”

Nikki Montgomery, from Parker, Colorado, is a student at the college. She said: “I have been involved with horses my entire life and have learned so much over the years, but in this industry there is always more to learn.

“The way the internet lessons are set up to go with each book is great. You can access your classes 24-7 and work on them at your convenience.”

Across the water in Ireland, the University of Limerick offers a Certificate in Science (Equine Science) through distance learning (www.cafre.ac.uk).

The course’s 12 modules attract more than 60 people each year. The programme is run in conjunction with the College of Agriculture Food and Rural Enterprise and is designed so that students can study at a time and place that suits them.

Once a student enrols, they are given a comprehensive, user-friendly learning pack that contains all the information necessary for each module.

Staff provide support either at tutorials, by telephone or e-mail. The tutorials are held either at weekends or in the evening to facilitate adult learners. Students usually study between one and four modules depending on the time they have available.

Course manager Deirdre Cooper said: “The course is organised to encourage people who for various reasons can not attend class on a regular basis. Students decide how and when they study but still have to meet deadlines for assignments and exams.”

Lindsay Darnell, from Portaferry, has her own businesses producing show jumping horses. She is hoping to graduate from the programme this summer.

She said: “The distance learning programme has allowed me to study and establish a show jumping business at the same time. The modules are both interesting and challenging but are helping me to build a successful career”

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