Horse Management I

Learn to manage the daily requirements of a horse at grass

• Learn about conformation, diet, digestion and the principles of feeding and watering your horse
• Learn correct grooming procedures and appropriate management procedures
• Explore commercial opportunities in the horse world.

This course is designed to help you manage horses kept on pasture, and learn relevant pasture management techniques to maintain productivity and prevent "horse sick" pastures. Lay a foundation for working with horses, or for further studies in Horse Management II and III.

Student Comment

 "The course is a lot more detailed than I thought it would be - I am learning a lot more than I hoped! I am very happy with the course and the school, very professional and thorough." Janette - Horse Care I student

Lesson Structure

There are 7 lessons in this course:

1. Horse psychology and handling
   • The early horse
   • Survival mechanisms of the early horse
   • The modern horse - behaviour and memory
   • Using psychology to handle horses
   • Catching and leading horses
   • Fitting the bridle and saddle
   • Tying up a horse
   • Safety rules
2. Buying a horse
   • Temperament
   • Size
   • Weight carrying ability
   • Age
   • Equine dentitionand ageing
   • Glossary of terms
   • Dentition diagrams and detailed explanation
   • Colour and markings
   • Breeds
3. Conformation
   • The shape of the skeleton
   • Body proportions and parts
   • Conformation problems
   • How to describe confirmation
4. The digestive system and principles of feeding and watering
   • The digestive System
   • The alimentary canal
   • The Stomach
   • The small intestine
   • The large intestine
   • Absorption of food
   • Groups of food nutrients
   • The composition of some common horse feeds
   • The principles of watering
   • The principles of feeding
   • Feeding concentrates and roughages
   • Feeding groups of horses at one time
5. The grass kept horse and pasture management
   • Advantages and disadvantages of working off grass
   • Paddock size and miniumum area needed
   • Types of fencing
   • The water supply
   • Shelter
   • Fodder trees
   • General mangement of the grass-kept horse
   • Management in summer
   • Management in winter
   • Excercise
   • Grooming the grass-kept horse
   • Conservation of the land
   • Keeping horses at grass on small areas
   • Roughing off and turning a horse out
6. Grooming
   • The skin - epidermis, dermis, the coat
   • How the skin regulates body temperature
   • Reasons for grooming
   • Grooming tools
   • Grooming techniques - strapping, sponging, brushing
   • Using a stable rubber, dealing with stable stains on grey coats
   • Oiling the feet
   • Quartering
   • Setting Fair/Brushing off
   • Washing the mane and tail
   • Washing the sheath
   • Shampooing the horse
7. Industry Applications
   • Resources
   • Writing resumes - employment readiness
   • Competition horses (overview) - event horse, dressage horse, show jumper, endurance
   • Educating Horses
   • Breeding
   • Farm planning
   • Short term operations
   • Farm business structures
   • Quality management systems
   • Whole farm planning
   • Preparing a farm business
   • Managing risk
   • Sensitivity analysis
   • Financial management
   • Record keeping
   • Finance sources
   • Setting up a small business

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Differentiate between the different procedures used for the handling of horses.
• Describe the procedures for the buying and selling of horses.
• Develop a program for the evaluation of the conformation of horses on a property/facility.
• Analyse the digestive system, including structure and function, of horses.
• Develop appropriate procedures to manage a horse at grass.
• Explain the methods used to prepare horses for specific uses, including their grooming for different tasks.
• Explain commercial opportunities available in the horse industry.

What You Will Do

• Describe different psychological traits of a horse including:
  • herd instinct
  • memory
  • fright.
• Explain how horse psychology can assist with handling a horse
• Compare different methods of breaking in a horse for domestication.
• Demonstrate how to put on different pieces of tack including:
  • a head stall
  • a bridle
  • a saddle.
• Demonstrate how to lead, then how to ride a horse.
• Develop safety rules for handling horses.
• Compare differences in how owners handle their horses, at the same event or meeting
• Describe different ways of buying or selling horses.
• Develop a checklist of factors to consider when buying a horse for a specified type of use.
• Compare different advertisements for the sale of horses of a similar type
• Evaluate the features of a horse being offered for sale in your locality, to determine the value of that horse.
• Label an unlabelled diagram of the parts of a horses body.
• Define the different conformation terminology, including:
  • girth
  • body proportions
  • leg settings
  • conformation
  • bone.
• Describe the preferred features of the parts of a horses body
• Compare the conformation of two different breeds of horses, based upon a physical inspection of a horse from each breed.
• Compare procedures used to evaluate the conformation of horses at two different properties/facilities.
• Identify parts of the digestive system of horses.
• Explain the function of different components in a horses diet.
• Explain how the watering of a horse, as observed by you, on a specific property is likely to affect that horses digestive processes.
• Evaluate the digestive processes involved in the digestion of three different horse feeds analysed by you.
• Differentiate between the digestive processes in three different types of horses, including:
  • very active horses
  • horses being rested.
• Compare the advantages with the disadvantages of keeping a horse at grass.
• Recommend paddock facilities, in your locality, which are appropriate for horses kept at grass.
• Prepare a description, and use illustrations where appropriate, of the facilities you recommended.
• Differentiate between the requirements of a specified horse kept at grass, at different times of the year, in your locality.
• Develop guidelines for managing a specific horse at grass, on a property visited and investigated by you.
• Explain different husbandry tasks which are essential to the management of the horse investigated by you.
• List the different reasons for grooming horses.
• Describe how to use different items of grooming equipment.
• Write a procedure for washing a horse, in a specified situation.
• Compare how to groom horses for different situations, including:
  • dressage
  • pony club competition
  • exhibitions
  • stock work.
• List the different applications for horses in modern society.
• List the resources available for different sectors of the horse industry in your locality, including:
  • racing
  • breeding
  • competitions
  • recreational riding.
• Determine the minimum facilities required to establish three different specified businesses in the horse industry, including
  • a riding school
  • a stock agent
  • another horse business.
• Evaluate the financial viability of different sectors of the horse industry.
• Evaluate the potential of different specified horse enterprises in your locality.

AGRICULTURE TUTORS

Our Agriculture faculty members include:

 Anna Sylvester B.Sc.Hons.(Human Biology), M.Sc.Equine 

Anna graduated with a degree in Human Biology from Loughborough University and then went on to complete an MSc in Equine Science at The University of Wales, Aberystwyth, and has a high level of expertise in equine science. She has since spent time in managerial, research and lecturing positions. She also has practical equine experience, and still competes nationally whenever the opportunity arises. 

Dr. Gareth Pearce BSc(Hons), BVSc, MA, MVetS, PhD, GradCertEd(HE), PGCertAqVetS, PGCertWLBio&Cons, DiplECPHM, MRCVS. Gareth has over 25 years of experience in teaching and research in agriculture, veterinary medicine, wildlife ecology and conservation in a variety of colleges and universities in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. He qualified as a veterinary surgeon at the Universities of Melbourne and Bristol, having previously graduated in Agricultural Science and gained a PhD in Livestock Behaviour and Production. He also has post-graduate qualifications in Education, Wildlife Conservation Medicine, Aquatic Veterinary Studies and Wildlife Biology & Conservation.

Marius Erasmus B.Sc.Agric., B.Sc.(Wildlife), M.Sc.Agric.
Subsequent to completing a BSc (agric) degree in animal science, he completed an honours degree in wildlife management, and a masters degree in production animal physiology. Following the Masters degree, he has worked for 9 years in the UK, and South Africa; in wildlife management, dairy, beef and poultry farming.

Peter Douglas Dip Animal Husbandry
Peter has over 45 years of experience in Agriculture and resources management. He is a former lecturer with the University of Queensland (Gatton), and manager of Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. He also established and managed the wildlife park for Dreamworld, one of Australia's largest theme parks. Peter has both wide ranging experience in farming and wildlife management, and continues to apply that knowledge both through his work with ACS, and helping his adult children who have pursued careers of their own in similar areas

Bob James M.Env., Sc., Dip.Animal Husb, B.App.Sc., Grad.Dip.Mgt, PDC
40 years experience in industry, having held a wide variety of senior positions in both government and private enterprise. Bob's experience and knowledge is diverse, encompassing fields of Horticulture, Agriculture, Environmental Management, Business and professional writing.

What qualification will I achieve for completing this course?

This is an individual module course. The individual module courses are 100 hour long usually and can be taken on their own or as part of a larger program of study.

If you wish to take an individual module course as a stand alone course, you can elect to sit an optional exam at the end of it.

If you successfully pass the exam and all assignments, you will receive a Statement of Attainment. You can take examinations at a time and location to suit you. If you enrol, you will be sent further information on how to arrange examinations at the end of the course.

If you do not wish to take the exam, you will receive a Course Completion letter when you have passed all assignments.

There is an assignment at the end of each lesson. So for example, if an individual module course contains ten lessons, you will need to complete ten assignments. Assignments can be sent to us via email, post or fax.

Other qualifications, such as certificates, diplomas etc may require examinations to be taken as part of the overall assessment process.

You can find further information on the examinations process by clicking on the “Enrolment” link above.

You can find further information on other courses by clicking on the “Courses” link above.

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