Equine Guelph, the horse owner’s centre at the University of Guelph, has announced its On-Demand Horse Behaviour and Safety course for youth course will be free from Jan. 1 - March 31, 2025 to youth who love horses around the globe. This evidence-based course is designed specifically for young horse enthusiasts aged 13 to 17, providing them with essential knowledge and skills to ensure their safety and deepen their understanding of horse behaviour.
Did you Know?
- Horses can sleep standing up and be ready to escape a predator in the blink of an eye?
- Horses have close to 360-degree vision, with only two small blind spots directly in front of and behind them? Yup, they saw the potentially carnivorous plastic bag blowing behind them way before you!
- Horses have the largest eye out of any land mammal but it differs to ours in a few ways. For one thing, their eyes take a little longer to adjust from light areas to dark ones and vice versa.
Gaining understanding of how of the horse perceives their world, leads to increased handler safety when we can predict how the horse will react to their ever-changing surroundings.
The On-Demand Horse Behaviour & Safety Youth Course is a self-paced, online program that takes approximately 10-15 hours to complete. It covers a wide range of topics crucial for young equestrians, including:
- Understanding horse behaviour and communication
- Safe horse handling techniques
- Herd interactions
- Fire safety in stables
- Rider and helmet safety and much more
While completing fun activities, participants will learn how to create a safe environment for themselves and their horses by anticipating horse behaviour. The course aims to empower young horse enthusiasts with the knowledge to handle horses safely and confidently.
"Thank you for doing the youth horse behaviour and safety course. I really enjoyed the course and learned a lot. The course was really fun and I wish it was longer." – Lillian, Student
The On-Demand, Horse Behaviour and Safety course for youth is free from January until March 2025. Upon successful completion, participants will receive a Certificate of Completion from Equine Guelph. To register, visit The Horse Portal.
Why not get more family members involved? Family Day is Feb. 19 (in most Canadian provinces)! There is an Adult offering of Horse Behaviour and Safety course, for those over 18, that will run Feb. 24 – March 7.
Equine Guelph thanks its generous safety supporters. This free youth initiative has been made possible by ESSO, Kubota Canada, Ontario Equestrian and System Equine.
(with files from Equine Guelph)