Description
In this self-paced online course on recognizing issues that affect performance horses, the student will learn about some of the issues that could be causing the horse to have restrictions in movement, be physically uncomfortable, or even be lame. We call the issues at the root of the horse’s discomfort “Primary Issues”. There is often more than one primary issue. As the horse seeks to avoid discomfort, Secondary Issues will arise ,such as uneven patterns of holding stress in the body, uneven gait patterns, joint strain, muscle atrophy, etc.
The Recognizing Issues that Affect Performance Horses course is broken down into five sections with extensive reading material and online videos that will give the student a broad base of information to help the owner/competitor or support personnel sort through the issues with individual horses:
- Recognizing Lameness
- Anatomy Review and Gait Observations
- Hooves
- Teeth
- Saddle Fit
The textbooks for the course are:
- Equine Lameness for the Layman by G. Robert Grisel, DVM, 2018
- The Essential Hoof Book by Susan Kauffman and Christina Cline, 2017
- Dental Anatomy Pocket Guide by Jenny Edwards and Paige Poss, 2012
- Suffering in Silence by Jochen Schleese, 2013
Pre-Requisites: none
Prior study in equine anatomy and biomechanics is very helpful for this intermediate-level course. Some students will have much of this background already, and some will not. If not, it is highly recommended that the student take our Equine Anatomy and Health Considerations Course and Basic Biomechanics Course before taking this one. If you sign up and feel you need to take one of these courses first, we can work that out for you.
