Focus on Horse Welfare: New Equitation Science course an outstanding success

Running for the first time from April-June 2014, the new 10 week postgraduate Equitation science course at the University of Edinburgh  has just been completed by 22 distance learning students.

Some students took this course as part of their taught course programme working towards their MSc in Equine Science, whilst others took it as a  standalone Postgraduate Professional Development course. 

This informative course was led by Prof. Natalie Waran and Gemma Pearson, with lots of material provided by  International Society of Equitation Science members; Hayley Randle, Andrew McLean, Lesley Hawson, Lisa Ashton, Carol Hall, Inga Wolframm, Camie Helenski and Chris Rogers.  Topics included: an introduction to learning theory and how horses learn, application of learning theory in practice, training methods and welfare issues, equipment to measure the impact/influence of humans on horses, rider kinematics and rider psychology and current issues in ethical equitation. 

Although challenging, the students particularly enjoyed creating scientific posters on developing new approaches to study horse/human interaction.  A live session was hosted each week where students interacted with the tutor for that week and either had a lecture or discussed materials or thoughts on the week’s topic. 

If you are interested in taking this Equitation Science course in April 2015 then do apply using the link below.  You can also apply for any of our Equine Science courses using this link:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/studying/postgraduate/degrees?id=239&cw_xml=details.php

For further information on the Equine Science programme please see our website:

http://www.ed.ac.uk/vet/equine-science

Here are some comments from students who completed the course:

‘’I really enjoyed the discussion boards, the rich content in the lectures and the diversity of perspectives provided during the course’’ (Samantha Jones)

 

‘’Wish we could have a whole year of this subject, or a second module...Great and varied teachers’’ (Jennifer Ott)

‘’I love how we learned about learning theory and general equitation science and then went through how it is applied under different circumstances within the equine industry.   I felt the assessments were very applicable andchallenging and provided room for further learning during the course as well as inspiring learning outside of the course.  I also  thoroughly enjoyed receiving constructive criticism and clarifying questions from not just the professors, but also my classmates.  In general, I thought the class was well structured, enjoyable, and challenging.  I'm sad it's over’’ (Emily Kieson)