Horse welfare is a top priority for an ever growing number of organizations and equestrian enthusiasts, both nationally and internationally. That is why E-quine.com is starting an international course in May 2020 titled ‘Instructor Horse and Behaviour’, allowing students from all over Europe to enroll in this course taking place in the UK and the Netherlands.

In Europe, we still have a long way to go to improve welfare and quality of life standards for horses, as is shown by the report Removing the Blinkers, titled ‘The Health and Welfare of European Equidae’. According to horse behaviour expert Annemarie van der Toorn of E-quine.com, horse welfare can be improved among others by expanding the knowledge of the people that handle them.

“The goal of any equestrian enthusiast, whether a professional or not, should always be to understand even more about horses, their behaviour and their needs, and manage them accordingly. The foundation for this lies not in a certain method or movement within the equestrian world, but in equine learning theory,” Van der Toorn says.

In the Netherlands, the number of horse owners that is taking their own education in this aspect seriously is steadily growing. This is evident, for example, by the ever increasing number of students participating in the accredited E-quine.com ‘Horse and Behaviour Instructor’ courses, counting several dozen certified instructors and hundreds of students.

Starting in May 2020, students from other European countries will also get the opportunity to take part in this course, either on their path to becoming professional horse trainers, or simply to expand their own theoretical and practical knowledge to better communicate with horses.

Check our website to learn more or to sign up directly for our very first international course.