Horse Saddle Rider Lab

This 2 hour study programme has been created for equine paraprofessionals and competition riders that want to ultimately address the horse saddle and rider as a combination. It has been created as a progression from the Pain, Pathology and Posture Equine Vocational Skills programme, as an element of the full course of Performance Preparation of the Horse Saddle Rider Combination. There is an option to attend a two day practical session to consolidate the topics covered in this module.

Beginning with descriptions of normal and abnormal gait, lecture content is highly applied so that the learner will soon be practising effective observation of equine gait to 'get their eye in' so that they may recognise the nuances of recognising compensatory gait. This topic continues with the theme of evaluating the horse saddle and rider as a combination.  

All presentations form a spiral learning experience towards the ultimate goal of proficient professional reasoning in the assessment and preparation of the modern sport horse and pony, together with their saddles and riders, for sustainability of the competition partnership.

This module consists of two lecture presentations, each with downloadable diagrams for the learner to keep as memory aids, together with a short knowledge test.  The third presentation provides video case examples which apply the knowledge taught in the protocol and observation presentations.  Learners following a formal study programme are directed to also complete the 3 hour Equine Vocational Study Skills module which is free to participate in.

Where suggestions for independent study have been put forward, it is assumed that the learner is competent at handling a variety of horses and ponies and that they take full responsibility for selecting compliant horses to work on, implementing protocol to keep themselves safe from injury risk throughout the suggested task.

This presentation is the sixth  module in a series under development to progress learners towards performance preparation of horse, saddle and rider combinations.  Manual techniques combined with ground schooling, rider stabilisation and saddle fit checking methods will qualify learners to make a practical contribution to the sustainability of horse, saddle and rider combinations. This will lead to professional registration of graduates.  It will be ready in the Spring of 2020.  Anyone successfully completing elements of the proposed course before enrolment will be given credit for recognition of prior learning. Contact us for further information.  

The next module in succession will focus on the rider.