Equine Behavior Short Courses

• Two day course for veterinarians, horse owners, breeders, trainers, stallion handlers, vet techs, behavior specialists, and animal science, behavior, and veterinary students/residents
• Focusing on concepts and skills for safe, efficient handling and general management of breeding stallions

Day 1

• The Basics of Stallion Restraint
• Stallion Handling for Natural Cover
• The Basics of Mare Restraint
• Stallion Handling for Dummies (Dummy Mounts)
• Pasture Breeding
• Lessons from Free-Running Equids, Including a Tour of a Semi-Feral Herd
• Hands-On Stallion Handling Opportunity
• Individualized Coaching on Stallion Handling

Day 2

• Breeding Shed Layout and Equipment
• Starting a Novice
• How to Correct Biting, Rearing, Charging, and Other Bad Habits in the Breeding Shed
• Tips and Tricks For Handling the Older or Disabled Stallion
• Tips and Tricks for Working with Limited Personnel
• Common Breeding Behavior and Fertility Problems of Stallions
• Hands-On Stallion Handling Opportunity
• Individualized Coaching on Stallion Handling

Two-day Course for veterinarians, animal behavior clinicians, animal science students, horse owners, and managers.  

• Focusing on normal and abnormal behavior of horses, with topics specific to those with serious interest in horse behavior.

Day 1

• How horses communicate
• Learning in horses
• Discussion of natural horsemanship and other popular training methods
• Behavior modification for common problems such as trailering problems, injection shyness
• Stereotypies: cribbing, weaving, pacing, head shaking
• Current methods of veterinary behavior evaluation and therapy
• Tour of a semi-feral herd

Two‐Day Course with both classroom discussion and hands‐on experience

Open to: Students, owners, trainers, veterinarians, farriers and anyone at any level of skill and expertise with a serious interest in understanding horse behavior and “misbehavior.”

Focusing on: Avoiding, rehabilitating, and managing common horse behavior and training problems

Loading and transportation difficulties, such as treatment aversions (eye and oral medication, needle sticks, rectal temping, genital examination, etc.)

Difficulties with ordinary ground handling procedures (catching, haltering, leading, tacking, mounting)

Food‐related aggression, stereotypies, rearing, biting, pawing, bolting when turned out, and gate rushing

This course could be called “how to behave so a horse behaves as you wish.”

Classroom sessions touch on how animals learn, the natural basis and “man‐made” factors contributing to the common undesirable equine behaviors, the simple tools, and techniques for animal behavior modification.

Hands‐on will include demonstration, participant practice opportunities, with coaching for various recommended popular and advanced techniques.

Specific protocols and equine‐specific tips will be offered for common behavior modification techniques including acclimation, systematic desensitization, counter‐conditioning, clicker and target training, and all‐positive reinforcement vs. pressure and release vs. punishment.

One-day Course for Owners, Breeding Farm Managers, and Veterinarians

Day 1

• Breeding management of the mare when using fresh, cooled-transported or frozen semen.
• Common causes of infertility in the mare and breeding the “problem” mare.
• The normal events of pregnancy between fertilization and day 100 of gestation.
• Early pregnancy failure.
• Embryo transfer and newer assisted reproductive techniques.

• Two-day Course: for veterinarians, horse owners, breeders, trainers, stallion handlers, vet techs, behavior specialists, and animal science, behavior, and veterinary students/ and residents

Day 1

• Reproduction of equids under natural conditions, including normal behavior of the pregnant and foaling mare and foal development.
• Maternal behavior and bonding problems and solutions.
• Raising an orphan foal.
• Normal behavioral development of the foal.
• Early intensive handling of foals.
• Least stress weaning methods.
• Raising the user-friendly foal and horse.

Day 2

• Understand the changes your mare is experiencing.
• When will she foal? Signs of impending parturition.
• Tools to help you catch the big event.
• Review of the normal events of delivery.
• Examination of the afterbirth, the mirror of fetal life.
• Induction of parturition.
• You have waited 11 long months. What is the rush? Dystocia.
• What can go wrong, and what you can do until your veterinarian gets there.
• Care of the post parturient mare.
• How to spot serious life threatening problems.
• High risk pregnant mares.
• Health care of the foal.

• Five-day Continuing Education Experience with Both Classroom Presentation/Discussions and Hands‐On Experience in Methods of Studying Horse Behavior under Natural Social and Environmental Conditions Using our on‐campus semi‐feral herd as a living laboratory for the course.
• Open to students of any age or level of experience, owners, trainers, veterinarians, farriers and anyone at any level of skill and expertise with a serious interest in better understanding horse behavior with an introduction to ethological field study methods.

Includes two classic text-books, various hand-out readings, and all other materials needed for the course. Opportunities will be provided to photograph horse behavior for teaching purposes.