On-Demand: Sickness Prevention in Horses
PROTECT YOUR HORSE FROM GETTING SICK
Reduce the odds of sickness in your horses! Join our community to learn Canada’s Equine Biosecurity standard together. Whether you are from Canada or from anywhere in the world, you will gain practical knowledge on ways to keep your horses healthy and protected from getting sick. This course aims to provide you with an understanding of the key issues surrounding biosecurity, and infection control, in the horse industry. More specifically, the course will address the importance of biosecurity, your role in transmitting and preventing the spread of disease, and the most effective approaches for preventing and controlling the spread of disease on the farm and at events. Importantly, increasing your knowledge of best management practices with respect to biosecurity will ensure you minimize your risk of spreading disease, and will allow you to more effectively communicate this to others. This course is based on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) National Farm and Facility Level Biosecurity Standard for the Equine Sector. CFIA develops national biosecurity standards, protocols and strategies in collaboration with producer organizations, provincial/territorial governments, and academia.
This course may be of interest for:
- Staff who are involved in horse breeding, transporting, show facility, and equine trade shows
- Anyone involved in horse associations or education programs to learn standards and best management practices
- All horse owners who would like to know more about implementing best practices
- Those running a horse business of lessons, boarding, or breeding
- Employers (e.g., trainers, owners) with an interest to invest in their business through furthering the knowledge of employees caring for their horses; to purchase an online course for an employee, please contact Equine Guelph at [email protected]
In this course you will learn to:
- Identify the risks associated with infectious disease
- Discuss the importance of biosecurity and infection control in the horse industry
- Identify the role you may play in disease spread
- Describe and implement best management practices for preventing and controlling disease spread
1. Assignment (required for certificate of completion (ungraded))
2. Quiz (completion with 70% minimum for certificate of completion)
Time Commitment
- Approximately 20 hours total course time, with opportunities for additional learning activities
- Entirely on-demand – complete at your own pace!
- No set times to be online throughout the course
- Course is entirely online, so travel to the University of Guelph is NOT required
Materials
- All materials are provided online within course site
Prerequisites
- 16 years of age or older
If you have questions on any of the material in this course, or about The Horse Portal in general, please feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]
Certificate of Completion
Upon successful completion of the course, you will receive a Certificate of Completion from Equine Guelph – the horse owner’s Centre at the University of Guelph.
Continuing Education Credits/Professional Development:
- Equestrian Canada recognizes Equine Guelph short-training online courses as qualifying for points on the NCCP Coach/Instructor Professional Development Activities Updating hours (3 points)
“Wanted to compliment Equine Guelph on The Horse Portal. I’ve looked at parts of the Sickness Prevention in Horses Course and it’s really impressive how they’ve brought in different formats for getting the messaging across: videos, whiteboards and the interactive Biosecurity Risk Calculator tool – and I think it’s a great effort to serve the industry.”
Dr. Josie Traub-Dargatz
Professor, Colorado State University: Epidemiology, Infectious Diseases, Veterinary Medicine
“This is a timely and relevant course is designed to empower horse owners and caregivers. Evidence based learning and current research is presented in a clear and concise format that can be easily adapted to everyday situations. A must for everyone who cares about horse health!”
Vicki Bennett, PhD – Equine Biosecurity Canada Student, Sickness Prevention in Horses
“The Sickness Prevention in Horses short online course on the Equine Guelph’s Horse Portal was informative, with practical details for protecting our horses from contamination and from spreading pathogens.”
J. Heatherington – EC Certified Coach and Official Student, Sickness Prevention in Horses
“Bio-security is not a topic that many horse people consider until there is a big problem. This course helped me to see the things that I was already doing well and opened my eyes to some things I can change for the better. A very straight-forward course that guides you to complete your own bio-security assessment.”
Kim Woolley (Roadapple Ranch, Finch ON) – EC Certified Coach Student, Sickness Prevention in Horses
“I lived all my life with horses. My dad shared his passion with his kids. And now, I’m passing my passion for horses to my family and friends. We always did the best with our horses and we will keep on doing it. But know with the e-course, we are learning the WHY behind the things that we’ve been doing all along. The e-course is FUN and very easy to do. I recommend the Sickness Prevention in Horses e-course to everybody that are around horses.”
Maryse Gregoire (Ferme A Grégoire, St. Albert ON) Student, Sickness Prevention in Horses
“The Sickness Prevention in Horses course is very informative and I recommend anyone who works with horses to take this course, as it is something very important and easily overlooked!”
Madison Dronfield (Lisle ON) – EC Certified Instructor Student, Sickness Prevention in Horses
Eligible Partner Discounts:
Course discounts available to members of the following equine organizations:
