‘Ground-breaking’ equine education platform to help upskill industry workers

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A wide-ranging online equine course to help upskill incumbent and potential workers in the thoroughbred breeding sector has been developed with the help of some of the industry’s best and brightest horse people embracing the ground-breaking programme.

Officially launched last night by Thoroughbred Breeders Australia, the all-encompassing online courses have been put together to help tackle the staffing crisis cripping racing and breeding and to ensure those people who do come into the industry are able to combine their formative practical experience with expert tutorial training.

Jointly funded by TBA and Agrifutures through the thoroughbred levy, the 20-module courses were developed by Queensland-based consultant Bridget Kirkwood with the help of leading industry figures.

It can be accessed for free via the TBALearning.com education portal.

More than 40 stud farms and industry experts provided input into the development of the online modules aimed at fast-tracking the development of thoroughbred breeding industry staff.

Topics covered include horse conformation, checking horse health, how to safely load a horse for transport, and how to hold a horse for a vet or farrier.

“This whole project was started because breeders really felt there was a need to fast track the development of staff, particularly the seasonal workers and the backpackers,” TBA chief executive Tom Reilly told ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday. 

“Those people who maybe haven’t been brought up in the industry and even people who are coming to the breeding industry from other equestrian areas and might not know how we do things in our industry.”

Among the experts to contribute to the course are Mick Malone (Kitchwin Hills), Peter O’Brien (Segenhoe Stud), Kellie McCarthy (Mill Park Stud), Fiona Lacey (Mogumber Park), Cameron Bond (Kenmore Lodge), Angus McAlpine (Eureka Stud), Michelle Maidment (Coolmore), Barley Ward-Thomas (Godolphin) and Dave White (Vinery Stud).

O’Brien, who contributed to the videos about horse conformation and pedigrees for the course, said the online learning programme would be of great benefit to people already in the industry and new people looking at becoming involved. 

“Everyone is so busy and you don’t get the time of day to sit down and try and explain things to them, so [the modules are] just a great learning tool,” O’Brien told ANZ Bloodstock News. 

“It’ll be part and parcel of our induction process and a refresher for our own team because they’ve got some great people in the industry doing it. It really is a ground-breaking initiative.

“I haven’t seen them all [the videos] yet but with horses, you learn something new every day. If you go around with blinkers on working with horses, you’ll never get anywhere.

“I know I’ll glean something from them. I am not sure who came up with the idea, but whoever did it is a genius.” 

Kitchwin Hills’s Malone added: “It’s so important for young people to watch the videos because they’ll learn from them and what they learn will stay with them for life. 

“As they progress through the ranks on the farm, they’ll be able to pass on that knowledge to the next generation of people.”

Each module, which is expected to take between 15 and 30 minutes to complete, contains video, audio and written content, allowing students to learn in a way that suits them. 

They can be undertaken individually, or they can be tackled as a larger course, in which related modules are linked together. The current courses are horse health, horse handling and biosecurity, as well as the foundation course which includes all modules.

Those teaching the modules were identified by their peers in the industry as individuals they would want their staff to learn from, with video tutorials shot at 15 different farms in five states.

Reilly said the courses were open to anyone and everyone and that people who were taking on their first horses for other equine pursuits would also find them invaluable.

“You can duck in and out, you don’t have to complete the modules in one go. You can start and come back to it and that’s really important for us that anyone, anywhere can take these courses,” Reilly said.

“I expect the majority of people will be people from within the industry, but I also think it is important for us, as a breeding industry that cares about the horses, to be able to share this knowledge with anyone who wants to learn.

“That might be someone who is just getting their first recreational horse to look and learn from people who we know are absolute experts at horse care.”

TBA plans to increase the number of modules available on TBAlearning.com, one of which is likely to be aimed at those people who are taking on a retired thoroughbred.