As a teacher at TAFE in the equine department, it is important that I stay current with my knowledge and qualifications. In fact, it’s this way across the board for TAFE teachers! But let’s stick to equine 😉 There are many free resources online that equine professionals can use to keep themselves informed and current. Keeping current as an equine educator means I ensure my job. It is my responsibility to make sure I am educating myself about latest practices and proving current capabilities and knowledge.

The subjects that I am helping to teach and assess, I need to prove that I have the knowledge and qualifications to do so. As I come across new resources, courses, quizzes, webinars, etc that focus on topics covered in the units that I teach, I take part in them. This helps to keep my knowledge current whilst also providing me with new avenues to explore information and resources.

Occupational health and safety seems to be a subject in any course. It is definitely prevalent across the horse care, performance and breeding courses that I help to teach. So something like the Free Safety Signs Quiz that you can undertake online and even get a dated certificate with your name on it is a great way to prove currency in an important topic.

Likewise, the free Biosecurity Course at My Horse University is relevant to me.  This is for the biosecurity units that I help to teach and mark in. Again, this free resource results in a certificate on successful completion with the student’s name.

Keeping Current as an Equine Educator

There are a number of free resources online. Many of these you may inadvertently stumble across.  This is as you research information or resources to guide your students or employees toward. Information fact sheets or booklets are another piece of information that can be added to the list.  These are read resources to prove currency.

If you are a professional in an industry where you need to prove currency, keep a log of achieved courses and certifications, read resources and attended webinars throughout the year.  This is so that you can easily prove relevant professional development. Definitely as an educator it’s worth seeing what you can utilise for free online to build your competency and currency.

Have you heard of the word gnathology? It was a new one for me recently! It relates to mastication (chewing) and teeth in general. The Equine Gnathological Training Institute (EGTI) is a horse dentistry school. It provides hands on training that focuses on the care of teeth in horses, mules and donkeys.

As it states on their website:

“The mission, purpose and goal of the Equine Gnathological Training Institute is to fill the needs of the horse and the people who care for them through quality training for responsible gnathological practitioners, providing quality services and relationships in the field of animal husbandry.”

EGTI is setup to provide realistic training for those wishing to get into the area of equine dentistry. They aim to provide this at a reasonable price with the primary goal of helping the horse. This is achieved through enabling personal training, efforts and endeavours for those wanting to care for horses’ teeth.

You can utilise the Equine Gnathological Training Institute website for two main purposes:

• to develop a rewarding career through training and qualification
• as a practitioner, owner or training seeking additional practical training and beneficial information

The Equine Gnathological Training Institute

Equine gnathology specifically looks at the masticatory system of the horse. This covers the physiology of it, disturbances to normal function and potential treatment for these issues. If a horse is unable to chew properly, then this affects their body condition, their comfort and ultimately their ability to perform. It is further stated on the site:

“Because equine gnathology is not generally a part of veterinary or dental school training but part of normal animal husbandry similar to horseshoeing, most is learned through specialized private schools and experienced mentors.”

Interested in equine dentistry as a career? Then be sure to check out the Horse Dentistry website.  Telling people you’re studying at the Equine Gnathological Training Institute may be a mouthful, but I’m sure it would be worth it!