Courses Offered

The British Horse Society (BHS) is iconic in the horse world, and offers guidance on everything you need to know about riding, caring for the horse and working in the industry. April has 15 years of training through the BHS and has a sound knowledge of Equine Studies. Upon request, a curriculum can be customized to meet your needs.

Requires 5 people or more to take place and usually runs   on a weekend. When there is enough interest in offering the   course, a date will be selected. You can camp at YFRS if you   wish or there are hotels conveniently placed locally.  

Course is supported by reference books:- The BHS Complete Manual of Stable Management – British Horse Society  - Consultant Editor Islay Auty FBHS. Horse & Stable Management (fourth edition) – Jeremy Houghton Brown, Sarah Pilliner and Zoe Davies.

The Basic Stable Management Course (B.S.M) is two-part course that encompasses horse knowledge and the maintenance of horses whether in a small backyard barn or a professional facility. All horse careers in any capacity should have this knowledge, ensuring their ability to make informed decisions. 

This course provides a straightforward introductory course suitable for anyone wishing to establish the foundation of horse knowledge and stable management principles.

BSM is ideal for:

• Inexperienced students from the age of 14 years.
• Any student at the start of training with little or   no experience of horse-care.
• A ‘returning to horses’ student – perhaps who rode   years ago and are a bit rusty.
• The non-horsey parent of pony-mad children.
• Preparation for BSM Certification.

This module introduces the colours, markings and basic physiology including the skeleton, joints, muscles, tendons   and ligaments, basic conformation, points of the horse, the   teeth and ageing.

Care of the stabled horse, stable construction, routine,   bedding, mucking out, handling, grooming, bandaging,   plaiting, trimming, clipping.

Keeping a horse at grass, the paddock, fencing, watering,   poisonous plants, shelter, general care, laminitis, sweet   itch, cracked heels, mud fever.

The digestive tract, basic digestion, rules of feeding,   types of feedstuffs, food preparation, hay, how much to   feed, sample feed charts, colic, worms.

Care and fitting of various items of tack, bits and bitting, martingales, tacking up and untacking. Health problems associated with ill-fitting tack.

Structure of the foot, shoeing procedure, a well shod   foot, type of shoe, studs, causes of lameness, disorders of   the foot, lameness – causes and treatment.

Signs of good and ill health, preventative medicine,   vaccinations, sick nursing, isolation procedure, hygiene,   equine first aid kit, administration of medicine, poultices,   hot and cold treatments, when to call the vet.

Wound treatment, dealing with bleeding. The circulatory   and respiratory systems, functions and disorders. Ailments   affecting the skin, eyes and mouth. Equine rhabdomyolysis   (azoturia), strangles, influenza and tetanus.

Movement and action, exercise, schooling, lungeing,   fittening work, preparation for shows and hunting,   travelling, at the show or meet, the day after, roughing off   at the end of the season. Types of competition.

Accident prevention. Safety in the stable, yard, field,   when loading, travelling and whilst riding. Basic road   safety. Fire prevention, action to take in the event of fire. Manual handling - safe lifting techniques. Personal protective equipment and clothing.