ARCHIVE EQUINE NEWS STORIES

Story by: Jackie Bellamy Zions

Equine Guelph is offering a special discounted rate for the upcoming offering of their Fire & Emergency Preparedness online course. In response to industry requests during the COVID-19 pandemic, recent updates to the course will address many horse caretaker and facility owner concerns. Topics added include developing plans for business disruptions and back-up planning especially as it relates to the unprecedented circumstances everyone is currently facing. The May 4 - 11 special edition of this course will be $60 (regularly $85). It is designed to be completed in one week but Equine Guelph will be extending access for this vital and timely offering for six weeks, until June 30.

The first week of May kicks off Emergency Preparedness Week in Canada. Never was there a greater need to be able to identify potential threats in your region and this is just one of the key points this Equine Guelph course will cover. Course instructor, Dr. Susan Raymond will take the class through developing a disaster plan and looking at practical ways horse owners can reduce their risks. “We expect the discussion boards to be full of important questions and are pleased to have two wonderful guest experts joining us,” says Dr. Raymond.

Dr. Rebecca Gimenez-Husted will be answering pressing questions. Husted is an international expert in the areas of Technical Large Animal Emergency Rescue, fire prevention and emergency preparedness. A past logistics officer for FEMA’s Veterinary Medical Assistance Team (VMAT -2), decorated combat veteran and a major in the US Army Reserves, she is active in various organizations related to disaster preparedness.

Equine industry leader, Mike King from CapriCMW Insurance Services will be the second guest expert to help students talk about insurance issues for business sustainability. He will be fielding questions regarding insurance issues that many are currently facing and discussing potentially unforeseen challenges that may crop up in the future.

There was an amazing response from the industry to the special offerings currently in progress on The Horse Portal. “The Horse Behaviour and Safety courses (adult and youth offerings) are also a running with extended access and our Sickness Prevention in Horses online course filled to capacity within 24 hours of the announcement!” says Equine Guelph director, Gayle Ecker. “Equine Guelph is proud to be supporting our industry with pertinent educational programming during this most difficult time of physical distancing. Our dedicated staff and wonderful partners are committed to helping in any way we can.”

Registration is open for the next Horse Portal online course offering available for the discounted rate of $60. Fire & Emergency Preparedness is set to commence May, 4, 2020, during Emergency Preparedness week in Canada.