About the courses:

These courses are not for the ‘Text Book’ rider, they are for people who genuinely care about horses. People from all over the world join us to achieve personal goals and certificates, broaden their knowledge or succeed in their chosen career. You do not need to be a horse owner or ride regularly to join us, some access to horses however, will aid your learning.

Our aims:

To provide informal, friendly advice to help people care for & manage horses and ponies in a healthy and more natural way. To provide horses in general with a better way of life. To provide value for money courses to those who ‘care’ for, and about horses. To assist those aiming for a career change who are unable to train full time.

Courses in equine care and management have been running from Lingfield for 14 years. The informal and friendly approach to learning is the reason for their popularity over the years. You can take a break from the course if life gets hectic and pick it up again when you have more time. No rush / no hassle is the aim. It’s a little like belonging to a community of pen friends. Our horse-care web site has a message board on which you can leave messages, ask questions and get help from each other with coursework & horses - it’s free.

Our long courses have been professionally developed from lectures prepared for professional British Horse Society Stages students. Topics cover everything from basic care, behaviour & psychology, to pasture management & fittening event horses. Optional assessment/evaluation is available on completion.

BHS Horse Owner’s Certificates: You do not need to take a separate course just for the BHS Horse Owner’s Certificates because Lingfield Levels 1, 2 & 3 courses incorporate the syllabus for the BHS Certificate exams. You may therefore sit a BHS HOC exam with us on completion of our individual long courses and Intermediate programmes.

Current Courses:

3 x Long Courses on Equine Care & Management - elementary to advanced.
Options to gain Lingfield Equine Certificates and BHS Horse Owner’s Certificates. The material is more comprehensive than the BHS HOC’s syllabi. Our BHS pass rate is 100% to date. In UK, students may sit BHS exams at home under the jurisdiction of area invigilators subject to the information given in the terms and conditions.

3 x Short Courses include Lingfield Equine Certificates
Equine Psychology & Behaviour : Livery Yard Management (guide to business & legal requirements / licensing) : Feeding & Nutrition. Future releases: 1st Aid for Horse Owners, ‘The Aids & Lunging Explained’, Practical Psychology & Behaviour.

4 x e.learning Intermediate Diploma Programmes - some with a specialist topic.
Provide professionals/more experienced people with the opportunity to update, and broaden their knowledge and to include a specialist subject if they wish. We offer 2 or 3 element programmes all of which include Levels 1 & 2 courses.
$ These programmes include exactly the same syllabus as in the individual courses but allow students to fast track through the Level 1 element in a shorter time than normal. They offer the option to achieve individual LEC Certificates on completion of each element and an Intermediate Diploma on programme completion. The ELYM Diploma Programme is ideally suited to those venturing into farm diversification projects & commercial enterprises. The programme includes equine management as well as the business side of yard management, legal requirements, approvals systems, regulations, facilities, marketing etc. Students may opt to sit Level 2 of the BHS Horse Owner’s Certificates on completion if they wish.

Presentation:

Long course material is not sent to you in one large file - this would be like selling you a rather expensive book! Instead we send you between 7 & 10 Study Packs. These bite sized chunks are sent as and when you are ready for them.
Short course material is sent in two sections.

Duration Entirely flexible. As a guide people who work, have a family and horse work on 1 Pack/Section a month.

Free Tutor support Each student has a course tutor on whom they may call at any time for help and advice, or just for a chat. We try to be on first name terms with all our students. It is not uncommon for instance for students to ring or e.mail to tell their tutor about their new horse or to ask how to overcome a particular feeding or behaviour problem.

Course material is written in informal every day language rather than in text book fashion and avoids technical language and jargon used in many courses today. We aim to help those who may not have studied for many years. People tell us this plain English approach makes it much easier to take in and retain the information.

Age groups: Most of our students are over 30 - there are plenty in their early 20's, quite a number of teenagers and many over 50/60 too! In our opinion, you are never too old to learn or broaden your knowledge or to retrain. Plenty of our students are aiming for a career change and use our courses as a stepping stone to gaining professional exams via a part time route. (You don’t have to go to college to gain professional qualifications!).

Mature students often use our courses alongside part time training at their local BHS or Assoc. of British Riding Schools stables for the BHS/ABRS professional INSTRUCTORS qualifications.

Overseas students: Are welcomed but must be English speaking. You may sit BHS HOC Exams at a suitable office of the British Council in your country of residence.

Here are some of the comments we have received from our students :

Jenny Barthwaite Notts.
Jenny is a long term owner and aims to set up her own Livery Yard soon.
“Without formal qualifications I decided that I would benefit from achieving something which would identify to my livery clients that I had gained a thorough grounding in the theory of horse care. I aim to adapt my research and own work on this course to train my staff and perhaps offer NVQ & eventually Stages training too”

Dawn Figg, Hatfield
Horse Owner for over 20 yrs. BHS Levels 2 & 3 and Dawn then gained her BHS Stages.
“I found the Level 2 course very interesting and informative. The course materials are abreast with current developments and include relevant references to alternative treatments and further in depth reading. A lot of previous instruction I have received has been limited strictly to the prescribed manner of doing things without giving consideration to owners or horses as individuals. I also particularly like the tone of the advice in placing the interests of the horse first, before the needs of competition or one upmanship. The advice on considering many varied approaches on their merits, and finding the safest and most suitable for each individual case was also heartening and more enlightened than I have come across elsewhere”

Wendy Jellings, Walsall
Wendy had a thoroughbred on loan for 1 yr at the time of taking our first course and had owned a native pony for just 6 months. “Since beginning the course I have become much more confident. I let everyone else get on with it because I now know I am doing things right ! I’m looking forward to completing Level 1 & will then feel ready to tackle Level 2.” Wendy is currently doing just that.

Sarah Gilliver. East Grinstead
Sarah took courses 1 - 3 & went on to do a Degree Course at Agricultural College.
“I thoroughly enjoyed the courses and would highly recommend them to anyone. I had the practical experience, but not the theoretical underpinning. This certainly did assist towards my degree in Equine Studies and I still refer to my notes now”

Bev Howie, Bradford
Bev is not a horse owner but is a weekly rider at a riding school. “I am enjoying this course and learning a great deal. I always look forward to receiving my next Pack. I aim to take the exam and definitely would like to do the next Level.

Jane Scott, Doncaster, S.Yorkshire.
“ I am very pleased with the content of the Level 1 course and find it very useful even though I took the BHS Horse Owner’s Certificates Level 1 at evening classes in Spring 2005”

Katie Paris, South Africa:
“The combined Intermediate Diploma programme is ideal. I have worked with horses for over 30 years but needed to brush up and get more up to date. Fast tracking Level 1 suited me admirably”.

Help and Advice

We are here to help so please feel free to take advantage of our friendly approach. Help and advice on training for professional Stages or ABRS exams is available from Paula in the Somerset office,

01398 371 177 / lingcors@horse-care.co.uk or from the BHS on 01926-707700 or the ABRS on 01746-365777

The Lingfield Instructor Group have produced a detailed & informative booklet entitled

“A Guide to Gaining Professional Qualifications in the Equine Industry”.

College Office:

Leigh Farm Cottage
Exton, Dulverton, Somerset TA22 9LD
BHS Register of Instructors Course Tutors: Paula Clements, Hannah Haskew, Liz McIllwraith, Fiona Dent, Hazel Reed

lingfieldcourses@horse-care.co.uk
tel. 01398 37 11 77
www.horse-care.co.uk