The Horse Trust Runs Equine Welfare Training Course For Local Authority Inspectors

30 local authority inspectors from across England recently attended The Horse Trust’s two day Equine Welfare Assessment and Handling Course. The two-day course took place at Bransby Home of Rest for Horses’ centres in Leominster on 13th and 14th October 2011 and in Lincoln on 19th and 20th October 2011. Welsh local authorities attended the course in 2010 and 2011 and this is the first time it had been made available to English authorities. “The training provides inspectors with the skills needed to effectively investigate equine welfare concerns identified on commercial and private premises, at markets or sales and during transport,” said Liane Crowther, Welfare Development Manager at The Horse Trust and organiser of the course. “The training was provided free of charge by The Horse Trust as we feel it important that local authorities have access to equine welfare training, which may otherwise be unavailable to them due to funding constraints." “The training was well received and both courses were oversubscribed, which shows how seriously local authorities take equine welfare concerns. We had some excellent speakers and my sincere thanks go to everyone that was involved in setting up the courses,” said Liane. During the two-day courses, inspectors were taught how to catch and handle horses in order to examine them. They were given instruction in how to conduct a welfare assessment and learnt about common conditions that can compromise welfare, and the specific needs of foals and geriatric horses. They listened to presentations on assessing the welfare of tethered horses, the risk posed by exotic equine diseases, the management of endemic equine diseases and how to recognise a forged horse passport. The training also covered feral ponies and the skills that are required to deal with them safely. Graham Capper, Senior Enforcement Officer at Wrexham County Borough Council, who helped to set up the courses, said: “Being Lead Officer on the Local Authority, National Animal Health and Welfare Panel for Equines, Transport, and Welfare, I must congratulate The Horse Trust for organising such well planned and presented training. The Agenda was extremely well balanced and informative and the speakers were experienced, knowledgeable and enthusiastic, which was reflected in the way the attendees reacted to the sessions."

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