How do I pick a horse training/equine studies/equine science school or program?

This is a really hard question to answer, as it is really dependent on what you want to get out of a horse college. There are a lot of different options and what kind will be the best fit for you depends on a lot of factors. Let’s look at some options:

Equine Studies/Science Degree Programs at a College or University

Many colleges offer equine science programs. These are good if you want the “college experience” including a regular campus, courses in a variety of equine and non-equine subjects, a larger student body, etc. However, because these programs are part of a larger college or university, they are are often not as focused as horse-specific schools.

Students often do internships with local barns/trainers, and a lot of what you learn really depends on the quality of those people. Unfortunately, you often can’t know what these situations will be like before you start the program. So, if you get a good internship you could learn a lot. But if you get a bad one, it could be terrible and you could end up mucking stalls for 4 years.

Financially, these programs have both advantages and disadvantages. On the upside, you will likely be able to get financial aid for your studies, if you qualify. On the downside, tuition at these schools is usually between $16,000 and $40,000 per year, depending on whether the school is private or public and where your state of residence is. So, you can get financial aid, but for most students that means loans, so you will go into a significant amount of debt to get your degree.

Of course, finishing one of these programs will get you a degree. However, degrees really don’t matter in the horse world, as there’s not really any standardization. What really matters is experience, knowledge, and problem solving skills.

Trainer Specific Programs

Another way to go is to do a professional trainers program with a well known trainer such as Richard Shrake, Pat Parelli, John Lyons, etc. An advantage of these programs over a degree program is that almost all of your time will be spent on horse-focused learning. Usually, these programs are very intense, with a lot of information presented in condensed timeframe. Another advantage is that because you are getting certified by a famous trainer, you will have a natural start in getting work with people that like that trainer’s style.

One disadvantage to these programs is that you will only be learning that particular trainer’s style. This is great if you are convinced that that trainer has all of the answers that you will ever need, or if you feel confident in your ability to fit their ideas into your own training framework. Another disadvantage is that many of these programs are very, very costly (some over $50,000) and you must have the money upfront, as they don’t have financial aid.

Technical Programs

The landscape is slightly different if you are interested in a technical program, such as a farrier program or veterinary degree. 

Those interested in becoming a vet will need to get a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine. This will require a bachelors degree in Equine Science, Biology, or related field. After completing your undergraduate degree(s) at a public or private school, you will apply to graduate veterinary programs across the country.

If you want to work with hooves, there are numerous farrier schools across the country. These tend to be short, intense, technical programs. You’ll want to make sure that the school is in line with the kind of trimming you want to do, as some are very focused on shoeing while others are now teaching natural, barefoot hoof care.

What Kind of Program is CIES Then?

The Cascade Institute of Equestrian Studies (CIES) offers an alternative way of learning about horses at the college level. We teach a variety of methods influenced by a variety of trainers including natural horsemanship based horse behavior and psychology, and positive reinforcement training. At CIES, our goal is to offer a learning environment where students can get hands on time training all levels of horses (from uncatchable horses to performance sport horses), and also get experience coaching all levels of riders. We want our students to learn how to think on their feet and deal with any situation that comes their way, as this is what the professional world demands.

We work in all disciplines ranging from classical dressage to gaming to hunter/jumpers. This is possible because we are not interested in the push, pull and jab of most modern riding. Instead, we build a foundation of horsemanship, communication, and equitation (ie., riding, the art of “touch”) skills that students then apply to any disciple of their choosing.

We don’t believe that a student should have to go deep into debt just to start a career in a field that they love and that, quite frankly, doesn’t often pay much. For that reason, our tuition and timeline is structured in such a way that you could be enrolled, work part time to pay your living expenses and tuition, and not go crazy.

How to Find Your Dream Program

So how do you find the horse school that is a perfect fit for you? First, decide what your priorities are. Is location very important to you? Do you want to study one particular training method? What is your career goal? Have your answers in mind, then look for schools, colleges, or universities that have programs matching your goals and criteria.

We’ve started to compile a list of directories that list equine programs. You can find it here: http://ciestudies.com/2008/12/how-to-find-a-horse-school-online-directories/

What’s Your Strategy?

Hopefully this information will help you make your decision. We’d like to hear your thoughts. Do you have a strategy that helped you find a great program? What kind of criteria are important to you? Leave a comment and let us know!

If you’d like any more information about our programs at CIES, please visit our homepage at http://CIEStudies.com

To that end, here are some links to directories that list equine programs

Horse-Equine-Colleges at CowBoyWay

As the name would suggest, CowBoyWay focuses on the western side of things.

Equusite

Equusite offers an extensive list of horse focused colleges. Equusite is horse only, so you don’t have to wade through a bunch of unrelated listings.

O-Horse

O-Horse offers another extensive horse only college directory. Has the advantage of catagorizing by region.

US College Search

While not a horse only site, US College Search does offer a horse only section and is extensively searchable.

Hopefully these links will help you find the horse training, riding instruction or equine studies program you are looking for!

Can you imagine how scary being steered is for a horse? It’s just like giving control of your entire body over to someone else and saying, “By the way, please don’t run me into anything or make me fall down.” The horse is as much afraid of feeling “raped” as you would be giving control of your body over to someone.

To overcome the horse’s worries that you’re going to take advantage of him, you’re going to begin by working on transmittal. Transmittal means that there is no lag time between the cue and response to the cue. If I say to you in Cantonese, “Chin up,” you’re going to have to go buy an English/Cantonese dictionary, flip through the pages until you find “chin,” then find “up,” then go buy a slang dictionary to figure out if I mean literally or figuratively, and by that time I won’t care whether you have your chin up or not any more. As equestrians, we need to be prepared to work with a language that is as foreign to the horse as Cantonese likely is to us. When riding, we are working with the language of touch.

Many people forget that riding is based on the art of touch because on the ground, most people rely a great deal on body language as the basis of communication between them and their horse. Since the horse communicates with body language, this is natural, but what happens when you go to ride him? I advise that if you’re working with body language as a system for communication (which we all are whether we realize it or not), you should always combine the release of pressure (or whatever “Yes, that was it!” motion that you use), with a sound and a specific touch. That way, you can use the sound and touch when you’re under saddle to tell him, “Hey, you got i!”. The sound/touch you use might be as simple as saying to your horse, “Good boy,” and the petting him on the neck. That combination certainly worked for me long before I had clicker training. The point is, make sure you’re always training like you’re going to ride this horse someday if your plan is to ride him. That will keep you from having to retrain things after you get on.

To get that seamless transmittal of information between you and your horse, stand at your horse’s shoulder with your lead rope clipped on the side of his halter. Begin by just elevating and lowering his head. Make small, rhythmic arcs with your hands moving towards the rear of his body and use the arcs to gently position him in such a way that it is natural for him to stick his chin out a little and lift his head. When the motion gets sticky, go the other direction. If you force him past the sticky spot, he will usually lift crookedly and brace somewhere else in his body. The idea is that the message is getting through so ask, and when you get a response, release.

We’re going to ask the horse to move in 5 directions - forward, front feet over, hind feet over, sideways, and backwards. That way, he can begin to see that this will be a full body experience, which is really about it being a full mind experience. We don’t want him to harbor fears about any part of his body being moved.

Let’s begin with rocking the body forward. Ideally, you want him to be able to differentiate between being asked to take a step and being asked to shift his weight. Click and treat if he shifts his weight. The cue to tell him to shift his weight forward is grasping the snap of the lead rope in your hand and moving it toward the front of the horse. Make your movement circular and rhythmic. It doesn’t matter if you complete the circle, so long as the movement flows on the arc of a circle.

To move the front feet over, direct your hand upward toward the middle third of his neck. To move the hind feet over, direct your hand toward the last third of his neck. To move him backwards, make a circular motion going from the front of the body towards the back. The motion should be about the size of your fist. The part of the circle where your hand goes up includes a mini-elevation of the head which will help pose him to rock backwards.

After you can get transmittal, you might try doing 3 steps forward, three steps pivoting on the hind feet (front feet over), 3 pivoting on the front feet (hind feet over), and 3 backwards.

Now try getting the legs to diagonalize - the basis of piaffe. You’re going to alternate between 6 steps sideways and 6 steps back. There is no real reason to get piaffe other than that it is very cool and you’ll be surprised how easy it is.

To move both feet over, play between the cues for front feet over and back feet over and find what works. You might end up moving your hand back and forth across the line dividing the second third and last third of the neck. You may also need to use a stick to tell him to step his hindquarters over if they’re lagging.

It’s easiest to get sideways motion if you do it out of forward motion. Walk on a square. When you get to a corner, send your horse out in front of you a little bit until you are placed next to his barrel in the middle of his body. Then bring his head toward you so that his hind feet step away, like a disengagement of the hindquarters. As the hindquarters are drifting like you’re doing cookies in a car on ice, just give the cue for the front feet to step over and the whole horse should drift sideways. Done correctly, it looks like Japanese car racing

When your run out of momentum, you can switch to forward or backwards. Just don’t cause your horse to feel stuck. Sideways is a lot of work physically so you want him to be successful. Make sure you’re clicking for good steps so he stays enthusiastic.

The ways that you’ll use your hands to cue the horse on the ground are the same ways that you’ll use your hands to cue him undersaddle. If he gets heavy on your hand, you can encourage lightness with a tap of the stick to say, “pay attention.” Alternatively, every time you get a really light series of steps, play a simple targeting game for a few minutes. That way you’re making him a trade - work hard for me for a few minutes then we’ll do something really easy and fun. That should keep him interested and invested.