Play is more than just fun for your horse.

In addition to providing a way for horses to form friendships, play offers a low-stress way for horses to learn collision avoidance, develop body awareness, improve musculoskeletal health, and it is vital for the social development of horses. Unfortunately, many “quirks” are misclassified as play and horses may be separated prematurely when play is confused for aggression. 

Learn what play looks like, from object to inter-species play, and how play needs differ between males and females. Take advantage of ethological insights and create environmental setups that will help foster play between horses and enhance their natural ability to cope with stress. 

Webinar content includes:

•  An introduction to the functions play serves for the developing equid

•  From objects to self-play, learn the different ways in which horses use each other and their environment to play

• An introduction to how to differentiate aggression and equine stereotypies from play

•  How compromised welfare (such as pain) and play might be interconnected

•  An introduction to how to differentiate aggression and equine stereotypies from play

After the presentation, Sam answered questions from the audience. 

This presentation is for horse owners, students, equine professionals interested in horse behaviour.

Once enrolled you have 60 days to watch this recording.

Who is this course for?

  • HORSE OWNERS

  • EQUINE STUDENTS

  • EQUINE PROFESSIONALS

Continuing Professional Development (CPD/CEU)

  • Course Contents

    1 x webinar recording and 1 x CPD/CEU quiz

  • Course Duration

    1.5 Hours

  • Certificate of Completion

    You can download a personalised CPD/CEU certificate after watching the webinar and completing the quiz.

  • BHS

    This course has been approved for 1 CPD points for BHS Accredited Professional Coaches by the British Horse Society. Upon course completion APCs can log their points by completing the CPD Feedback form on the BHS website.

  • IAABC

    This course has been approved for 1.5 Continuing Education Units (CEU) by the International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants (IAABC). You will need to request an IAABC CEU certificate directly from us, so please get in touch once you have completed the course and quiz

  • IAAT

    Understand Horses is a trusted partner of the International Association of Animal Therapists, offering external CPD courses for its members.

  • KPA

    This course has been approved for 1.5 Continuing Education Units (CEU) by the Karen Pryor Association (KPA). Once you have completed the course you can contact us for an event code, then email both code and CEU certificate to the KPA.

Play in Horses - Benefits and Behaviours

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Your Instructors

SAM COUPER

Sam has been cataloguing and recording observations of feral horses since 2018. She is board chair of the Onaqui Catalogue Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to compiling observations on the Onaqui wild horses using citizen science. In particular, she is passionate about breaking down barriers surrounding scientific observation and interpretation for both professionals and laymen. To bring wild horses to the public, she teaches a course on wild horse behaviour at the University of Utah (USA). In particular, she is interested in how management, climate, and predation histories interact to affect horse heterarchies and band formation strategies. Sam is a member of IAABC and is working towards becoming a full time equine behaviour consultant, where she plans to integrate feral horse research and personal observations to aid owners with removed feral horses adapting to domestic settings.

COURSE PRICE

Archived webinar recording