Barehoofcare Spring 2018
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G’day from Andrew—continued.<br />
In our first year of 2008 we sub contracted to the National<br />
College of Traditional Medicine and for a campus we used the<br />
facilities and horses at Chris and Fiona Dunlop’s High Country<br />
Horses in Merrijig. That was a great start but we had to call off<br />
the following year’s intake in the aftermath of the enormous<br />
bushfires.<br />
We bounced right back in 2010 with two intakes for the year<br />
when we began setting up and using a campus at Mayfield,<br />
with the course continuing to evolve, being constantly rewritten<br />
and upgraded and tweaked to finally become<br />
nationally accredited in 2016 (after an expensive and<br />
exhaustive process) when we began sub-contracting to our<br />
local RTO (registered training organisation) the Continuing<br />
Education and Arts Centre of Alexandra.<br />
Currently we are in the process of becoming our own standalone<br />
RTO (after a very expensive and even more exhaustive<br />
process). As the Australian College of Equine Podiotherapy<br />
enters this new phase of governance, our long term partners<br />
Mike and Chrisann Ware from Equethy have officially retired<br />
from the partnership. We would like to take this opportunity<br />
to thank and acknowledge the long miles they have ridden<br />
with us since the early days of barehoofcare. Mike and Chrissann<br />
pioneered the concept of keeping horses barefoot for<br />
longevity. It would be countless the number of horses that<br />
have benefited from there foresight and passion to speak out<br />
on behalf of horses.<br />
Demand for the course gets stronger with each passing year.<br />
Fortunately we have had Tamara Fox in the driver’s seat. Talk<br />
about the right person for the right job. Her organisational<br />
skills have been amazing to pull it all together. We couldn’t<br />
have got this far without you Tam.<br />
Somewhere along the way, our past students have formed an<br />
industry body – the Equine Podiotherapists Association of<br />
Australia – and for continued professional development they<br />
gather for master classes and conferences that are facilitated<br />
by the college. Phew!<br />
It’s been hard work, long hours, more than a few stressful<br />
moments, but with about 250 students having passed through<br />
the college since its inception, we are slowly but surely<br />
spreading marker pins around the huge map of Australia.<br />
There is no doubt that the two year diploma course digs some<br />
deep holes in the students’ collective calendars, but equine<br />
hoofcare is a huge and evolving subject.<br />
We have found the best way to package a working lifetime’s<br />
knowledge and experiences but still keep the course within<br />
time constraints is to spread the 28 days of contact teaching<br />
into four blocks spread over the first 12 months with external<br />
studies for the second 12 months. Any less of a course would<br />
simply produce deficient practitioners. Judging by how well<br />
past students are doing in their respective corners of the<br />
hoofcare industry, the course and the college are proving their<br />
merit.<br />
There are times when we have a body of students together<br />
(usually when they are breaking bread together at the<br />
customary social night at the famous Yarck Hotel) when we<br />
get to sit back and ponder how the course brings together<br />
people from all corners of Australia (and now internationally),<br />
of all ages and from all corners of society. So very different,<br />
but so very bound by the desire to learn more to give horses a<br />
better deal. And all bringing something unique to add to the<br />
collective knowledge or the ever increasing student body.<br />
A fine example of one of our past students is Liz Inder from<br />
the hinterland of South East Queensland who is a practising<br />
law professional and maintains her own mob of barefoot<br />
horses (they have hooves as good as any you will see in<br />
Queensland) and as it turns out she is a fabulous public<br />
speaker. Those lucky enough to have heard Liz talk at this<br />
year’s Bowker Lectures or at the Podiotherapy Masterclass the<br />
previous year would be nodding in agreement about her<br />
ability to convey what could be a very heavy subject into one<br />
for the masses.<br />
Lucky for us, Liz has kindly agreed to write a couple of articles<br />
for our newsletter along the lines of law as it pertains to<br />
equine industry professionals (with particular reference to<br />
hoofcare professionals).<br />
<strong>2018</strong> is an Equitana year and also marks the 20 th year since<br />
Equitana began. I think we began having an involvement at<br />
the second one (with the Horse Rush team), so no wonder we<br />
are feeling a bit aged.<br />
Equitana has grown into an institution of the equine industry.<br />
Apart from the cutting edge retail opportunity for horses<br />
owners to see (and of course buy) everything new that jangles<br />
and spangles, Equitana has created an interface between<br />
educator and student in all aspects of equine management.<br />
Equitana just keeps rolling along and the calendar now gets<br />
set around it. This year we are delivering a couple of power<br />
point presentations on laminitis and sustainable hoof protection<br />
(on Thursday and Sunday).<br />
As usual we will have a combined stand for both the<br />
Australian College of Equine Podiotherapy and the Barefoot<br />
Blacksmith. If you are going to Equitana, be sure to come and<br />
see us; even if only to show us some brag photos of how good<br />
your horses’ hooves are. We will of course have our full range<br />
of trimming tools and equipment and will try and have some<br />
enticing specials. Hope to see you there..<br />
Cheers - Andrew<br />
<strong>Barehoofcare</strong> Australia Page 2
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