Join us for a lecture series with the brilliant Nikki Routledge. Sessions will focus on how your horse learns, why they do what they do, how behaviour and physical symptoms are linked, and how to assess your own horse. Hot and cold drinks and cakes/pastries provided. 

Nikki Routledge MSc PGCLT SFHEA is a McTimoney Animal Chiropractor and Deputy Programme Lead for Animal Programmes at the McTimoney College of Chiropractic. She holds advanced qualifications including an MSc and Postgraduate Diploma in Animal Manipulation (Chiropractic), a Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching, and is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. With additional BSc (Hons) degrees in Psychology and Equine Science, as well as a Level 5 Diploma in Education and Training and BHS Intermediate SM and BHSAI certifications, she brings extensive expertise to her work. Nikki has 32 years of industry experience, including 22 years teaching animal chiropractic at MCC and a decade teaching animal welfare, psychology, and behaviour management at BTC. She is currently undertaking a Doctorate in Education (EdD).  

SCHEDULE

Fri 9th Jan: 
Types of learning and how we train our horses

Delving into the seven main types of learning utilised across the animal kingdom,
how these apply to horses and the way we train them. This session includes discussion and
fun exercises to help us as riders and trainers comprehend how horses learn from scratch
and how they build their knowledge from the basics to more advanced movements.
Attendees are also provided with some easy fun tests to try with their own horses at home.

Thurs 29th Jan: 
How our horses perceive us and what their behaviour tells us about their
emotional state


To really understand behaviour, we need to understand perception – how do our
perceptions change and how do these differ from those of horses. How do anxiety and fear
manifest in horses and why they are so difficult to alleviate once established. This session
builds on the first using discussion and class exercises to work through some common
issues and include easy fun tests for use at home too.

Thurs 19th Feb:
When things go wrong – how to assess your own horse


Behavioural symptoms can indicate physical pain – how do we determine if that is
the case? Understanding the most common causes of pain allows us to develop a step by
step programme we can work through to eliminate potential causes or indicate areas for
further investigation. This can be a theory-taught or practical session looking at how we use
hands-on palpation of our horses, gait apps and other tools available to monitor health and
welfare in a targeted systematic approach.

Sat 28th March (Cordings Farm):
Clinic in Practice 
Practical applications for the above methods and theories with Nikki and Colleen Knox. Demonstration followed by learning sessions. Bring your horse and put what you’ve learned into practice!