Grant Will Help Improve Safety for Young Equine Enthusiasts
10/2/09
Contact: Laura Probyn
517-432-1555, ext. 175
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Young equine enthusiasts will soon be safer at the barn with the help of a new educational program developed specifically for them. Michigan State University’s (MSU’S) My Horse University (MHU) and eXtension HorseQuest have been awarded a Youth Farm Safety Education and Certification (YFSEC) grant to develop online safety courses for youth working on equine facilities.
Funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, the YFSEC program supports national efforts to teach young people to safely work in the agriculture industry.
This year grants were awarded to programs focusing on filling gaps in youth farm safety education. The unique safety needs of young people working on equine facilities identified by MHU and eXtension HorseQuest fit the bill.
“This project was developed to help young people learn to avoid injury while they are working with horses, mules and donkeys,” says Karen Waite, MSU Extension youth equine specialist and co-principal investigator. “We are planning some very creative online curriculum tools that will be educational, but also fun and interesting for kids."
Working with horses is a popular recreational, competitive and occupational activity among young people, but it can also be dangerous. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported that an estimated 23,000 youths younger than 20 years old are treated in emergency departments for equestrian-related injury every year.
“Knowledge and awareness are the first defenses against preventable injuries,” says Betsy Greene, equine Extension specialist at the University of Vermont, eXtension HorseQuest leadership team member and co-principal investigator. “We’re planning to make this online tool especially useful for inexperienced youth or adult equine enthusiasts and include a wide range of management best practices to improve safety at the barn.”
With the YFSEC award, My Horse University, eXtension HorseQuest and the University of Vermont Extension program will embark on a three-year project to provide a safety education resource for youth working on equine facilities. Components of the project will include the development, evaluation and implementation of an interactive online safety course for youth as well as an online course for adults working with youth on equine facilities.
My Horse University is a national online horse management program for horse enthusiasts. It’s based at MSU, one of the top U.S. universities in equine science and management. Founded by the MSU Department of Animal Science, MSU Extension and MSU Global, this program offers equine education courses and resources that can be tailored to achieve horse management goals. For more information, visit www.myhorseuniversity.com.
An interactive learning environment, eXtension HorseQuest is delivering the most-researched knowledge from land-grant universities across America. This online tool connects people who need information with those who can best provide it -- experts who know their subject matter inside and out. Get online answers to your equine-related questions, locate horse events in your area, watch instructional videos, take short courses and participate in webcasts with equine experts across the nation. For more information, visit Content tagged with 'horse' - eXtension.
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