After fifteen-plus years in the college classroom I’ve learned each subject and its content material needs a different approach. Some material is best suited for lecture and discussion whereas other material is best taught and learned in an active environment. The following are several of the subjects I’ve taught and how I approach select content areas:

Equine Biomechanics and Horse Shoeing

Hybrid lecture and laboratory course
The therapeutic triad for treating horse lameness and improving performance involves the owner, farrier, and veterinarian in conversation about the best interests of the horse. Students learn limb anatomy, hoof function, and how modifications to the foot through trimming and shoeing change movement. This is accomplished through lecture, dissection, skills training, and demonstrations.

Equine Marketing

Hybrid lecture and laboratory course
Marketing and selling of horses has many similarities to the marketing of equine businesses. This course begins with developing evaluation skills and creation of a marketing strategy to sell a horse, then transfers that knowledge to the assessment and marketing plan development for an equine business. The basics of market research, copy writing, ad design, and branding are reinforced through case studies and creative work.

Equine Exercise Physiology

Lecture course
The purpose of any training program is to improve fitness, delay onset of fatigue, improve skill, and reduce the risk of injury. To understand how the equine athlete adapts to training and condition programs we must first understand how they function and respond to exercise. Class discussion draws on examples across a wide range of equine athletic performances.

Animal Nutrition and Metabolism

Lecture course
The subject of nutrition encompasses biological, chemical, and physiological processes. Before students can understand how to formulate diets for various animals, or evaluate the suitability of various diets for humans, they need to understand what happens to nutrients at a cellular level. Beginning with digestion and absorption, then continuing through metabolism, I use traditional lecture coupled with critical thinking tie-ins to human and animal disease states or diet trends for examples.

Equine Nutrition

Lecture course
This advanced, senior level course takes the students from their understanding of general animal nutrition to specific concerns regarding horses. Topics include the unique digestive physiology, feed ingredient concerns, and life cycle needs of the horse. Case studies, current topics, and industry trends round out the classroom discussions.

Equine Reproductive Techniques

Hybrid lecture and laboratory course
The management of breeding facilities and day-to-day care of breeding stock requires knowledgeable horsemen working in concert with veterinarians and veterinary technicians. The purpose of this course is to prepare students for employment in the horse breeding industry as well as understanding how reproductive behaviors affect the management of performance horses.