Virtual Seminar with fantastic teachers, organized by the Icelandic Horse Association (LH)

15.09.2021
Ljósmynd: Gunnar Freyr Gunnarsson

LH Education Seminar for Icelandic horse professionals, starts Tuesday, October 5th at 7pm Icelandic time and continues for 5 Tuesday nights. The seminar is aimed towards professionals within the FEIF Education Matrix and can work as your CPD if educated in Iceland, and possibly in other countries, - please check with your member association.

 Let us introduce the 4 main speakers! 

The first speaker is Dr. Hilary Clayton, one of the most respected scientists in the field of research of sport horses, their locomotion, rehabilitation, connection between rider, tack and horse, and more. She has published 7 books and over 200 peer reviewed articles. She graduated as a veterinarian from Glasgow University and worked for a while in vet practises before returning to the academic world, where she first stayed with the Glasgow University, then went to Saskatchewan University in Canada and finally in Michigan State University in Michigan, USA.
Clayton is known as a real entrepreneur in the field of equine research and as a rider and lifelong horse lover, she managed to combine her passion with her career as a researcher. Clayton has even been involved with few Icelandic horse studies, including one where the definition of tölt was tested with scientific methods. She has been honoured in countless ways and earned a spot in hall of fame with various organizations. But as respected and honoured Dr. Hilary Clayton is as a researcher in her field worldwide, it is not least her warm personality, pure and endless passion for horses and everything that involves them, that people who get to know her get moved by.
Hilary starts our seminar on October 5th at 7pm Icelandic time.

 Víkingur Gunnarsson is our second speaker, Tuesday October 12th at 7pm Icelandic time. He is an associate professor at Hólar Equine University and teaches for instance Equine locomotion. He is well known within the Icelandic Horse world, was head of the Equine Department of Hólar for several years and is one of our most experienced breeding judges. Víkingur and his wife, Guðrún, have also bred several highly valued horses from Kagaðarhóll that have been successful both as breeding horses and on the competition track.
Current project that Víkingur is working on aims to objectively measure qualities in the movements and gaits of the Icelandic horses with sensors technology called Equimoves, and is a cooperation between the Swedish Agricultural University, SLU, and the University in Utrecht and more. 
In the seminar Víkingur will be talking about the specialities of the Icelandic horse when it comes to how we evaluate the qualities of both the gaits and body function.

Our third speaker is Dr. Andrew McLean, one of the most respected scientists in the field of Equitation Science and Equine behaviour Science. He holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne, in horse training psychology as well as a degree in Zoology from the University of Tasmania, and teaches at Universities and conferences around the world. He has written several books and published over 80 academic articles, but also works as an accredited coach for horse riders as well as elephant trainers. Andrew developed and managed the Australian Equine Behaviour Centre, the internationally recognized horse training and behaviour modification center in Australia and is one of the founding members of ISES, the International Society for Equitation Science. 
Throughout his career, first as an accomplished rider, then teacher and researcher it is the love of the animal that has been a driving force, as well as a burning desire to help as many people understand their horses (and elephants) better, thus providing safer and better relationship for both. Andrew will talk about “The learning, behaviour and mental health of the sport horse” in his lecture on October 19th at 7pm Icelandic time. Optimal use of learning theory improves welfare of our animals as well as the performance, so let’s all keep our ears and mind open for this exciting evening!

 The forth speaker on October 26th same time, is Anja Beran, well known classical rider and instructor who teaches around the world and runs her own training centre in Bavaria, Germany. Anja is known for her inspiring lightness and finesse in training and riding, claiming every horse can learn to be light to the aids. She works according to the real classical values, emphasizing that everything comes with balance and strength. She works with various breeds and is very open and curious about different disciplines and riding styles. Her main passion is though classical dressage with Lusitanos and has studied with some well-known trainers in Portugal. 
Anja will look into how to analyze the movements and shape of the horses in practice to distinguish if they are working correctly and in balance or not. What tools can we build to be able to see and understand better what is happening?

We at LH Education Committee are extremely honoured to have all these fantastic speakers in the virtual Education Seminar this October. The fifth evening, November 2nd, will be panel discussions with some well-known professionals within the Icelandic horse world. They each will give a summary of what they took with them from the four lecturers, but also discuss between them different aspects and views, as well as answering questions from the participants. The Panel speakers will be introduced in a separate post.

The whole seminar counts for 16 Units (each Unit 45min)

Cost €80 for the whole program!

Last registration day is September 28th.

Don´t miss out on this amazing opportunity and sign up here today

What's my educational level