Continuing Education Is Trending
By Jessica Shannon
We can incessantly discuss the pros and cons of social media and the worrisome
amount of screen time we each spend. We may be inspired by other rider’s successes shared on Instagram, or we might feel defeated by it. We forget people choose what they post and can create an image as vulnerable as they want. We can also learn by their posts and the amount of resources we can find on the internet and elsewhere, and our opportunities to learn out of the saddle are everywhere we turn these days.
Plenty of vocations require continuing education. In healthcare, nearly every discipline has minimum required hours each year to remain board certified or maintain licensure. In my own vocation, board-certified chaplains have to demonstrate 50 hours of continuing education every year. Yes, 50 hours per year.
Neither USEF, USHJA, USEA, USDF, nor the FEI obligate riders to fulfill any ongoing education. There may be some SafeSport qualifications, but amateur and junior riders do not have to read a certain number of books or articles per year about horsemanship, flatwork, or horse anatomy. That is more than okay. What is powerful and inspiring is how many riders are using their limited free time to learn of their own volition.
Riders are reading articles on health, horsemanship, lead changes, trailering, and more. They’re watching master classes from multiple top riders from around the world, and they’re listening to podcasts on their dog walks or drives to the barn. Podcasts host guests who are judges, sports psychologists, grief professionals, trainers, farriers, professional riders, and veterinarians. The availability of resources for our growth as riders and horsepeople is increasing all of the time, and the demand for more materials from every medium is incredibly high. Riders want to learn.
We learn every time we ride, whether we are hacking on our own or soaking up our
trainer’s knowledge in a lesson. We learn every time we chat with a saddle fitter or are present for a vet appointment. We learn every time we treat a cut on our horse or feel some heat in a fetlock. The knowledge we gain at the barn could easily be enough, but for more and more riders, it isn’t adequate. We want to grow and be better. It is, in a word, amazing.
When we have the drive to learn, whether it be by watching people’s rounds at a show, watching live stream of shows, reading books and articles, listening to podcasts, or watching webinars, we are becoming better riders and better listeners to our horses. We benefit from the time we dedicate to learning, and our horses do, too. What a gift we are giving our horses when we listen to a podcast on supplements or how to improve a horse’s mental and physical health during travel.
What a gift it is to our horse’s when we read about how to treat rain rot or watch a
video on releasing tension in the poll. Given how much time we spend at work, school, with our families, and at the barn, it is inspiring to see more riders squeezing in learning time out of the saddle. We are stronger riders and caregivers for our horses because of that time. Continuing education may not be a requirement for riders, but it is certainly trending for good reasons.