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Equine Guelph's travelling education centre to bring information, resources about horses to children, young teens across southern Ontario this summer
BY ANDREW VOWLES
Giddy-up. Young horse lovers around southern Ontario will get a chance this summer to learn about their favourite animal through an educational road show run by Equine Guelph.
The EquiMania! travelling education centre will bring information and resources about horses to children and young teens at the Schomberg Fair May 27, Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto weekends through July and August and Grand River Raceway Aug. 7.
“We want to promote horse health and safety in a fun, interactive and educational way,” says Susan Raymond, communications and program officer with Equine Guelph.
Begun last year, the show consists of posters, demonstrations, activities and other interactive learning materials, including a life-size horse skeleton, all designed to teach kids aged eight to 16 about horses. Visitors can learn about horse diets, grooming, behaviour, anatomy and horse trivia.
A new centrepiece this year is SeeMore, a full-size fibreglass model of a horse painted to display the animal's muscles, organs and bones. Designed and painted in 2005 by Ruth Benns — a U of G fine art graduate who also helped create FunnyBones, the EquiMania! mascot — the model was unveiled at last year's Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto. (Mounted on a wheeled platform, SeeMore travels inside a real horse trailer.)
The road show is one of three components of Equine Guelph's youth education program. There's also an annual quiz challenge testing youngsters on their horse smarts, which was held for the second year this March at the Can-Am Equine Emporium in London, the largest equine education and trade show event in Ontario.
The third component is a website (www.EquiMania.ca) that takes users into a virtual barn to complete numerous online activities.
Beyond this entry-level program, Equine Guelph provides industry skills through a certificate program for existing or prospective horse grooms.
In addition, about 700 students worldwide have enrolled in the equine science certificate program offered online through the Office of Open Learning for industry workers and hobbyists.
Equine Guelph was launched in 2003 as a partnership between U of G and the horse-racing and non-racing industry.
“We're the meeting place for both the University and industry to provide communication and education,” says Raymond.
A Guelph zoology graduate, she is completing a PhD in animal and poultry science on air quality and horse-housing practices intended to help owners improve housing conditions and prevent and treat respiratory problems.
