As long as humans and horses have worked together, people have realized the need to refine and adapt their animal husbandry techniques. But preparing for the future often means reviewing and appreciating the past. Equine Guelph, the horse owners’ and care givers’ center at Ontario, Canada’s University of Guelph, encourages students to examine the evolutional history of horses, their domestication, and the impact on the human-horse relationship of today with its online course, "The Equine Industry."

With a glance to the past, students will learn about various aspects of the horse industry–both racing and non-racing–and consider the type of industry we want to build for the future, explains course instructor Gayle Ecker, director of Equine Guelph.

"Students will gain an appreciation of the whole horse industry from ‘40,000 feet,’ along with its accomplishments and its challenges," says Ecker. "Many of us in the horse industry stay in our discipline ‘silos’ and do not get the chance to understand the issues faced by other sectors of the industry, many of which are shared challenges. The way forward would benefit from us working together as a whole industry."

The 12-week online course will also provide students with a look at the various roles played by the horse throughout history such as work and warfare, and allow students to seek out information about the different sectors of the industry today and the principle challenges that are currently facing the industry