Assist with the exercise and care for performance horses — City & Guilds Limited Occupational Qualification Animal Care & Veterinary Revision
This subtopic focuses on the practical skills and underpinning knowledge required to assist with the daily exercise programmes and comprehensive care of pe
Topic Synopsis
This subtopic focuses on the practical skills and underpinning knowledge required to assist with the daily exercise programmes and comprehensive care of performance horses, ensuring their health, welfare, and optimal performance. Learners will develop competence in preparing horses for exercise, monitoring fitness levels, and implementing tailored routines while maintaining accurate records. The integration of health and safety legislation and environmental good practice is central to professional equine management, safeguarding both handlers and horses in all activities.
Key Concepts & Core Principles
- Equine health and welfare: understanding signs of illness, first aid, vaccination schedules, and parasite control to maintain optimal horse health.
- Nutrition and feeding: balancing rations based on workload, age, and condition, including forage types, concentrates, and supplements.
- Stable management: designing routines for mucking out, bedding types, turnout, and yard safety to prevent injuries and disease.
- Breeding and foaling: managing mare cycles, covering methods, pregnancy care, and foaling procedures to ensure successful reproduction.
- Business management: budgeting, marketing, customer service, and compliance with health and safety legislation for running an equine enterprise.
Exam Tips & Revision Strategies
- Ensure your portfolio of evidence clearly maps each piece of work to the relevant learning outcomes and assessment criteria, using a tracking sheet.
- When recording practical tasks, include witness testimonies, photographs, and reflective accounts to strengthen authenticity and depth.
- In written assignments, explicitly reference the health and safety legislation (e.g., Health and Safety at Work Act, Animal Welfare Act) and codes of practice relevant to your country.
- During observations, verbally explain your decision-making process to demonstrate understanding beyond routine execution, such as why you selected a particular exercise for that horse on that day.
Common Misconceptions & Mistakes to Avoid
- Failing to tailor exercise intensity to the individual horse's training stage and competition schedule, leading to overtraining or undertraining.
- Omitting environmental checks such as ground conditions, weather extremes, and arena maintenance, which can compromise safety.
- Incomplete or inconsistent record keeping, for example missing signatures, dates, or inadequate detail for external audit by awarding bodies.
- Not recognising early signs of fatigue, injury, or stress during exercise, risking the horse's long-term soundness.
- Confusing legislation requirements, such as assuming animal welfare acts alone cover all aspects of manual handling and rider safety.
Examiner Marking Points
- Demonstrate correct fitting and safety checks of tack and equipment prior to exercise, including assessment for wear and tear.
- Show evidence of monitoring and recording the horse's vital signs, behaviour, and fitness progress before, during, and after exercise.
- Apply risk assessment principles to the exercise environment, identifying hazards and implementing control measures as per relevant legislation.
- Produce accurate and legible daily records that include exercise type, duration, intensity, and any health or behavioural observations.
- Exhibit knowledge of waste management and environmental sustainability when caring for performance horses, such as muck disposal and water conservation.