hhm Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 Hi all, I am planning to do Equine Science using Parker's book for my daughter's 9th grade year. She will take Biology in 10th, Chemistry in 11th, and 12th is TBD. Anyway, in addition to the text, she will get as much real-life experience as she can handle at the barn where she rides 4 times / week. For those who have done an Equine Science course, did you count it as (non-lab) science or as an elective? Any other information about planning this kind of 'out-of-the-box' course would be appreciated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 My DD did Equine Science in middle school and also in high school (9th grade). In high school, she also used the Parker book, with her barn experience counting as lab work. The Parker book has a full credit's worth of science, IMO, and if your DD does substantial work besides riding at the barn, I think you are justified in calling it a full lab science credit. For example, my DD not only rides, but during the year she took the class she helped with dosing of vaccines and meds, feeding, grooming, and saw and dealt with a variety of horse health issues (colic, founder, abcess, etc). So, my own DD has a full credit of lab science in biology, chemistry, and physics, and half a lab science credit in marine biology and the biology if leafcutter ants in Costa Rica (which involved a specialized trip to CR). I will probably use her equine science as an elective because she has enough science credits, but I may also swing it the other way when all is said and done on the transcript, because I feel it was lab-credit-worthy. If your class hasn't got a substantial amount of non-riding barn work, though, I still think it is more than worthy of a full non-lab science credit. There is a lot of science in that book - mostly equine anatomy and physiology. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhm Posted January 8, 2019 Author Share Posted January 8, 2019 @Reefgazer, thank you so much for the information! This is exactly what I needed to know. I have already talked to the trainers at the barn where dd rides and boards her horse. They are excited for dd to take this course and happy to help with anything we need. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reefgazer Posted January 13, 2019 Share Posted January 13, 2019 On 1/8/2019 at 6:47 AM, hhm said: @Reefgazer, thank you so much for the information! This is exactly what I needed to know. I have already talked to the trainers at the barn where dd rides and boards her horse. They are excited for dd to take this course and happy to help with anything we need. We did not do this, because DD's barn work in addition to riding was extensive, but there is a great horse anatomy coloring book available, and you can buy a small model of a horse for her to put together for some lab science experience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HollyDay Posted January 14, 2019 Share Posted January 14, 2019 We did something very similar...Parker book but barn work. Dd's riding instructors looked through the Parker book and tried to coordinate some of their barn work/riding with the book. One of dd's instructors specialized in therapy horses so she really brought that side of equine science to life for dd 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhm Posted January 14, 2019 Author Share Posted January 14, 2019 @HollyDay - What a great idea! We have a wonderful equine therapy place near us so we will definitely check in to that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 We counted it as an elective. 🙂 My dd did two ratings for pony club in one year and it is a LOT of studying about health, anatomy, etc. etc. and work, so I believe we counted it as an elective for each semester. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted January 17, 2019 Share Posted January 17, 2019 (edited) I counted all barn time as extracurricular. I counted Equine Science as a half-credit science course. I had dc read Parker's Equine Science, take content quizzes, write several papers, and give oral presentations. As a supplement resource, my dc also took the online Equine Health Studies course, back when it was cheap through Landry Academy; it was fairly light for someone already very familiar with horses, but dc enjoyed it and appreciated the emphasis on anatomy and the assignments in the Dover Horse Anatomy coloring book. Dc did a lot of additional reading about riding and training, which I counted as another half-credit elective course called Theory of Horsemanship. Dc read works by DeNemethy, George Morris, Wilhelm Müseler, etc. Dc wrote papers, gave oral presentations, and wrote a final exam. Edited January 17, 2019 by klmama 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
klmama Posted January 20, 2019 Share Posted January 20, 2019 Just popping back in to clarify something dc just told me about the books on riding. Dc says it's probably best for your dd to start with George Morris, as he simplifies and explains everything really well, but not to stop there. To expand on Morris's books, your dd might also enjoy a subscription to equestriancoach.com, which has instructional videos by Bernie Traurig, George Morris, and other coaches. Next, it would be good to read William Steinkraus's Riding and Jumping. DeNemethy is very advanced; he's trying to finesse a rider, and it takes a lot of background knowledge to be able to understand what he's saying. Müseler is a good read for understanding how everything works between the horse and rider (in flat work specifically), but it's a very academic read. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hhm Posted January 20, 2019 Author Share Posted January 20, 2019 Thank you all for these great ideas! Dd already has the George Morris book, but we will definitely check out the others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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