Official ISES announcement

Winning entries announced in a competition to make the First Horse Training Principles accessible to riders of all ages!

A Dutch research team has been awarded the first prize for their adaptation of the First Horse Training Principles by the International Society for Equitation Science (ISES). The work is part of a larger concept aimed at making equitation science more appealing to young or novice riders and their instructors.

The winning entry, which is titled WOW (Working on Optimal equine Welfare) is reader friendly, with a dash of humour and contains 100 appealing cartoons. The WOW Poster is complemented with the WOW Fair Play Cards which encourage young riders to look from the horse’s perspective.

The second place was awarded to Ruedi Leudthart for an illustrated version of the original First Horse Training Principles poster.

Both submissions can be found on the ISES website alongside the original version of the First Horse Training Principles.

ISES Honorary President Janne Winther-Christensen was impressed by the enthusiasm shown by the Society’s members when the competition for a practitioner version of the ISES First Training Principles was announced:
“I am amazed with the creativity and hours of hard work that have been spent on the development of the award-winning posters. I am convinced that these posters will help communicate the Training Principles to a large audience, including children and youngsters, and thereby improve the welfare of horses in their interactions with humans as well as human safety.”

By applying First Horse Training Principles, riders, handlers, trainers and instructors can improve the way horses experience all the interactions. Complementing the academic version of the Training Principles, the practitioner posters allow teachers and riders to make training more efficient and appealing. By doing so, not only horses but humans too can experience the value of a better mutual understanding.

To download the different versions of the ISES First Horse Training Principles go to: https://equitationscience.com/equitation/principles-of-learning-theory-in-equitation

The WOW concept was developed by Anne Muller, Machteld van Dierendonck and was illustrated by Pascale Nales.

The WOW project contains additional packages that can be viewed and downloaded from www.horsewelfare.com. For the Dutch speaking, there is a Dutch version. See: www.paardwelzijn.nl.