Fear Free Equine Certification

Fear Free and good horsemanship go hand in hand: Communication is the essence of both. Horses are large, powerful animals and injuries to equine veterinarians are common. Fear Free helps reduce injuries to veterinary staff and horses, improve the health and wellbeing of patients, save you time, create more manageable patients, and earn your clients’ lasting trust and commitment.
The Veterinary Certification Program – Equine teaches you how to use Fear Free concepts to ensure that barn visits and hospital visits go as smoothly as possible. Video clips and slides show you how to examine equine patients safely by using gentle techniques, perform routine procedures in a non-threatening way, recognize signs of stress in equine patients, help owners train their horses to cooperate in medical care, hoof care, and more.

Overview

All students are REQUIRED as part of the course to complete the all eight modules of the Fear Free Equine Certification. The course is free to students and upon completion also give you access to their database for jobs as well as looking good on your resume. You MUST upload both certificate of completion for the fear free equine certification. 
There is no cost as you are a student in a vet tech program, you simply need to apply and then enroll. You will need to take a photo of your schedule in econnect to upload into the fear free website to prove you are a student.

Objectives

  • Recognizing stress in equine patients via body language
  • Handling and examining horses in a way that reduces stress
  • Reducing horses’ stress during commonly aversive procedures such as injections
  • Training horses to voluntarily participate in medical care, hoof care, and more
  • Ensuring the horse is as comfortable as possible during trailer travel
  • Modifying aspects of the hospital environment to suit horses’ unique needs
  • Managing equine pain in the most effective, Fear Free way
  • Identifying fear-inducing stimuli for horses
  • Administering medications in a calm manner without a struggle

Enrolling in Fear Free Equine Certification

  1. Go to http://econnect.dcccd.edu and login
  2. Print off a copy of your schedule for this semester (as a pdf)
  3. Go to https://fearfreepets.com/about/fear-free-student-application/
  4. Fill out the application and upload a copy of your schedule to the website and send it.
  5. Check email for their reply and instructions on actually registering for the course (SAVE THE EMAIL).
  6. Follow the instructions in the email on registering for the course. Start the Fear Free Equine Course
DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO DO THE COURSE. No extensions will be granted for any reason. Proof of when you submitted the request will also be looked at as well as your participation in it.

Lecture Assignments

  1. Register for Fear Free as a student and upload a copy of your schedule to the fear free site.
  2. Enroll in Fear Free Equine Certification: 
  3. Complete and submit the certificate for the fear free Equine Certification to the blackboard site.

Lab Assignments

​None